Missionaries coming home from Liberia

[Spicy McHaggis]

http://www.independentprobe.com/2020/02 ... f-liberia/

A week or two ago the church announced missionaries were coming home early from Liberia. The church claims it was due to economic instability.

According to this article it sounds like something else. Perhaps the missionaries aren't getting enough money to buy food, as is usually the case in 3rd world countries.

[Corsair]

http://www.independentprobe.com/2020/02 ... f-liberia/

A week or two ago the church announced missionaries were coming home early from Liberia. The church claims it was due to economic instability.

According to this article it sounds like something else. Perhaps the missionaries aren't getting enough money to buy food, as is usually the case in 3rd world countries.

The church would have needed fortified compounds for their missionaries if they wanted to continue a western standard of food, water, electricity, and safety. While the mission president gets that, the average 18 year old will be tossed into a cardboard shack in a remote shanty town if the work is proceeding apace. It would require an embarrassing expenditure to provide that for missionaries, particularly when American and native Liberian missionaries would be working together. As wealthy as the LDS church has been shown to be, they don't have the resources or clout to fix the economy of a third-world country to be safe for naive Americans walking around trying to gather converts.

I have had friends serving in South America with native mission companions who were being supported by the church. The problem was that these boys were plucked from poverty and had no experience with proper spending based on a regular paycheck. Americans reported having to support their companion after they blew all their food money frivolously in the first half of the month.

I can't say I'm sad for serving in a safe, boring mission like Canada where the greatest danger was moose disrupting cars at unfortunate times.

[Spicy McHaggis]

http://www.independentprobe.com/2020/02 ... f-liberia/

A week or two ago the church announced missionaries were coming home early from Liberia. The church claims it was due to economic instability.

According to this article it sounds like something else. Perhaps the missionaries aren't getting enough money to buy food, as is usually the case in 3rd world countries.

The church would have needed fortified compounds for their missionaries if they wanted to continue a western standard of food, water, electricity, and safety. While the mission president gets that, the average 18 year old will be tossed into a cardboard shack in a remote shanty town if the work is proceeding apace. It would require an embarrassing expenditure to provide that for missionaries, particularly when American and native Liberian missionaries would be working together. As wealthy as the LDS church has been shown to be, they don't have the resources or clout to fix the economy of a third-world country to be safe for naive Americans walking around trying to gather converts.

I have had friends serving in South America with native mission companions who were being supported by the church. The problem was that these boys were plucked from poverty and had no experience with proper spending based on a regular paycheck. Americans reported having to support their companion after they blew all their food money frivolously in the first half of the month.

I can't say I'm sad for serving in a safe, boring mission like Canada where the greatest danger was moose disrupting cars at unfortunate times.

That's a good point.

[blazerb]

Does anyone know if there is any social unrest in Liberia? I looked at the news, but I don't see any sign of protests or anything really.

Maybe what the church said is true, but I spent time serving with the poor in South America. I never saw any sign that the church was worried about economic instability. I was there when we paid our own way. I always had plenty of money. There was no concern that I saw from the church about the problems. We dealt with huge demonstrations by groups who had no love for the USA. There were terrorist attacks on our buildings. As far as I know, the church did not consider removing us from the mission. It looks like Liberia is relatively stable at the current time, but very poor.

Either the church has suddenly gotten very concerned about the well-being missionaries beyond anything I've seen before, there is unrest that is not showing up on the news, or something fishy is going on.

[Red Ryder]

Either the church has suddenly gotten very concerned about the well-being missionaries beyond anything I've seen before, there is unrest that is not showing up on the news, or something fishy is going on.

Let me decipher this with a financial objective in mind.

Economic instability here means that the majority of people there can’t afford even the basic necessities of human life like food, shelter, and Netflix. This means that there isn’t even a foundation of church priesthood leadership to support a branch assuming the missionaries can find and teach people. In short, it costs more money to support the church in Liberia than its worth therefore the church has to pull its assets out of the region and re-asign them elsewhere or simply send them home. Especially true if the church is supporting native missionaries.

I know it’s easy to throw money out as the reason the church does stupid stuff but you don’t get a $100B second coming war chest by not considering the bottom line.

Ok so I read the article after posting above. Seems there’s a bit of unfair treatment going on. According to the article:

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is reducing the number of its missionaries in Liberia due to economic and instability in Liberia, the Independent Probe newspaper has established that uncontrollable corruption and marginalization has rocked the local church here in Liberia, prompting the immediate pullout of mission at the Monrovia, Liberia Mission of the church.

Our source hinted that there are heated confusion ranging from withholding of needed allowances intended for both local and returning missionaries by local heads of the church.

Additionally, our source hinted that the dissatisfaction at the Monrovia Liberia Mission has extended to other missionaries from other countries apart from those from the United states who have also expressed dissatisfaction over the refusal of Mission President, (Bishop, or presiding pastor), Blair D. Hope, a retired U.S. Army veteran to equally distribute benefits as prescribe by the rules governing the missionary profolio. This claim has not been independent verify by the Independent Probe, as email messages send have not been responded to.

Our sources furthermore stated that members of the accounts and procurement departments have hugely misapplied much needed church funds from its international headquarters in the state Utah, with the construction of fabulous houses and luxury travels at the detriment of the Liberia mission (Monrovia, Liberia Mission).

[moksha]

...the Independent Probe newspaper has established that uncontrollable corruption and marginalization has rocked the local church here in Liberia, prompting the immediate pullout of mission at the Monrovia, Liberia Mission of the church.

...withholding of needed allowances intended for both local and returning missionaries by local heads of the church.

dissatisfaction over the refusal of Mission President Blair D. Hope, a retired U.S. Army veteran, to equally distribute benefits as prescribed by the rules governing the missionary portfolio. ... hugely misapplied much-needed church funds from its international headquarters in the state Utah, with the construction of fabulous houses and luxury travels at the detriment of the Liberia mission.

Well, this is not a mission story you hear every day. Imagine this will soon be hushed up.

Update - there is no Mission President Blair D. Hope. Wonder how much of this story is a hoax.

[Thoughtful]

If the Liberians were paying their tithing, they would be blessed. I guess they didn't live up to their obligations.