IB A1 English Choism

Before I continue reading the 'Peace child' I think it is necessary to know what the author himself values in this world and how he relates to faith. He is a Canadian Christian missionary who worked with indigenous tribes of Western New Guinea especially with the Sawi who were notorious for being 'cannibalistic' and 'headhunters'. Don Richardson believes that God has given evangelization to these people by some practices or understandings that he refers to as 'redemptive analogies' and he stresses that the 'spirit of god' can regenerate these people who just seem malicious and hopeless. His 'faith' that concerns about teaching the minorities how to communicate to Jesus Christ in a meaningful way is demonstrated when he and his wife risked their lives to travel a region that has the world's most violent cultures. He was exposed to many diseases such as malaria, dysentery and others but the fact that he confronted these obstacles shows how he was dedicated and convinced about changing the way the Sawi people think and how they regard about the world.

As I read the book, I am more convinced that the Sawi aren't 'ordinary' and they certainly give me a cultural shock; who would have expected that there are still some people out there in the world who eat other human beings and value treachery as an ideal? To these people, the idealization of treachery is part of their culture and they even think that it is appropriate to take advantage by 'fattening victims with friendships'. The Sawi culture is distinctive to the rest of the cultures that exist in this world, having its own world view, keeping a small 'cosmos' to themselves, worshipping their ancestors and revering their own sets of legends.

Nowadays, people are becoming modernized and I think that communication is the key to acknowledge that there are different ways in which people can approach the 'spirit of God'. I believe that we, as 'civilized people', should encourage the minorities to accept the teaching of Jesus Christ just like what the author did to the Sawi.