Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard will not resume their mission work in El Salvador. The couple had planned on returning to the country after Jill gave birth to their second child, but now they’ve decided to stay in Arkansas.
In a blog post on the Dillard Family website, Derick Dillard writes that he and Jill Duggar aren’t going to quit sharing the gospel with the world, they’re just taking a “new direction in ministry.” He begins his blog post by thanking donors for funding the two-year mission trip that he and Jill embarked on in July 2015. As CafeMom points out, the couple has been slammed for soliciting donations from fans to pay for their living expenses in El Salvador. Many critics have questioned why Jill and Derick didn’t use the money they made from the Duggar family’s two TLC reality series, Counting On and 19 Kids and Counting, to cover their costs. However, the couple has never offered an explanation for why they didn’t self-fund the trip.
“Thank you so much for your support of Dillard Family Ministries through your prayers and financial resources,” Derick writes. “It has been a joy and blessing to see how our Lord has worked in Central America, and your generous giving has been a huge part of making that possible!”
As the Inquisitr previously reported, Derick Dillard and Jill Duggar made their last appeal to fans for monetary assistance back in May. They were about to return home to Arkansas for the birth of their second child, and they said that they also needed money to cover their expenses during their vacation from the mission field. Now that they’ve abandoned their plan to go back to El Salvador, it’s unclear whether they’ll be refunding all of the donations that they’ve received since leaving the country.
“Through a number of circumstances, and guided by much prayer and counsel, we are discerning the Lord leading our family’s full-time ministry back to the United States for the time being.”
Derick hasn’t revealed how he plans on supporting his family now that the donations will stop coming in, but he used to work at Walmart as a tax accountant.
In his blog post, Derick doesn’t give fans a specific reason for why he and Jill are giving up on being missionaries, but it’s possible that they’ve decided that it’s too dangerous to return to El Salvador with an infant and a 2-year-old. The couple has often spoken about the gangs that are prevalent in the country, and the most recent newsletter for SOS Ministries , the organization that they partnered with for their mission trip, mentions some of the violence perpetrated by gang members. The Duggar Family News: Life Is Not All Pickles and Hairspray Facebook page has shared screenshots of the newsletter, which claims that SOS is currently providing refuge to a woman who is “the country’s top target by the gangs.” The newsletter also says that an SOS employee was recently murdered, and the son of a different SOS worker was kidnapped.
Pickles believes that SOS Ministries, Jill Duggar, and Derick Dillard just made things worse in El Salvador by “interfering with the people and their culture.” However, Derick claims that he and Jill Duggar made a lasting positive impact on the country during their short time there.
“During our time working with SOS Ministries over the past 2 years, we have witnessed God transforming the lives of many involved in the gang community and positively influencing the lives of young people for the sake of the Kingdom. Through numerous efforts of community development, skills training, sports outreach, and local church ministry, a strong foundation has been laid that I believe the Lord will continue to grow for many years to come.”
“At this time, God has seen fit for our family to continue serving him in ministry within the context of Northwest Arkansas,” Derick writes in closing.
Are you surprised that Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard have decided not to go back to El Salvador?
[Featured Image by Jill Dillard /Instagram]