Jill Duggar And Derick Dillard Update: Jill Pursuing A Real Job, Couple Making A Big Move
Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard’s recent mission trip update gives their generous donors some idea of how their money is being spent, but a few of the couple’s expenses are raising eyebrows.
As the Inquisitr previously reported, Duggar critics and even some fans of the family have started questioning how Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard are spending the funds solicited through their tax-exempt nonprofit, Dillard Family Ministries. There are concerns that the couple is spending the money on non-mission-related expenses like flying back to the States to attend the weddings of friends and family members.
The couple’s latest update on the Dillard Family website is seemingly a response to these concerns, but Jill and Derick’s post is only raising more questions about their financial situation. For one thing, the couple is going to be spending an entire month back home with their families, and they don’t reveal whether their donors’ money will be paying for their expenses while they enjoy their break from proselytizing in Central America.
“Jill, Israel, and I recently arrived back in the States for a planned, month long trip to take care of some things and enjoy time with family and friends while we’re here, before heading back to Central America,” Derick Dillard wrote on the Dillard Family blog. “As many of you know, Jill and I have been in language school for the past month, and we are encouraged by the opportunities we have had to share the hope of the Gospel with our teachers and for the relationships we have built while studying at the school.”
It looks like Jill Duggar and her husband might be using their donors’ money to pay for language school, and perhaps they’re trying to convert their Spanish teachers because they feel a bit guilty about spending donations in this manner. One commenter on the Duggar Family News: Life Is Not All Pickles and Hairspray Facebook page pointed out that Jill and Derick could have learned Spanish before leaving on their long-term mission trip in Central America.
“They basically admitted their (sic) not doing ministry work,” Melissa Adrian wrote. “They are taking spanish lessons. People are paying for them to stay in a hotel and take spanish classs that they could do in Arkansas.”
Fans’ donations may also be going toward helping Jill Duggar achieve her longtime dream of becoming a midwife. Entering into the midwifery field could help Jill financially support her family, but she’s not becoming a midwife to make a living — she’s doing it so that she can convert pregnant women.
“And Jill has been doubling up in the study department, as she has also been studying for her upcoming midwifery test to become a certified professional midwife!” Derick wrote. “I am so proud of all the hard work she has put in over the years to prepare to be a midwife.”
“As it should be in all Christian’s lives, she is using this skill as a means to an end, and that end being the spread of the message of the greatest love story ever told, that is, the work of Jesus Christ upon the cross so that all people who believe what he said and choose to make him the Lord* of their life will enjoy life with him forever in paradise.”
According to Pickles and Hairspray, Jill Duggar is likely getting her midwife certification in Guatemala, the location of her new home. Pickles points out that Jill may find it easier to become a certified midwife in the developing country than she would in the States.
“Guatemala does have different standards on becoming a midwife. El Salvador has no midwifery regulations. I’m sure Jill is studying with some local midwifery school.”
Jill and Derick are reportedly leaving El Salvador for the neighboring country of Guatemala so they can help S.O.S. Ministries get its new mission up and running. Derick says that he and Jill were “commissioned to the mission field” by Cross Church in Arkansas, but the church probably won’t be supporting Derick and Jill during their first two years abroad. This means that they’ll have to continue relying on donations for quite some time.
Derick revealed that he and Jill just finished moving the rest of their belongings out of their home in Arkansas, so the couple is definitely in this for the long haul. Once they return to Central America after their month-long break, Jill Duggar and her husband will resume language school.
Do you think it was wrong for Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard to head to the mission field before they learned the Spanish language and before Jill finished her midwifery classes?
[Image via Dillard Family website]
