A passage that deals with God's gift to us

They knew the peace-child concept was their best. Now they were finding what I too had found nine years before - man's best is not enough! They were approaching the realization that everyone's true self is waiting for him in the Son of God...Once again, there was stillness in the manhouse. -Page 187-

When I read this specific passage, there was a stillness inside of me. 'Wow' I thought to myself, 'Even our best is not good enough... How imperfect and harried are we in the first place?' This one short excerpt from the book challenged and radically changed the way I perceived humanity.

Even though there were many times I shook my head in disgust about all the cruel wars and crimes in the world, I had always held a strong faith that humans are genuinely pure and good-hearted beings. I thought that mankind had the ability to return back to its tranquil and congenial ways whenever it needed to, even when it was in the midst of all the sin and woe in life. That was why , I believed, celebrities and famous personages, like Leonardo Di Caprio and Oprah Winfrey, found joy and satisfaction in donating momentous amounts of their fortune to the less fortunate, even when they were exposed to so much monetary temptation and lavishness. 

If the Sawi's best is their trading of Peace Children, then the best of the modern society is most likely peace treaties and reconciliation. However, if we think about it, even our best originates from some things that are utterly diabolical and disturbing: war and conflict. The reason why these 'bests' exist in the first place is because we want pacify all the brutality and cruelty that occur when we disagree and argue. The army alliance between Korea and America during the Korean War was initially made because South Koreans desperately needed aid from the American army to restore all their wounded soldiers and to take revenge on the North. After having this epiphany, I felt ashamed and embarrassed that we people confidently flaunt and wave around our 'best' for the whole world to see, when our greatest feats are actually superficial masks that cover up all the ugliness inside of us. 

Humanity, I felt, has no such thing as a good heart. Although it was painful and depressing to do so, I concluded that people are genuinely as imperfect and harried as all our crime, sin, and outer appearance are. Even the Bible seemed to exclaim that we are brought forth in iniquity, and that we branch from innate sin (Psalm 51:5). However, the next portion of the passage comforted my disappointment as it assured me that our 'true' pure selves await us in the arms of God's Son, Jesus. 

For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only begotten Son, that whoever should believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more. (John 12:43)

As these two Bible verses explain, God has been merciful enough to give us the one and only opportunity to escape from our innate and genuinely faulty ways by giving us Jesus, God's Messenger and Son. Only after tyeing the meaning of the passage and the Bible verses together was I able to discover the profound truth that left the people in the manhouse silent in awe. There is no such thing like our "bests" in our world. The closest we can get to the "best" is by approaching and believing Christ.

Are we really THAT different?

Hoary millenniums earlier, their ancestors and mine had been one people, living together, using the same tools and weapons, pursuing the same goals, speaking the same language. Then they had wandered apart, not merely into differing climes, but into steadily diverging life styles as well... We were equally human...flesh and blood...men. -Page 100~101-

      The theme for this year's Spiritual Emphasis Week was "essence", the thing that remains in us when all the insignificance miscellaneous is brewed away. What I discovered quite disconcerting about the theme was that most of the time, I was not happy about what remained as the essence of my soul. Although we may wish for our morals and ethical values to remain as our essence, it is but, of course, something disappointing that lasts and resists all the brewing: our greed. 

      The modern society has managed to disguise and embellish its greedy nature with a facetious of civilized practices and pleasing etiquettes; however, fundamentally, the modern world and the cutoff society of the Sawi are quite the same. Both worlds live so they can satisfy their greed. Both base their societal system on power and authority, fatten their enemies with friendship so they can sore above the ashes of their competition, and resolve arguments via wars and treachery. Although we people of the modern society claim that we are not nearly as sadistic as the brutal murderers and cannibals, a renowned quote challenges our assurances and proclamations. "Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding two guns than two hands?" When observing this quote, we can definitely discover how humans naturally have the tendency to lean towards war than compliance and that our beliefs in our morality are groundless claims. The reason why such culturally different communities are so similar can be tracked back to the essence of humanity. Because the Sawi and the people of the modernized world all live according to their greed, it can be said that the modern culture and Sawi tenants have no significant difference between each other, but have a great resemblance in their flawed, selfish, and sadistic hearts. 

      It is most likely that Don Richardson was able to influence and change the Sawi because he and the tribal people came from the same seed, the same essence. God was probably working behind the scenes of Richardson's journey, preaching the same gospel to the modern and primitive communities and rectifying the innately greedy nature those two societies held in common.

...but inside, the Sawi have a heart.

      When I first checked out Peace Child from the school library, the first words that I read out of the book were the following:

'Peace Child...An Unforgettable Story of Primitive Jungle Treachery in the 20th Century...'

      These words gave me the strong impression that Don Richardson's book was going to illustrate the merciless and diabolical ways of the heartless tribal people in New Guinea. However, as I read deeper into the story, I discovered that beneath the treachery and slaughter, there were goodness and human affection in the Sawi people. Many of Richardson's Sawi comrades payed him with great loyalty and obedience like no other that I have ever seen. When Richardson tried to save Warahai from succumbing to the Sawi 'aumamay', Mahaen, a villager who had grown friendly towards Richardson, determinedly complied to carry Warahai back to Richardson's hut, ignoring all the contempt and pressure that he received from his fellow Sawis. For one to follow a foreigner's request and turn against his/her society is something that cannot be easily done, even in our modern culture. Another thing that amazed me was the fact that the Sawi had affectionate feelings for their children. When the families offered their children as the Peace Child to be traded between two tribes for everlasting peace, the mothers and fathers of the children cried in despair and sorrow, pleading for their children with all the force of their souls. Richardson describes the scene as something that he and his wife "had felt the most sympathy for a fellow human being" (page 168). Similar to their love for their family, the Sawi feel attachment towards nature and life.

I would have guessed they were also poets-an entire subclass of Sawi verbs is devoted to personifying inanimate objects as speaking! If a flower has a pleasant scent, it is saying fok! fok! to your nostrils. Is it also beautiful? It is saying ga! ga! to your eyes. When a star twinkles it is whispering sevair! sevair! If your eyes twinkle they are calling si! si! If mud squish around your feet, it is murmuring sos! sos! In the Sawi universe, not only man, but all things are communicating. -Page 147-

      This excerpt from the story shows that the Sawi people enjoy observing the world in which they live. They appreciate nature and life so much that they find it reasonable enough to dedicate a range of their language for describing objects as if they were blessed with life.

      The capability of the Sawi to stay true and obedient to their comrades, to cherish their family and children, and to celebrate the gifts of life and nature totally contradict their treacherous values of power, misery, and slaughter. Because they do not have a reliable source of faith, like Christianity or trust in a merciful God, could it be that they feel vulnerable and fragile in the midst of all the danger and bloodbaths? Could they be praising death because they fear the end of their lives, not because they enjoy the treachery that death brings? Their vulnerability and fear tie back to all their other headhunting and cannibalistic ways. Might not the Sawi depend on their ominous body paintings, weapons and spears, and brutal wars because they don't know any better ways to survive and keep strong in their vast and frenzied lives? This leads to the questions that intrigue me the most.

Why are the Sawi such brutal cannibals and vengeful murderers, even when they clearly have a good heart for family and life? 

Could it be that they just need something to believe, like the merciful and understanding God that we have?

Faith, the fuel of the world in which we live

Faith is defined as the following according to the following sources:


Dictionary.com:
-noun
strong and unshakable belief that is not based on proof
confidence or trust in a person or thing


Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
-noun
(1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion


The Free Dictionary:
-noun
Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.


According to the above sources, faith is some sort of unshakable trust, belief, loyalty, or confidence that is not based on any proof or justification. If we take this definition into account, then it seems that all of the world has some sort of faith. The only thing that differs among the world's faith is where that that belief lies. For example, some people hold faith in their engagement with their lover, others find it in their family, and many, like the faculty and students of TCIS, hold passion in the Christian God. Even the Sawi, head-hunting and bloodthirsty tribal people, have an unshakable belief in their ancestors and treachery. Whether if it is right or wrong, upright or diabolical, faith exists in every society in the world.


Faith is something that can hold people together or set them apart. In TCIS, the religious faith that the students and staff hold towards Christianity combines the school as a warm and reliable community, especially during Chapel or Spiritual Emphasis Week. On the other hand, when cultures are radically different from each other, like TCIS students and the Sawi people are, their different beliefs and faiths very frequently repel these communities. When our English class watched the Peace Child video, many of my friends and I were not able to lift our eyes to watch the gruesome scene of the tribal people slaughtering and fattening their enemy with friendship. 

Their ancestors and mine had been one people, living together, using the same tools and weapons, pursuing the same goals, speaking the same language. Gradually the emotional static diminished, the feeling of fiery strangeness subsided. We were equally human...flesh and blood...men. -Page 101- 

Just like all humans come from the same type of ancestral people and equally stand as bodies of flesh and blood, the common denominator of the world is faith. The role of those strong beliefs and unshakable trust in our lives are all the same: to keep us striving for what we feel is ideal happiness, like a content family, a successful ministry in an unknown land, an achievement of power and treachery, and much more. Regardless of how faith differs among every person and creates barriers among humanity at times, it relates to the world as the world's fuel. Faith replenishes and encourages the ambitions and souls of humanity, and ultimately, allows the world to continue rolling on. 

How my hands, Don Richardson's hands, and the Sawi's hands reach for Faith...

Whenever I sat down to listen to the testimonies during chapel or watched my grandmother visit the Buddhist temple every other day, I was simply amazed how devoted and faithful people are towards their religions. Having come from a family where both of my parents come from different religions and nevertheless care little about faith, I never felt the necessity to commit myself to a certain religion. Although my grandparents from both sides of my family urged me to find my place within my culture and beckoned me towards procession with testimonies and stories about the greatness of the Christian God and Buddha, I felt that religion was something that was going to limit me from growing openminded and free spirited until recently. After I read Don Richardson's Peace Child, I began to question the reason for my tentativeness toward religion. Even though Richardson was as strongly devoted to Christianity as my friends in school and my grandmother are to their religion, he constantly tried to learn about the Sawi culture and endured the treacherous ways of the primitive tribes. This attitude and openness impressed me and shook me off my pedestal. At the present, I feel that my tentativeness has finally transformed into an outgoing desire. Religion and faith seem to be a comforting oak tree to sit under that doesn't cast a shadow on our perspectives and mindsets.


Don Richardson, on the other hand, relates to faith and his religion passionately. Although the task was most likely going to be deadly and disconcerting one,he confidently and willingly decided to serve the primitive tribes in New Guinea and took his wife and his infant son to the land of the unknown. Richardson's faith did not come from a well planned deal or an earthly contract, but branched solely from his religious passion and faith. I was shocked at how Richardson thought that his faith, something that cannot fully guarantee his family's and his safety and fortune, was a good enough reason to leave the modern society where he spent his whole life and step into a jungle full of head eaters and cannibals. The extent of Don Richardson's relation with his faith does not end at his reliance on Christianity, but extends out to the responsibility he feels he has to offer the Word of Christ to others who lack faith, like the Sawi people. Don Richardson connects to his faith in a much more profound and advanced level than does the majority of the world: he relates to Christianity as a passionate believer, an obedient child, a messenger, and a knowledgeable teacher.

As for the Sawi, the venomous and blood thirsty people who seek for brutal slaughter and treachery, it is quite difficult to point out any sort of upright custom in their culture. However, it is a bit closed minded to say that those people do not have any sort of faith. Although sometime very brutal and gruesome, the ways of their ancestors do indeed serve as the basic foundations of the Sawi faith. The Sawi's trust in their ancestors' powers are strong and unshakable beliefs that cannot be proven or justified as valid, which is just the given definition of faith. Examples of these are the way the Sawi raised their guard on Richardson for bathing in the water that their ashes of their ancestors lie, their belief in their ancestral ways of 'aumamay', the state when a person's body functions for while after his/her soul has departed, and the values of extolling their ancestors' mummy  as a monument of fortune are things that cannot be justified or proven, but practiced by the people. The Sawi's faith in their ancestors may seem to have deep, irremovable roots; however, their faith is one that cannot stand strong on its own. I believe that is why God sent Don Richardson and many other Christian missionaries to New Guinea. To redeem the primitive New Guinea tribes from a misleading faith.

What should we do when we are confronted with different colors of the culture spectrum?

      There are 4 races, 7 continents, over 4300 religions, and around 10,000 languages in the world. Why would the Creator of the World, whether if he/she is God, Buddah, or Allah, place so many different cultures on one planet, on one earth? Was it because he/she wanted to watch humanity turn against each other and shun those who are different?

No, I believe that the God of the universe created our world this colorfully to give people the opportunity to experience other cultures and grow open minded about their world.

      Unfortunately, there are so many times when we refuse to welcome different cultures and fall into the cowardly resolution of ostracizing those who do not belong. A couple of days ago, I was watching a documentary on YouTube called "Welcome to North Korea by Peter Tetteroo and Raymond Fedemma". Halfway through the documentary, I found myself clucking my tongue in pity and grimacing at the North Koreans for holding such groundless trust in their totalitarian leader. I was ashamed to discover myself looking down on the people who were supposed to be my blood related brothers and sisters. To me, confronting different cultures has always been something greatly challenging...and I must confess that, at times, living inside my own culture bubble seems so much easier.

      Luckily, by reading the Peace Child, I was able to learn from Don Richardson how people are to appreciate the colorful spectrum of the different cultures in the world. Even after spending his whole life in a modernized and developed society, Richardson was still respectful towards the primitive tribes that were cut off from the rest of the world. He endured to an extent all the conflicts and wars between the New Guinean tribes and payed respect to all the villagers. The thing that struck me as greatly thoughtful and mindful on Richardson's part was the way he was willing to learn about the Sawi culture. He attentively learned the Sawi language, actively sought for more knowledge on the tribe's customs and rituals, and willingly assimilated into the Sawi culture.
      Richardson also taught me that if we really learn how to respect different cultures, then we eventually become capable of rectifying some of their erroneous ways. Wait, let me add onto that. Richardson showed me that not only are we capable of correcting wrong customs, but we also want to do so. After watching his comrades destroy each other through war and murder, Richardson desired to persuade the Sawi to give up treachery and their thirst for power. Knowing the wistful attitudes the Sawi held towards killing and violence, Richardson disapproved of their treachery in ways that would reach across the cultural gaps and directly strike the Sawi.

Richardson strikes the Sawi once:

As we were leaving, I gazed straight into Mavu's eyes, burning with desire to say something to him, but what could I say? I knew if I upbraided him for nearly killing two men, he would only shrug his shoulders as if to say, "So what?" So instead I said cryptically, "You have made my wife's hands bloody." The remark took him by surprised. He glanced quickly at Carol's hands and a sudden realization of the inappropriateness fo the scene he had help to create seemed to startle him. Mavu winced, fearing he had unwittingly committed some dark impropriety of cosmic consequence. -Page 141-

Richardson strikes the Sawi again:

"But Myao Kodon love us so much that...He gave His Son freely knowing men would despise and slay Him. In fact, through the wisdom of Myao Kodon, the men who shed the blood of Yesus actually provided a  raendep, 'an atonement' to quench God's anger against men. They slew Him wickedly, but Myao Kodon was so maraviap, 'ingenious', that even the very worst men could do only furthered His purpose! If it had not been so, there would be no hope for any of us."

They sat there musing in silence, when Hato's voice came to me softly, "Myao Kodon nohop kahane savos kysir nide?" My eyes welled at his words. He had said "Myao Kodon must have been sad just like me." -Page 185-

Spreading cultures = colorful masterpiece

      In the second example of when Richardson tries to correct the wrong ways of the Sawi, he offers the primitive tribe people an alternative to their treacherous ways. He introduces the alternative, his own culture (Christianity), in ways that concede with the Sawi culture. Not once did Richardson force the gospel on the people; he let Sawi decide for themselves what they wanted to follow. The sole purpose that Richardson presented the tribe with Christianity was because he wanted to spread and share his own ways with a different culture.

      Don Richardson's book, Peace Child, moved me in so many ways. It taught me the importance of faith, informed me about all sorts of different people, and gave me an insight into missionary service. However, the most important and ground-shaking lessons that I received is that we are to be respectful, compassionate, and attentive when we confront different cultures and that it is our responsibility to spread our cultures in different backgrounds. That's truly how we can fully appreciate the colorful culture spectrum that God gave us.

Post Number 1: My native culture and world view

What factors of your native culture have informed your world view?

"So what's your ethnicity, anyways?"

Every time this question was asked of me, I would always hesitate, trying to find an honest answer that didn't sound too vague or cliche. And then I would blurt out the same awkward response:

"Erm...I guess you can say that I'm a twinky...if not...then I'm just...Asian...?"

During my pre-teen years, I thought that choosing between the country that I lived in for most of my life, America, and the native country of my parents and family, Korea, would be one of the most dreadful and difficult decisions in my life. 

But...nah, I didn't think that I would spend the rest of my life answering that question with the same hesitation and indefiniteness. The opportunity to discover which culture I truly belong to was given to me when my parents and I decided to head back to Korea in 2003. Through my experiences in both the Asian culture of Korea and the western life style in America, I was able to discover my identity and establish a unique perspective towards the world. 

Tracking back on 16 years

My family moved to the United States when I was 11 months old. Like many other Asian immigrants, the first place that we lived in was the infamous city of Las Angeles, California. After spending many more years on the west coast, my father decided that he wanted to pursue a job in the East. I spent most of my elementary years in Miami, Florida, a multicultural city. I really believe that my dad's decision was for the best, because my years in Miami affected me greatly in terms of my worldly perspective. Because I spent much of my life living in a multicultural society, I found it easier to accept and respect other cultures and people from different ethnicities. 


As you can see, I did not care much about our different skin colors and cultures. During my stay in Miami and Arkansas, I discovered that every culture has something marvelous and unique that differentiates it from other cultures in the world. For example, I had a friend from Madagascar who was an excellent student, a friend from Columbia who valued her family above everything else, and a friend from New Jersey who was one of the most religious and passionate Christians that I ever knew. My respect and acceptance for other cultural values sticks helped establish my strong views against discrimination. I do not believe in slavery, the superiority of the white race, or the disparities between people from different cultures, and detest when inequality limits people from participating in worldly matters.  


When I returned to Korea in 2003 because of my father's new job promotion, my world was turned upside down. The densely packed apartment buildings, the factory fumes billowing in the gray skies, and the brisk motions and language of Koreans were so different from the relatively relaxed and temperate ways of America. Although so many things in Korea were so new and foreign to me, my experiences of moving to different states in the States helped me assimilate into the culture without much trouble. However, there was one aspect of Korea that I utterly could not accept. It was the Korean peoples' extreme obsession about their education. I didn't understand why Koreans enjoyed competition and tried every single thing to feeling superior and "smart". All the after school tutor sessions and institutions (widely known as "hagwons") that even little elementary school kids had to attend did not make any sense to me; I felt like they were a mere waste of energy and time. I ran into much frustration during my first 2 years in Korean school as I watched my friends destroy their youth and teen years by obsessing over semester exams and their grades. 


One day during my 1st year in middle school, I finally discovered the reason why Koreans held such strong values about education and success. "It's because we want to do something with our lives," my friend Sae-eun told me. This epiphany got me to respect my parents' native culture much more as I grew impressed about what Koreans would go through just to satisfy and support their family. Students studied like maniacs so they could make their parents proud and lead a stable life in the future with the people they love. The selfless aspirations of Korean people added another attribute to my worldly views. It was "sacrifice". In my opinion, people have to live each and everyday by sacrificing something in their lives. Whether it is a seat in the lunch room, or something momentous, like a job opportunity, I believe that all sacrifices make a person mature and wise. Which is why I think that sacrifice is necessary for making the world a better place.

My life in American and Korea have impacted me greatly and have established the person that I am today. My world views depend on the lessons that I learned in both cultures and I am truly blessed and thankful that I was given the opportunity to discover the importance of equality and sacrifice through skin felt experiences. 


As for my identity and vague ethnicity, my relatively short journey in life has gotten me a long way. Now, when I hold my hand out to shake a stranger's hand, I boldly and confidently exclaim, 

"Hello. My name is Samantha Lee, and I'm a 2nd generation Korean-American."