Missionary Positions

An article in the Bangkok Post this week detailed the expansion plans of an international school that is operating in Thailand. This one, Trinity International School, is 40% owned by a local bank, but the school is a member of the Association of Seventh-Day Adventist Schools and Colleges. According to Viroj Siriwattanakamol, the CEO of Trinity Education Co. Ltd., the school offers lower tuition fees than other Thailand-based international schools (of which there are dozens) because the “teachers are Seventh-day Adventists and willing to accept low salaries while carrying out their missionary work, which focuses on helping students achieve mental and physical balance.”

Frankly, I find the presence of such missionaries in Thailand to be more than a bit creepy. Their need – or mission - to convert the “heathens” in foreign countries such as Thailand strikes me as very perverted. Thailand is a lovely country with a peaceful vibe. Much of that serenity I attribute to the widespread practice of Buddhism among the populace. Why do so many Christian organizations feel like it’s their duty to set up operations in foreign countries in the attempt to convert others to Christianity? They seem to believe that they have some sort of monopoly on faith, charity, forgiveness and morality. I don’t think so!

The other disturbing aspect of this sort of missionary work is that it usually comes with stipulations. If Christians come over here to help underprivileged people out of the kindness of their heart, that is wonderful. But when they build schools for communities or provide food and medicine to the poor under the condition that the recipients must accept Christ as their savior (and repent from their previous “immoral” lifestyle), well, that’s when I think these seemingly sincere acts of generosity have suspect motivation.