J's Pages

by Don Richardson

Peace Child is a modern Christian classic, the story of a missionary who went to work among a stone age tribe, the Sawi, in the early 1960's. He tells of the violent ideals of their culture--vengeance, treachery and cannibalism--and how it seemed to have no common ground with Jesus' message of peace, love and forgiveness. But much to Mr. Richardson's surprise, he found that God had provided links within the culture of the Sawi through which they, too, could understand and relate to Jesus' story. (This concept is further developed in Richardson's book Eternity in Their Hearts.) It was a fascinating read, first experiencing the Sawi culture and their reactions to Western civilization, and then reading of Mr. Richardson's own reaction to them. I don't know if it can be enjoyed solely as a tale of cross-cultural communication. I was a bit put off by the account of the Sawi's encounter with the white folk, (probably evidence of my own prejudices) so I could imagine that a non-Christian may not have much sympathy with the missionaries. But I would definitely put it on my shelf if my wife hadn't already put it there. So, give it a try, if you're at all interested in missionary stories or cross-cultural communication. 

LibraryThing link

Labels: DonRichardson, OnMyShelf

// posted by John @ 5:46 PM