Jill Duggar Dillard Mission With Derick Could Get Duggars Family ’19 Kids’ Cancelled After Josh Duggar Scandal [Photos]


Jill Duggar Dillard is going on a mission with her husband, Derick. And what that means for the 19 Kids And Counting reality TV show, on the brink of cancellation after the scandal that resulted when Josh Duggar admitted he had molested five underage girls, remains to be seen.

But in Jill Duggar’s view, the future is bright for the Dillards. Joined by their son, Israel David, Derick and Jill will begin their mission trip in July, reported People.

Dillard, 26, revealed the plans on the couple’s Web site.

“God has put a desire in our hearts to serve Him internationally for longer than the typical short-term mission trip. Earlier this year God brought about an opportunity much earlier than either of us was expecting.”

Derick also revealed that he and Jill had planned and prayed about the potential for the mission for months before publicizing it.

Jill Duggar Dillard is planning a mission with husband Derick.
Jill Duggar Dillard is planning a mission with husband Derick.

In his announcement, Dillard made no reference to the scandal that occurred. However, it has impacted his wife, Jill, because both she and her sister Jessa (Duggar Seewald) revealed that they were among Josh’s victims.

“We have a deep love and care for all of the world and a real passion for those in the nations, as many have even seen in the early stages of our relationship, and our hope is that all peoples of the world would come to repentance and put their hope in the Lord, Jesus Christ,” explained Derick of the reason for going on the mission.

For those who had hoped that 19 Kids And Counting would return in some form, the news that Jill Duggar Dillard is leaving the country for that mission significantly lowers the odds, reported TMZ.

TLC had been planning to modify the premise of the show so that rather than the entire Duggar family, Jessa and Jill would be the primary players. Now, it appears that with that possibility gone, it’s even less likely that the show can return to the air.

"We love our family!" wrote Jill Duggar of her "19 Kids And Counting" clan.
“We love our family!” wrote Jill Duggar of her 19 Kids And Counting clan.

And although some thought that Megyn Kelly’s interview with Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar would ease the return of 19 Kids And Counting, in reality it’s only complicating things, an expert told the Wrap.

“It will be really hard for TLC to bring this show back, and it will have to be more than this interview,” predicted NPR TV critic Eric Deggans.

“They’ll have to sit down with someone who is really independent and answer some really tough questions about what happened,” added Deggans. “If they do that, maybe they can salvage it. But now, I don’t see how TLC brings it back.”

Moreover, the Duggars, as a family, failed to persuade most viewers that they had correctly handled the situation when their oldest son told them that he had molested his sisters, said a public relations specialist.

“They played to their base and it may give them some sort of career in the evangelical community, and people who liked them before probably left the interview still liking them, but I don’t think it converted anybody,” concluded Howard Bragman, chairman and founder of Fifteen Minutes Public Relations.

“They keep talking about ‘Josh’s mistake’ but the reality is the way it was handled was a mistake.”

Since May 22, when the molestation scandal first gained traction in the public eye, 19 Kids and Counting has been off TLC’s schedule but not officially cancelled. However, the show’s main advertisers (General Mills, Walgreens, and Choice Hotels) quickly abandoned their support of the show.

As for the center of the scandal storm, Josh Duggar and his wife, Anna, have gradually returned to social media to reveal their current activities, as the Inquisitr reported.

[Image via Jill and Derick Dilllard’s Facebook]

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