Entry 9

Do missionaries destroy cultures?

It was Don Richardson’s will to reach to the Sawis before the society inundate the environment with myriad of businesses, buildings, and foreigners. The Sawis would have definitely been perplexed by its rapid change than the change Don Richardson wanted to introduce. Because Sawis were already under the government’s eyes, who probably would have forced the Sawis to change their lifestyles with guns and other weapons in their hands, it was Richardson’s task to convince the Sawis in a peaceful manner before the government come upon the natives. However, this wasn’t the only goal Richardson strived for. His main purpose was to approach the Sawis to interact with the people to help them be familiar with God and eventually acknowledge God’s love. It is not abnormal to see missionaries in places where not a lot of people visit. Places are usually where people are not aware of the notion of Christianity or are strongly devoted to other beliefs. Many missionaries attempt to make connections (even if it’s shallow) with the people who are considered isolated from the modern society. Missionaries also help these people medically and educate them to alleviate the standard of living of the people. In the book, Richardson’s wife Carol helped cure many diseases that triggered many people’s lives for years providing different kinds of medications.
However what missionaries and organizations really do is to lead these corrupted and uneducated people from digression to the right way to live with an eternal salvation. Introducing the real Peace Child to the primitives, Richardson also guaranteed an eternal peace among the tribes and eradicated cannibalism from the culture.

Entry 8

How do I relate to faith? How did Don Richardson relate to Faith? How do the Sawi relate to faith?

Dear God,

I’ll be honest with you God. I was quite discouraged to compare my own faith to Don Richardson’s and the Sawis’ while I was reading this book. I have lived all my life living within your boundary, continuously encountering your words and meeting different people who are devoted to your love. But how come my faith is so fragile compared to the Sawis who had found you later in their lives? I am living in a world where options are limited as a student. This may sound like an excuse, but I didn’t have a major turning point in my life to solidify my faith. Don Richardson had an evident purpose when he first approached the tribes, and the Sawis gained opportunities to reflect on their lives and to correct their immoral culture. I, as a student, go to chapel every Tuesday morning and struggle among students to follow the procedures and obligations that the world has planned out for me. Even if I am opened to all the technologies and Media, why do I feel more insecure than Don Richardson and the Sawis who lived in an unprotected territory? But God, there is one thing I really want to tell you: there may have been times when I turned my back on you, but I have never doubted your presence. I knew that there was someone in this vast meaningless world, who was looking over me from the beginning to the end of my day, of my time. This is the faith I have on you.

Entry 7

How does Faith relate to the world in which we live?

Faith is obliviously included in our daily lives, especially among our families, friends, teachers and acquaintances. In most religious realm, however, people consider faith as hopes in their lives to depend on or to be comforted. Because it is an undeniable fact that human beings are vulnerable, it is easy to encounter people using religion to feel less difficult in life, seeking hope and being able to gain strength to continue moving on. Non-believers claim that Christians are weak because they depend on a nonexistent figure. It may be an enigmatic matter for those who don’t know the power of God, but it is a magnificent factor that anyone could claim to save themselves from various struggles and hardships. My faith as a Christian is definitely fragile, but just by knowing that someone is out there watching over me, it gives me a little comfort to blame on him or ask for help. In the case of the Sawis, faith was applied in a completely different way that most people perceive. They had faith in a belief that betrayal and treachery were significant in their lives, and this molded their society to be a violent culture of betraying their own friends, which made it even more uneasy for other people to approach them. It is important that the faith needs to be well formed because it becomes a permanent characteristic of a person.

Entry 6

Are primitive cultures, like the Sawi, necessary in our present world?

No one can deny that we are drenched in a fast-evolving society, where technology has replaced the hands of the workers and where the most fundamental appreciation towards nature has been diminished. Now, primitive cultures are often treated as children’s bed time stories or another lecture on the Prehistoric Era, because people have became so myopic to the world they are living, that they have closed themselves from having a real “secular view”. And sometimes, it is necessary to look back to the most basic phase that the world has gone through, where spears and rocks were mainly used and fire didn’t come from stoves or matches. It is quite helpful to cleanse our eyes, our perspectives from the havoc, and ponder the radical in a rational view (though it might be quite complex). Be simple and look at the world one more time. Because of these primitive cultures, the Sawis, we are able to have a chance to look at different sides of the box: religion, tradition, culture, moral, symbols, and relationships. So, let’s turn off our ipods, pikachu volleyball games, minesweepers, or whatever, and look at the creations we have covered with our own hands.