Jill, Derick & the Kids: Moving On!!

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Future Cat Lady said:

Quote

My heart was immediately captured as I saw the poverty and hopelessness a lot of people there were experiencing because their hope lay only in this world, not in a relationship with Jesus Christ

Am I reading this correctly?  

People are poor because they don't believe in the right Jesus? 

Shut up bitch!

I read it to mean the poors will remain poor but once they accept Jesus, they'll still be poor but rich in "his" spirit and then they can long for death when they'll be super rich with Jesus in cloud heaven. Which is rich coming from a privileged woman from America who's going to return to her middle-class existence in America to find some other poor people in another part of the world to hassle.

I swear the only thing that differentiates these sociopathic cult members from Jim Jones and the People's Temple is their mobility. 

[DragonFaerie]

1 minute ago, Giant Misfit said:

I swear the only thing that differentiates these sociopathic cult members from Jim Jones and the People's Temple is their mobility. 

Well they do have Kool-Aid.  Off to the prayer closet, but not with Kool-Aid.

[SMama]

If that is the case the Duggars went through a long period of not believing in the right Jesus. They lived on the food left on their front porch, wore second hand everything including shoes, had one bathroom for fourteen people, and were stacked like cordwood. 

[Future Cat Lady]

2 minutes ago, SMama said:

If that is the case the Duggars went through a long period of not believing in the right Jesus. They lived on the food left on their front porch, wore second hand everything including shoes, had one bathroom for fourteen people, and were stacked like cordwood. 

Very true. However, they did get rewarded with the TV show and all the financial benefits that came with it. So they were validated in their beliefs that if they pray hard enough, they get a reward from God.

[SMama]

Sad but true.

[Ohiopirate02]

34 minutes ago, Future Cat Lady said:

Am I reading this correctly?  

People are poor because they don't believe in the right Jesus? 

Shut up bitch!

What makes this even more infuriating is her reasons for a "career " in midwifery.  Just something to do while I'm single.  Her "I can't possibly have a job while I'm raising my children " attitude must really go over well with young widows.   

[queenanne]

2 hours ago, MyPeopleAreNordic said:

I'm LOLing at so much of this, especially:

- Jill acting like she's just not practicing midwifery right now because she has small children. Whatever, girl, we know you aren't officially practicing because you DO NOT HAVE A LICENSE. You are still playing midwife to yourself & your sisters (which is unfortunate for all involved).  You are not taking a break from a legitimate career with legitimate training and licenses to be a stay-at-home-mom. 

- Jill acting like she will one day practice as a certified lay midwife.  We know it's your plans to have a lot of kids, so you hypothetically will not be without small kids for a long time. Plus, you'd have to get certified. 

- Jill acting like she could be a midwife overseas, where (even poor) countries still have rules about who can practice as a lay midwife

- Derrick thinking Jill would be a real, licensed midwife and that she could legally work as a midwife overseas

- Derrick acting like Jill will ever be able to legally work as a midwife overseas

 

These people have their own "facts" and are pros at obfuscation.  

At least Jill admitted a CPM was for "low-risk" pregnancies that she's a terrible unqualified midwife who's barely able to play at midwifery.  Loving the statement that JimBob and/or Jill cared about J & D's "similar life goals" (lol).

[bigskygirl]

Learning life skills to benefit this world. Hmmm...Should it be to benefit the world because how many worlds do we have. I cannot picture this woman teaching.

[MargeGunderson]

I find it odd that in the meet Jill and Derick section that neither of them really say anything about the kids or about being parents. 

[tabloidlover]

I bit the bullet and went to look at her "recipes".    Word for word, her "recipe" for sweet potato fries...

Quote

3 Sweet Potatoes

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut sweet potatoes into short fries (I find if they’re too long they’re more apt to break). Put potatoes in medium/large mixing bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir. Dump onto cookie sheet and bake in oven for 25-35 min.

Note: Sometimes I take the pan out halfway through and use a spatula to kinda mix them up on the cookie sheet so they don’t get overcooked on one side.

How DID she come up with this??   Simply amazing, I'm sure Simon and Schuster are reaching out for a cookbook!

 

For real?  Her recipe for Chicken and Dumplings calls for 1-2 cans of cooked chicken

Edited March 28, 2018 by tabloidlover
Had to add this!

[bigskygirl]

13 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

I find it odd that in the meet Jill and Derick section that neither of them really say anything about the kids or about being parents. 

Because it has to be about them! Only them!

[Vaysh]

8 minutes ago, tabloidlover said:

For real?  Her recipe for Chicken and Dumplings calls for 1-2 cans of cooked chicken

Ok, I've got to ask. Is canned chicken a cheap/affordable food in the US? I'd never even seen it in Sweden until last year when it showed up in my local shop. In tiny little cans, smaller than a tuna can, and even with coupons they cost literally twice as much per pound as frozen chicken fillets. Even fresh chicken fillets are way cheaper than this canned version.

So I'm guessing either canned chicken is very cheap in the US or Jill is an idiot? Or have they completely abandoned their frugality image in favour of laziness?

[Jynnan tonnix]

11 minutes ago, tabloidlover said:

I bit the bullet and went to look at her "recipes".    Word for word, her "recipe" for sweet potato fries...

How DID she come up with this??   Simply amazing, I'm sure Simon and Schuster are reaching out for a cookbook!

 

For real?  Her recipe for Chicken and Dumplings calls for 1-2 cans of cooked chicken

Cans of chicken? For real??? I...just....um....mind boggled....Really???

Oh, and by the way, I just found the BEST recipe for oven sweet potato fries (in Cook's magazine). Actually, it was for regular fries, but works really well for sweet potato fries as well. Even better, really, because I find it hard to get those nice and crispy no matter how I cook them. I've actually adapted it for a number of different things. with varying degrees of success. 

 I find the measurements don't need to be all that accurate, and I don't have them offhand, so I'm kind of winging those here .

Cut potatoes (or sweet potatoes) into desired size. 

Make a slurry with a couple of teaspoons corn starch and a dribble of water, then add about 3/4 water, stir, and microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until the consistency of pudding. You may need to adjust the amount of water to get it just right* 

Line cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper, spray with cooking spray, then drizzle with a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil and tilt to spread it out. Cover fries lightly with cornstarch "pudding", lay them on cookie sheet, cover tightly with second piece of foil, and bake at 425 until pretty much tender (15-25 minutes depending on thickness. Sweet potatoes will take a little less time than regular potatoes. And Yukon Gold are best for those). 

Uncover potatoes and turn over. The bottom sides should have browned. If not, give them a few more minutes uncovered. Return to oven after turning, and cook another 15-20 minutes.

They come out nice and crispy outside & tender inside. Much better than Jill's fries, I'd wager!

*I also find this cornstarch pudding makes a pretty decent first layer for things like breaded mushrooms, rather than the usual dredging in flour and dipping in egg, and things that are breaded this way come out really good in an air-fryer (which I recently treated myself to) as well as being vegan in case you have vegans to feed. Works well for breaded shrimp as well, even though it's never gonna make them vegan! LOL

[Lady Edith]

In relation to fresh, canned chicken can be quite expensive.  The reason Jill uses it is because it is precooked and diced. No work!  

Some people use use canned chicken in salads as it’s easier than cooking and dicing whole breasts.  I use it when I make home made chicken noodle soup (it helps to increase the amount of chicken in the stock).  It’s a convenience more than anything.   I don’t have to roast an additional chicken to get more meat. 

[lascuba]

I'm not saying that drivel is well-written, but there's a certain polish to it that's so completely inauthentic to who Jill and Derick are that there must be a somekind of "professional" involved in this rebranding. I can't imaging they'd pay for that, so there's probably some family friend who's helping them out. 

[jennblevins]

3 hours ago, Pingaponga said:

Mr. Ponga and I own a company that designs/builds websites. One of the first things we tell our clients is to ensure they proofread everything before they post it online.  How can she not know how to spell "Kool Aid”?

At one of my previous jobs I was responsible for, among other things, updating the company’s website.  The marketing person who wrote the content made a point to put errors in the text, because she thought it would keep the company from looking too snobby. 

I doubt the Dillards did this, but who knows ...

[DangerousMinds]

3 hours ago, Future Cat Lady said:

Am I reading this correctly?  

People are poor because they don't believe in the right Jesus? 

Shut up bitch!

Reading this made me livid too.

[mynextmistake]

2 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

What makes this even more infuriating is her reasons for a "career " in midwifery.  Just something to do while I'm single.  Her "I can't possibly have a job while I'm raising my children " attitude must really go over well with young widows.   

Or, God forbid, those of us who are still married and work anyway because our kids are super into this new thing called “eating.”

[irisheyes]

19 minutes ago, mynextmistake said:

Or, God forbid, those of us who are still married and work anyway because our kids are super into this new thing called “eating.”

My kids are pretty particular about having a roof over their heads, so off to work I go.  If they weren’t so demanding, I could stay home and raise them as Jesus intended.

 

The insistence in many church circles that the only “good” moms are SAHMs makes me insane.  

[SMama]

What are the Dullards rebranding as?Seems like the same arrogant, lazy, ignorant, holier than thou, grifting assholes.

[Zella]

3 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

I swear the only thing that differentiates these sociopathic cult members from Jim Jones and the People's Temple is their mobility. 

As dirty as I feel for saying something nice about Jim Jones, he actually helped desegregate Indianapolis and sponsored a lot of charitable programs for drug addicts and other people in poverty through Peoples' Temple before the group went to Guyana. So, yeah, Jim Jones was actually better at philanthropy than the Duggars, not that that is a hard feat. LOL

[mynextmistake]

4 minutes ago, irisheyes said:

My kids are pretty particular about having a roof over their heads, so off to work I go.  If they weren’t so demanding, I could stay home and raise them as Jesus intended.

 

The insistence in many church circles that the only “good” moms are SAHMs makes me insane.  

Damn kids. In my day, we would have slept in a drainage ditch if it meant that our mom would be there to provide Godly counsel 24/7.

[saylubee]

There is no way this drivel has a ghost writer.  It is just bad writing.  I’m guessing it sounds pompous because Derick wrote it and edited it.  The style sounds just like his Twitter.

So is this the Dullard’s attempt at a lifestyle blog?  Sorry, I think I’d rather have lessons from Jessa on how to clean my house.

[BitterApple]

3 hours ago, Vaysh said:

 

So I'm guessing either canned chicken is very cheap in the US or Jill is an idiot? Or have they completely abandoned their frugality image in favour of laziness?

It's actually more expensive than fresh, even if you buy generic. 

[Barb23]

8 hours ago, tabloidlover said:

I bit the bullet and went to look at her "recipes".    Word for word, her "recipe" for sweet potato fries...

How DID she come up with this??   Simply amazing, I'm sure Simon and Schuster are reaching out for a cookbook!

 

For real?  Her recipe for Chicken and Dumplings calls for 1-2 cans of cooked chicken

 

Glad others have enjoyed the recipes as much as I have.  

I love her providing us with Cathys recipe for Spaghetti Pie.  All that is shown is a very poor unreadable picture of Cathy's recipe on stained paper. 

Jill acts like she was the first one to come up with cooking chicken & veggies together in a crock pot. 

I'm sure the leg humpers will do nothing  but rave over the recipes. 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Barb23

[Mollie]

I can't identify the purpose of the Dillards' new website, but let us all be grateful that they have taken the DONATE button off.  I wonder why they lost their nonprofit. Did they have problems with the IRS about how they were spending the donated funds?  When people donate to a gofundme page for them, they do not get to deduct the donation on their tax forms, but the Dillards don't pay taxes on the money because the funds are considered a gift.  So, the Dillards can do whatever they want to with the money without oversight.   

[floridamom]

So Jill states on their website that she's a LICENSED midwife in Arkansas?

I would like to formally put out there to anyone who reads this blog and either knows Jill Dillard personally or is part of the Duggar public relations team to please ask her for her STATE LICENSE NUMBER to practice in Arkansas at the level of midwifery she claims to be licensed in.  If she does not have one, please state why not and why is she claiming to be licensed?

Graduating from a state accredited law school and not passing or taking the bar exam at all does not make one a lawyer. I equate it to this.

BTW, IS Jill's training from a licensed, recognized and proper mid wife in the first place? Thank you.

[Ohiopirate02]

1 hour ago, floridamom said:

So Jill states on their website that she's a LICENSED midwife in Arkansas?

I would like to formally put out there to anyone who reads this blog and either knows Jill Dillard personally or is part of the Duggar public relations team to please ask her for her STATE LICENSE NUMBER to practice in Arkansas at the level of midwifery she claims to be licensed in.  If she does not have one, please state why not and why is she claiming to be licensed?

Graduating from a state accredited law school and not passing or taking the bar exam at all does not make one a lawyer. I equate it to this.

BTW, IS Jill's training from a licensed, recognized and proper mid wife in the first place? Thank you.

They will never truthfully answer that question.  They will twist it and ultimately say that since she is a SAHM raising 2 boys, that she will never use the license. 

[SMama]

16 hours ago, MyPeopleAreNordic said:

 

 

- Derrick thinking Jill would be a real, licensed midwife and that she could legally work as a midwife.

Derick thinks?

[JoanArc]

Quote

So Jill states on their website that she's a LICENSED midwife in Arkansas?

Certified Professional Midwife with a Driver's License. What is so hard to understand about that. She's licensed! Can parallel park and everything!

[Barb23]

2 hours ago, floridamom said:

So Jill states on their website that she's a LICENSED midwife in Arkansas?

I would like to formally put out there to anyone who reads this blog and either knows Jill Dillard personally or is part of the Duggar public relations team to please ask her for her STATE LICENSE NUMBER to practice in Arkansas at the level of midwifery she claims to be licensed in.  If she does not have one, please state why not and why is she claiming to be licensed?

Graduating from a state accredited law school and not passing or taking the bar exam at all does not make one a lawyer. I equate it to this.

BTW, IS Jill's training from a licensed, recognized and proper mid wife in the first place? Thank you.

Does anyone know what testing is involved to become a licensed Certified Professional Midwife? Is it just a written test or does it include interning a certain number of hours with a licensed midwife?   I might as well ask the same question for  Certified Nurse Midwife ( hope I have this name right.) What are their qualifications?

What did their friend Mrs Query become?  I remember she was in training when Jill & Derick went to the midwife in the shack for Izzy's prenatal care.

[Mollie]

1 hour ago, SMama said:

Derick thinks?

Derick reminds me of the lanky scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz.  He should pray for a brain.

[ginger90]

3 minutes ago, Mollie said:

Derick reminds me of the lanky scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz.  He should pray for a brain.

See video

Edited March 28, 2018 by ginger90

[JoanArc]

Quote

I might as well ask the same question for  Certified Nurse Midwife ( hope I have this name right.) What are their qualifications?

An RN that has either a masters (or nowadays a DNP) - years of actual experience, who can prescribe. In other words, someone with a lot of legitimate education and experience who operates totally legit-and-above-board. Jill is just cosplaying at being a midwife.

[Loves2Dance]

14 hours ago, tabloidlover said:

I bit the bullet and went to look at her "recipes".    Word for word, her "recipe" for sweet potato fries...

How DID she come up with this??   Simply amazing, I'm sure Simon and Schuster are reaching out for a cookbook!

 

For real?  Her recipe for Chicken and Dumplings calls for 1-2 cans of cooked chicken

Um....uhhhh...*blinks rapidly*...ummm...

No. 

[Absolom]

42 minutes ago, Barb23 said:

Does anyone know what testing is involved to become a licensed Certified Professional Midwife? Is it just a written test or does it include interning a certain number of hours with a licensed midwife?   I might as well ask the same question for  Certified Nurse Midwife ( hope I have this name right.) What are their qualifications?

To become a CPM, one must take a course of study and do some hands on training and then pass the NARM exam.  Jill did that by the correspondence course out of Texas and following Venessa and a couple of other midwives and doing a few (very few) births. 

To become licensed, one must take the state exam in the state in which one wishes to practice.  Jill either did not take the AR exam or did not pass it.  I think she didn't even bother taking it. 

[EVS]

15 hours ago, bigskygirl said:

Learning life skills to benefit this world. Hmmm...Should it be to benefit the world because how many worlds do we have. I cannot picture this woman teaching.

Who does Jill think she is fooling? Any life skills the Duggar children supposedly learn are meant to primarily benefit the Duggar family. Otherwise JB would not let them learn that skill. 

[ginger90]

I am still waiting for the donate button to reappear. 

They posted a bunch of pictures from Mexico. Here are a few:

[MyPeopleAreNordic]

On 3/27/2018 at 5:48 PM, Future Cat Lady said:

Am I reading this correctly?  

People are poor because they don't believe in the right Jesus? 

Shut up bitch!

Yep, the (right) Jesus wants his followers to be RICH.  Forget that whole thing about rich men getting into heaven and camels fitting through the eyes of needles.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology

On 3/27/2018 at 8:59 PM, mynextmistake said:

Or, God forbid, those of us who are still married and work anyway because our kids are super into this new thing called “eating.”

Or those of us ladies who are married and work anyway because we have careers we love & spent several years being educated for those careers?  Heaven forbid a woman, especially a married mother, derive joy from having a career/job outside of the home & cultivate an identity outside of wife/mom.*    /eye roll 

Even if we could afford to live comfortably on one parent's salary, I'd still want to work. I'd let my husband be the stay-at-home-parent. 

(*I'm not knocking SAHMs. They have the hardest job on the planet. That is WORK. But the idea that some mothers want to work outside of the home is lost on these people.) 

Edited March 29, 2018 by MyPeopleAreNordic

[BitterApple]

I feel so bad for the poor guy being God-bothered on the bench. Hopefully he's a paid actor, lol.

[TresGatos]

14 hours ago, Zella said:

As dirty as I feel for saying something nice about Jim Jones, he actually helped desegregate Indianapolis

He was also a born grifter who got his start selling monkeys door-to-door. Something else he has in common with the Duggar/Dillard families (The grifting, that is. The selling of monkeys door-to-door is now outlawed, I believe, though I really don't know how difficult monkey acquisition is in the 21st Century as opposed to the 1960s).

I've been wondering if the 14-year-old "single mother" was forced to endure a home-birth so that her illegal pregnancy wouldn't come to the attention of the authorities? I wonder who the father was? Sometimes it's another 14 or 15 year old who is the father but often it's a legal adult and a 14-year-old acting out sexually is often a sign of a child who has been/is being molested or otherwise abused, and CPS should investigate. That is, if the 14-year-old "single mother" exists anywhere outside of Jill's imagination.

[ginger90]

For those who don’t want to give their site hits:

Thank you so much to all the ones who have partnered with us either in prayer and/or financially! We have seen God doing some amazing things!

As part of a group of young adults from Cross Church, I (Derick) was blessed to be a part of a mission journey to Guadalajara, Mexico.  I traveled with most of my family, including my wife Jill and our youngest son, Samuel.  Though Jill and I have a lot of experience in Latin America, having worked in/visited half of the Central American countries, neither of us had ever been to Mexico before this journey.  So, needless to say, we were definitely ready to get back to Central America, but also open and excited to see how God would work in this new place.

This particular mission journey was centered around helping a pastor friend of our church, plugging into however we could help his ministry for the Kingdom of Heaven.  He had recently returned back to his native Mexico with his wife and kids to plant a church in Guadalajara and much of our work centered around what the Lord is doing through his work there.  We hit the ground running the day after our arrival when we worked with the pastor’s church on Sunday morning, mainly assisting with kids and worship ministry.  That afternoon, we returned to the church to join the youth ministry in water sports activities.

The next day we had more of a relaxed day to hang out and be tourists with the pastor and his family on and around Lake Chapala, about an hour South of Guadalajara.  Part of what I learned about being open-minded in ministry is seeking to be vigilant in order to better perceive how God could be working at any moment, no matter the immediate context.  Even though this wasn’t as structured of a ministry day, our team took advantage of multiple opportunities to share the Gospel.  While we were in Tlaquepaque for the afternoon I even ran into a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks from Nepal, whose eyes lit up when I greeted them with “Tashi Delek” and a smile, surprised to hear that I had lived 5 minutes down the street from their monastery for 2 years.  Nothing says globalization like speaking English with Tibetan Buddhist Monks in Mexico!

Most of our time on Tuesday and Wednesday were specifically set aside for street evangelism.  Jill had Sam in tow, and he is particularly good at starting conversations   Sometimes I find myself skeptical of street evangelism efforts.  However, done the right way, I have seen it to be very fruitful in numerous ministry contexts.  Ultimately, you can’t go wrong sharing the Word of God with people because, after all, it is life for all of us, and God can use even the most pathetic human efforts for his glory; sometimes we just may not see the results if there are any.  During our days of street evangelism, we were able to, not only share the Gospel, but also point people to pastor’s church as well as receive their information for follow-up contact.  For this reason, I believe it’s important to work with indigenous churches while on short-term mission journeys.  I’m encouraged to see this pastor’s leadership, and I truly believe that God’s blessing in this area has a lot to do with why their church is the fastest growing church in Guadalajara.

Wednesday night we were back at the church preparing for, and then leading, breakout training sessions on various aspects of local church ministry.  I had the privilege of being part of the discipleship training for a handful of church leaders.  By Thursday, most of us had a little better understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by God’s work in the church, and we spent the morning prayer walking many of the neighborhoods surrounding the area.  Before going on to work at a local elementary school, we strengthened ourselves with some delicious torta ahogadas.  If you want an authentic Guadalajaran experience while trying to avoid tequila, I highly recommend this Mexican delicacy!  One thing to note about most Latin cultures is the relaxed sense of time.  This is a nice change from what we’re used to in the U.S. regarding the relational aspect of ministry to people.  I’m reminded of this because Wednesday and Thursday nights proved to be our latest nights, as we had settled a little more into Mexican culture.  After a wonderful Mexican dining experience with the pastor and his family on Thursday, we said our goodbyes, and then reality hit when we were informed that we needed to be in the lobby of our hotel after a 3-hour-night’s sleep before departing for the airport at 2 in the morning.  We had an awesome time with the people of Guadalajara and will not soon forget it!

[ginger90]

2 more pictures:

 

Yup, the wifey shirt made the trip.

[bigskygirl]

18 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

For those who don’t want to give their site hits:

Thank you so much to all the ones who have partnered with us either in prayer and/or financially! We have seen God doing some amazing things!

As part of a group of young adults from Cross Church, I (Derick) was blessed to be a part of a mission journey to Guadalajara, Mexico.  I traveled with most of my family, including my wife Jill and our youngest son, Samuel.  Though Jill and I have a lot of experience in Latin America, having worked in/visited half of the Central American countries, neither of us had ever been to Mexico before this journey.  So, needless to say, we were definitely ready to get back to Central America, but also open and excited to see how God would work in this new place.

This particular mission journey was centered around helping a pastor friend of our church, plugging into however we could help his ministry for the Kingdom of Heaven.  He had recently returned back to his native Mexico with his wife and kids to plant a church in Guadalajara and much of our work centered around what the Lord is doing through his work there.  We hit the ground running the day after our arrival when we worked with the pastor’s church on Sunday morning, mainly assisting with kids and worship ministry.  That afternoon, we returned to the church to join the youth ministry in water sports activities.

The next day we had more of a relaxed day to hang out and be tourists with the pastor and his family on and around Lake Chapala, about an hour South of Guadalajara.  Part of what I learned about being open-minded in ministry is seeking to be vigilant in order to better perceive how God could be working at any moment, no matter the immediate context.  Even though this wasn’t as structured of a ministry day, our team took advantage of multiple opportunities to share the Gospel.  While we were in Tlaquepaque for the afternoon I even ran into a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks from Nepal, whose eyes lit up when I greeted them with “Tashi Delek” and a smile, surprised to hear that I had lived 5 minutes down the street from their monastery for 2 years.  Nothing says globalization like speaking English with Tibetan Buddhist Monks in Mexico!

Most of our time on Tuesday and Wednesday were specifically set aside for street evangelism.  Jill had Sam in tow, and he is particularly good at starting conversations   Sometimes I find myself skeptical of street evangelism efforts.  However, done the right way, I have seen it to be very fruitful in numerous ministry contexts.  Ultimately, you can’t go wrong sharing the Word of God with people because, after all, it is life for all of us, and God can use even the most pathetic human efforts for his glory; sometimes we just may not see the results if there are any.  During our days of street evangelism, we were able to, not only share the Gospel, but also point people to pastor’s church as well as receive their information for follow-up contact.  For this reason, I believe it’s important to work with indigenous churches while on short-term mission journeys.  I’m encouraged to see this pastor’s leadership, and I truly believe that God’s blessing in this area has a lot to do with why their church is the fastest growing church in Guadalajara.

Wednesday night we were back at the church preparing for, and then leading, breakout training sessions on various aspects of local church ministry.  I had the privilege of being part of the discipleship training for a handful of church leaders.  By Thursday, most of us had a little better understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by God’s work in the church, and we spent the morning prayer walking many of the neighborhoods surrounding the area.  Before going on to work at a local elementary school, we strengthened ourselves with some delicious torta ahogadas.  If you want an authentic Guadalajaran experience while trying to avoid tequila, I highly recommend this Mexican delicacy!  One thing to note about most Latin cultures is the relaxed sense of time.  This is a nice change from what we’re used to in the U.S. regarding the relational aspect of ministry to people.  I’m reminded of this because Wednesday and Thursday nights proved to be our latest nights, as we had settled a little more into Mexican culture.  After a wonderful Mexican dining experience with the pastor and his family on Thursday, we said our goodbyes, and then reality hit when we were informed that we needed to be in the lobby of our hotel after a 3-hour-night’s sleep before departing for the airport at 2 in the morning.  We had an awesome time with the people of Guadalajara and will not soon forget it!

I think this says it all!

2 hours ago, EVS said:

Who does Jill think she is fooling? Any life skills the Duggar children supposedly learn are meant to primarily benefit the Duggar family. Otherwise JB would not let them learn that skill. 

I wonder if Jill meant this world as in her fundie world and not the real world the rest of us are a part of because lets face it, she does not want to deal with people who have a mind and a brain who do not believe she is a real midwife. The horror!!!

[bythelake]

32 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

For those who don’t want to give their site hits:

Thank you so much to all the ones who have partnered with us either in prayer and/or financially! We have seen God doing some amazing things!

As part of a group of young adults from Cross Church, I (Derick) was blessed to be a part of a mission journey to Guadalajara, Mexico.  I traveled with most of my family, including my wife Jill and our youngest son, Samuel.  Though Jill and I have a lot of experience in Latin America, having worked in/visited half of the Central American countries, neither of us had ever been to Mexico before this journey.  So, needless to say, we were definitely ready to get back to Central America, but also open and excited to see how God would work in this new place.

This particular mission journey was centered around helping a pastor friend of our church, plugging into however we could help his ministry for the Kingdom of Heaven.  He had recently returned back to his native Mexico with his wife and kids to plant a church in Guadalajara and much of our work centered around what the Lord is doing through his work there.  We hit the ground running the day after our arrival when we worked with the pastor’s church on Sunday morning, mainly assisting with kids and worship ministry.  That afternoon, we returned to the church to join the youth ministry in water sports activities.

The next day we had more of a relaxed day to hang out and be tourists with the pastor and his family on and around Lake Chapala, about an hour South of Guadalajara.  Part of what I learned about being open-minded in ministry is seeking to be vigilant in order to better perceive how God could be working at any moment, no matter the immediate context.  Even though this wasn’t as structured of a ministry day, our team took advantage of multiple opportunities to share the Gospel.  While we were in Tlaquepaque for the afternoon I even ran into a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks from Nepal, whose eyes lit up when I greeted them with “Tashi Delek” and a smile, surprised to hear that I had lived 5 minutes down the street from their monastery for 2 years.  Nothing says globalization like speaking English with Tibetan Buddhist Monks in Mexico!

Most of our time on Tuesday and Wednesday were specifically set aside for street evangelism.  Jill had Sam in tow, and he is particularly good at starting conversations   Sometimes I find myself skeptical of street evangelism efforts.  However, done the right way, I have seen it to be very fruitful in numerous ministry contexts.  Ultimately, you can’t go wrong sharing the Word of God with people because, after all, it is life for all of us, and God can use even the most pathetic human efforts for his glory; sometimes we just may not see the results if there are any.  During our days of street evangelism, we were able to, not only share the Gospel, but also point people to pastor’s church as well as receive their information for follow-up contact.  For this reason, I believe it’s important to work with indigenous churches while on short-term mission journeys.  I’m encouraged to see this pastor’s leadership, and I truly believe that God’s blessing in this area has a lot to do with why their church is the fastest growing church in Guadalajara.

Wednesday night we were back at the church preparing for, and then leading, breakout training sessions on various aspects of local church ministry.  I had the privilege of being part of the discipleship training for a handful of church leaders.  By Thursday, most of us had a little better understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by God’s work in the church, and we spent the morning prayer walking many of the neighborhoods surrounding the area.  Before going on to work at a local elementary school, we strengthened ourselves with some delicious torta ahogadas.  If you want an authentic Guadalajaran experience while trying to avoid tequila, I highly recommend this Mexican delicacy!  One thing to note about most Latin cultures is the relaxed sense of time.  This is a nice change from what we’re used to in the U.S. regarding the relational aspect of ministry to people.  I’m reminded of this because Wednesday and Thursday nights proved to be our latest nights, as we had settled a little more into Mexican culture.  After a wonderful Mexican dining experience with the pastor and his family on Thursday, we said our goodbyes, and then reality hit when we were informed that we needed to be in the lobby of our hotel after a 3-hour-night’s sleep before departing for the airport at 2 in the morning.  We had an awesome time with the people of Guadalajara and will not soon forget it!

So, in other words, this group of young, strong ,healthy adults did absolutely nothing.

[birkenstock]

1) Mexico is in North America. 2) I'm surprised Derick noted "most Latin cultures relaxed sense of time" since his in-laws run on Duggar time. 

Sam looks like he has moved from shock that Jill and Derick are his parents to disdain. He's going to have a killer side-eye.   

Edited March 28, 2018 by birkenstock

[Sew Sumi]

42 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

2 more pictures:

 

Yup, the wifey shirt made the trip.

So did the Roe v Wade shirt.

[kokapetl]

2 hours ago, ginger90 said:

I am still waiting for the donate button to reappear. 

They posted a bunch of pictures from Mexico. Here are a few:

“Everybody smile! Smile harder!”

Did they eat enchiladas for every meal?

How the hell can his braces still be on?

[BitterApple]

So Jill was planning to abort Sam and somehow he survived?!

[Picture It. Sicily]

Neither one of them ever smile with their eyes. Disconcerting.

Sammy should be wearing a shirt that says "I Survived My Mother's Ignorance In Midwifery"