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‘Colonizing in the Name of Jesus’: Missionary Leader Blasted for Trying to Convert Indigenous People to Christianity

Brooks Buser, the president of the Christian ministry training organization Radius International is under fire after bragging about converting people in Papua New Guinea to Christianity – especially during a pandemic.
“Tomorrow night, deep in the mountains of Papua New Guinea, after 5 months of teaching that started in Genesis 1:1, the gospel will be presented to the Amdu people for the first time in their known history,” Buser tweeted. “Please be praying for the missionary team.”
Based in Arizona, Radius International doesn’t call it “converting.”
Instead, they call converting indigenous people in lands on the other side of the planet “the great commission,” and “cross-cultural church planting.”
Here’s what they say they do:
“Radius International is committed to assisting the evangelical church and missions community by providing pre-field missionary training that will equip cross-cultural workers to achieve their objective of partnering with Jesus Christ to establish healthy, indigenous, reproducing churches among unreached people groups.”
Let’s look st that again: “cross-cultural workers,” “partnering with Jesus Christ,” “reproducing churches,” “unreached people groups.”
He later tweeted their “success”:
Thank you for the prayers for Amdu people and team. By God’s grace, there are now members of that people group who are reconciled to God, who no longer have their sins counted against them.
— Brooks Buser (@BuserBrooks) August 8, 2020
On social media many are furious.
Have you considered just leaving them alone?
— 🇮🇷👨🏾💻🇸🇻 Oxygen Freakquency 👨🏾🔧 (@SoundsnColor) August 9, 2020
Leave them alone. Your arrogance is so extreme that you’ll endanger them during a global pandemic, all purely for you to be able to perform to fellow white supremacist Christians.
— Anil Dash (@anildash) August 9, 2020
Can’t we leave these people alone? Aren’t thousands of years of history enough to prove the damage this does? https://t.co/gc9jp6FzC5
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) August 10, 2020
You believe in a God powerful enough to send his only son down to Earth as a messenger but you don’t think he had a backup plan for the salvation of native nations? What a weird loophole. Leave these people alone. You are doing the work of a modern colonizer. Stop!
— Jason Shellen (@shellen) August 9, 2020
Their hearts are just fine. Open your minds to the possibility that colonizing in the name of Jesus is wrong.
— Stephanie McCown 🏳️🌈 (@StephanieMick75) August 9, 2020
imagine doing this in the midst of a global pandemic, just totally deranged. it also puts them at great risk whilst committing cultural genocide. these grotesque “missionaries” with their narcissistic white savior complex are the worst scum on earthhttps://t.co/26P9LcKQlM
— ☀️👀 (@zei_squirrel) August 9, 2020
The arrogance of evangelists knows no boundaries!!
— Pierre le Houte (@parrythehoot) August 9, 2020
Just leave people alone and stop trying to ram your religion down their throats, you abusers.
— Mike P Williams (@Mike_P_Williams) August 9, 2020
Good lord, can you ever just leave them alone? Indigenous cultures shouldn’t be violated and their culture should be preserved, not fucking obliterated by this. Leave them alone, you’ll be doing them a big favor.
— Comrade Mario H. Stalin ☭ 🇵🇭🏳️🌈 (@derpydodo2) August 8, 2020
Holy shit, White Savior Dude – stop bothering the nice brown people and go the fuck home. https://t.co/hnsEm2xqP0
— Plain Ol’ Johnny Graz says #DontCatchCOVID (@jvgraz) August 9, 2020
Could you hold off on the spiritual genocide until we are at least done with the GLOBAL PANDEMIC
— Roo sends Mr. Nook to the guillotine (@DeLesslin) August 9, 2020
Words cannot express how sickened I am by this. Remote tribes are already vulnerable to outside disease, to visit them during a pandemic is truly monstrous. https://t.co/O7FNmGtFyl
— Tom Parker (@Tomozaurus) August 10, 2020
How is this not illegal yet. https://t.co/sGOsvZGtfF
— Poolside Pegasus Seiya (@ByamboFred) August 9, 2020

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