missionary tangent

I was with my cousins in milwaukee today, and as we drove by a church the younger one  asked "how do you pray, i dont know how. Can i just walk in and start if i don't belong to that church?" My older cousin responded, " yeah, I'm sure you could just walk in. In fact, i bet they they would be glad for an outsider to come in and ask them how to pray." This got me thinking about the psalms, and how they could be used as effective tools to attempt to convert non-christians.

In class we covered how the psalms may have been historical in origin, yet they are translated in such a was that they are relevant to the individual. One can apply the psalms lesson's and message to one's own life. The psalms were translated this way so that people could find solace in them. This is useful from a missionary standpoint. 

When ever i hear about missionary work, it is always in some far away third world country. If the missionaries show these people, who probably dont have the easiest life, the comfort of the psalms, there is a good chance the people will convert in search of something to have hope in.

What the missionaries are showing may not be what the psalm was originally intended to mean. There is a difference in what they mean, and how they are applied. The are applied in the best interest of the church, so if that means changing the meaning to attempt to convert more people, it seems logical that they would alter the translations.