Faith and the World we Live in

What would the world be like if there was no faith. Would we act the same, live the same? I doubt it. Faith is crucial to the human body, we cannot survive without it. God made us that way. What if I had no faith. I could not believe anything. I would come home from school, lock my door, and not even open my door for my roommate, assuming that he would do something to me. You see, I would not trust my roommate. Faith is trust, and without trust we couldn’t live. We are confronted by evil on a everyday basis. If we cannot trust that somehow, someway, we would get through our struggles, everyone would commit suicide. If Don didn’t know that somehow, God would stick up for him and make sure he got through his struggles, Don would have given up, and went back to America. But Don believed, despite how the existence of him was so fragile, that the Sawi could and would be brought to know Christ. Imagine what the world would be like for the Sawi had their been no faith. They would be living in a endless bubble of treachery and hate, because no one trusts God well enough to let his love do the work. But people do trust God to work wonders, and because of that, worlds are changed. Jesus himself didn’t work wonders in his hometown because they had little faith. If we don’t have faith, nothing will happen.

Faith, Don, Sawi, and me

Despite knowing how dangerous the Sawi culture Don Richardson was going into, he knew he could be killed at any time. He even considered that they might be "...fattening us with friendship for a slaughter?(156)" But Don never gave up. When the Sawi said a man was dead, Don relied heavily on his faith in God to bring that man “back” from the grave.

The Sawi had a different way of faith. For thousands of years their culture had been ok. But when the Tuans came in, they changed. They had to believe and have faith that this new religion which was now about to change their life was accurate. Because Don had faith, the Sawi also developed faith. When Don questioned the first Sawi believer what made him turn to Christ, he replied, “When I saw that God’s Tarop(child) could give you peace even when your two sons had almost drowned, I knew everything you said about Him must be true. I decided he could take care of us too.(200)” Don led an example that the Sawi looked up to and believe him.

My faith is a bit different. Unlike Don Richardson, I’m not relying on God to save my life, but like Don, I rely on God when the times get tough. When I was young, my faith was similar to that of the Sawi. My parents believed something, and because I looked up to them, I believe what they believed, that Jesus died for us. My faith has not been exposed to tough times, so as a result, my faith is not a strong as Don’s, but I believe that over time it will change to grow and mature.