"Recruits pay their own way to the tune of about $10,000 for the two years. It’s like a proselytizing version of the Peace Corps—except the Mormons have seven times as many volunteers in the field as the Peace Corps, and they’re in 145 countries—as opposed to the Peace Corps’ 75."
As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, I'd like to inform Mr Brook that his comparison of Peace Corps Volunteers to Mormon missionaries is off the mark. The most important difference is that PC Volunteers have been invited by the host country to do a specific job (for which they are paid the same salary as local workers). Missionaries, while perhaps tolerated, have not been invited, nor are they hired to work on international projects.
"Recruits pay their own way to the tune of about $10,000 for the two years. It’s like a proselytizing version of the Peace Corps—except the Mormons have seven times as many volunteers in the field as the Peace Corps, and they’re in 145 countries—as opposed to the Peace Corps’ 75."
As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, I'd like to inform Mr Brook that his comparison of Peace Corps Volunteers to Mormon missionaries is off the mark. The most important difference is that PC Volunteers have been invited by the host country to do a specific job (for which they are paid the same salary as local workers). Missionaries, while perhaps tolerated, have not been invited, nor are they hired to work on international projects.