Also:
“Church Statement on Volunteers in Turkey”
I’ve seen some mocking comments on ex-Mormon message boards — “mocking” and “indignant” are, on the whole, the only kind of comments some of them ever post — making fun of the Church’s use of the term volunteers to describe its representatives there.
Anybody familiar with the contemporary Middle East, though, knows that the word missionary (or its Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, or Persian equivalents) has a very negative and potentially dangerous connotation there. Moreover, since (rightly or wrongly) it carries with it allegations of using material inducements to lure Muslims into abandoning their faith, and so forth, it seems to me wise to avoid it. Volunteer is, of course, completely accurate and appropriate; it doesn’t carry the negative baggage with it that missionary does; and it rightly doesn’t suggest any kind of lucrative professional career in turning Muslims into Christians.
We have good, longtime friends who remain there, even after the younger “volunteers” have been withdrawn. We wish them all the best, and pray for them, as well as for the local members, some of whom we know.
Posted from Newport Beach, California
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