Missions and the Sawi

Missionaries, like Don and Carol, try and change the minds of people, without changing the culture. The goal of a missionary is not to force people under their control, so the can develop foreign thrones of gold where they will sit and drink pineapple juice all day. The goal of a missionary is to forget one self and become obedient to Christ, as he was obedient to the cross. Missionary’s are not out to please themselves, but to please others. What missions do for these people is help them live longer, more physically and spiritually. That is evident from the novel Peace Child, Don once stood up in the middle of a fight to make sure that these people would not die without hearing the true word. And he succeeded too. He stopped the fight, and cured the man that was wounded. That is the work of a true missionary. Like I said before, Missionaries don’t change the culture, they need to change the Word to fit into the culture. The Sawi would never have believed what Don had said had he not linked Jesus to the Peace child. When Don hadn’t mentioned the Peace child, they regarded Judas as the hero. But when the concept of the Peace Child were associated with Jesus, Judas suddenly became the evil one. When missionary’s change themselves for the culture and have every intention of helping it, that’s when God’s plan can be accomplished.