A day to forget: Adventism that's memorable for the wrong reasons!

I want to start out by saying that I support and believe in the work of our Literature Evangelists. I just don't care for this particular approach that I experienced. This started out as an amicable day at church when I was approached by a couple who asked if they could be invited to our home. Now, knowing that they were Literature evangelists,I knew they would try to make me buy some products(kinda like annoying sales persons or telemarketers) but, I thought I'd give them a chance to state their case and then I could politely decline any offers. Besides, I thought that I should at least entertain them since I don't hesitate so much to let Jehovah's witness groups to come even if I know I don't particularly believe in their teachings and don't want to buy any of their literature.
You see, I happen to be the type who does not like to buy stuff. I would spend on food, internet and phone ( communication to the outside world) but books, clothing, and other stuff? I don't only think twice...well...maybe I don't even have to think about it since I just don't buy unless it is for my students or my kids...and that is still rare.
Anyway, when these two LEs(Literature evangelists) came to our house, mind you-an hour late from what we had agreed on, it started out as expected. Of course, during the initial presentation with the visual aid, I was already taken aback by what I saw. I was thinking "How can this be that our own group has a prehistoric/ outdated and unattractive presentation?" I acknowledge that I'm very much a critical person but I'm sure many of us have experienced and seen different presentations by groups that essentially work through networking. I've seen one on products that sell their line of household necessities, a company that is about insurance of sorts, another that tells you to make your own idea but have their mode of marketing and all sorts. So, all I'm saying is that I do have an idea of how great a presentation can be that even if you really don't have the means or don't even need something you might be persuaded to buy into the idea. I've sat through presentation upon presentation and have observed each person's talent but also the product's quality even only on the basis of the visual aid presentation.
Let's continue with the story. When it got to the point where it was "So which one would you like to buy?" I was ready with my "I'm so sorry but I don't need any of these." But then it went on to the point of being nasty. Yes, nasty is the word. You see,I decided after much prodding that out of the goodness of my heart I would donate an amount that I thought was more than what I'd normally dish out to a Jehovah's witness group. Not just double but four times more! It was because they're our own Adventist group. But instead of a pleasant response I got more bad comments. Sure, I understand that they're coming from the mindset: "We came a long way to be here and so we're going to get you to buy something." I wish I didn't hear those comments though that they made about how they've had better experience with non-adventists because unlike them(according to the couple) we,adventists,tend to think little of Literature evangelists while others would even entertain them as guests and feed them. That just got to my nerve. We had explained to them how as church musicians we really don't have the means that maybe those in the medical field would have. And even if we had money to spare,we already have tons of books! I don't have to point out to them that we don't monopolize the production of Christian Literature and we don't necessarily even have the best material out there. Let's just take the example of Bible stories for children or any other children's book/cd. Have they really looked at other products and seen how we compare? I wish our General Conference would take a closer look at the products we have and not just rely on the message we're giving but the quality. What about our 3abn? How do we compare? Our shows? Really, it is bad enough that most people still see us only as the weirdos who don't eat such and such and attend church on a different day. But to add to that our pathetic line of products and shows. We surely have the truth and tons of enlightened beliefs but we've got to up our over-all presentation. We're not suppose to judge a book by it's cover but we do judge We look at the packaging and sometimes even the label attached to the products we buy. Of course we look at the content, but if you can get a product with the same essential elements inside but with additioinal catch-eye features with no additional cost. I'm sure you'd get the one with everything in it.
Children don't need to be taught about good quality visuals..maybe about good values and such but they can tell which ones are poor quality(kinda like the study where babies gravitate upon beautiful faces).At this point I would normally make a suggestion but since I'm not into the field of visual arts I will refrain to make any ... I could say something about how we still need to improve on how we support our church musicians and our educational standards for music but that would be an entirely different topic.
I really hate putting down my fellow countrymen(the couple who came happen to be such) but I think that as a general view in life, if you believe so much in what you are doing the best route is to create your own company and be your own boss. If you keep working for someone else, whether the conference or your family's business, and keep having complaints about the work ethics or just about anything. Then maybe it is time to do something else. You can't make people buy what they don't want. You can only make them buy what they think they need. And if you have no talent in that area of convincing people to buy your product, then there is a problem because the world of marketing has grown so much. The internet is an area that has surpassed the effects of tv when it comes to consumer products. Online buying has gone to a record high. I don't need statistics to back me up. Just from my personal experience , being one who 4 years ago was not into buying stuff online, I can attest to the ease/ convenience and the high quality and yet low cost purchase that you can have. So I am guilty of having had some moments where my non-buying self got sucked into this" I can get it for cheap" mode where I didn't need a telemarketer or a sales persons to convince me to get something I really didn't need.
What then? I just hope that we start looking at ourselves and remember that "a sermon in shoes" is much more needed than what we can get from any book, tv show or any church event we might hope to attract others. Another thing is that if you meet a Seventh-day adventist that you don't like, don't generalize. Like any other family of believers, there are mature ones that exemplify Christ's example of true Christianity and some of us that continue to struggle with our baby-steps , who keep falling and are not able to express ourselves well. We all need to remember that Christ should be the center of our lives and it is He who is the only one we can truly believe in and trust to fulfill our every need and He alone will never leave us nor forsake us. Jesus remembers us even when we forget to remember the Sabbath day and become the very Adventists we preach against.