Feb

27

Book Review: Peace Child

Filed Under Inspiration 

2005_02_27_PeaceChild.jpgThis book has been out for many years, but I just read it for the first time.

Peace Child
By Don Richardson

“As You prepared the Hebrews and the Greeks, so also the Sawi were not too insignificant or too pagan to receive this much of Your providence.” These were the words of Don Richardson as he prayed to God in thankfulness for all that had transpired over the last several years as he and his wife Carol had gone as missionaries to Irian Jaya Indonesia (formerly Netherlands New Guinea). What started as a holy call at just twenty years old in a little Canadian Bible Institute would turn into a holy mission that would bring the Gospel to a culture steeped in tradition, treachery and trouble.


Summary
In a setting reminiscent of Peter’s powerful speech in Acts 2:14-41, so too was God’s call for Don Richardson (and his wife to be) in 1955 at the Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, Canada. The guest speaker was Ebenezer G. Vine from the Regions Beyond Missionary Union. In a familiar tone as that of Peter in the book of Acts (”With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation. Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day’” [Acts 2:40-41]), so too Ebenezer addressed the crown in Canada. “Will the Regions Beyond Missionary Union help me take the Gospel to the [Netherlands New Guinea]?” (Richardson, p. 81). The powerful response from the crowd of Bible students would eventually (over time) number twenty-one thousand!

In March of 1962, Don Richardson and his wife Carol made way for what would be the adventure of their lifetime with results that would be nothing short of eternal. Several months later they would eventually settle with the Sawis, a culture/community along the Kronkel River in Irian Jaya. It was the start of the Gospel of Jesus Christ penetrating the hearts of people within a culture that would prove almost anything but penetrable. However, I believe the perspective that Richardson had as he embarked upon his mission was the foundation for the fruit that was to come. His spirit was so right. “Those who advocate that the world’s remaining tribal groups should be left to themselves do not realize how naive their notion is! It is a foregone conclusion that even if missionaries do not go in to give, lumbermen, crocodile hunters, prospectors, or farmers will still go in to take! The issue is not then, should anyone go in, because obviously someone will! The issue is rather, will the most sympathetic person get there first?” (Richardson, p. 118-119). The Richardsons were that “sympathetic person.”

The commitment Richardson had to the Sawi people was relentless. “My goal each day was to gain ten hours of exposure to the Sawi language” (Richardson, p. 168). It wouldn’t be until sometime later that the actual Gospel message would find its way into the culture and context of the Sawis. Being a people of second-guessers, the Sawi people did not trust or believe easily. Their modus operandi with other tribes was to “fatten with friendship” (manipulate relationships and trust) so that they could go in for the kill - literally. It was betrayal at its best. They thought Judas (the disciple who betrayed Jesus) was a “super-Sawi!”

Not until Richardson learned that by offering a child of their own to another tribe (and vice versa) - peace could be made - did the proverbial light bulb click. “You’ve been urging us to make peace - don’t you know it’s impossible to have peace without a peace child?” (Richardson, p. 201). “Among the Sawi, every demonstration of friendship was suspect except one. If a man would actually give his own son to his enemies, that man could be trusted! That, and that alone, was a proof of goodwill no shadow of cynicism could discredit” (Richardson, p. 206).

Richardson would go on to document the reports of Sawis coming to know Jesus, and even other tribes becoming unified (unheard of until now) and accepting Jesus as well. This book is an adventure in cross-cultural communication and outreach as the Truth pierces the hearts of people God wants to fellowship with.

Interaction, Insights, Impact
The similarities with the story of Peace Child and the books of Acts are amazing. Just as God wanted to reach the hearts of the Gentiles (using Jews), so too did God want to reach the hearts of the Sawis (using Christians). As Richardson observed, “To the Hebrews He was the Lamb of God, to the Greeks, the Logos. But to the Sawi He was the Tarop Tim Kodan, the Perfect Peace Child” (Richardson, p. 234).

I believe what Luke attempts to communicate throughout the book of Acts is similar to that of what Richardson is doing in Peace Child. That is, both are painting us a picture of people who are made in the image of God. Both authors give us a glimpse of the tender tenacity of God’s relentless reach as He wants people of all races, cultures and regions to come into relationship with Him. Furthermore, both authors are implicit to show that Jesus is the only way to live life fully. As Richardson points out, “[The Sawis] 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” (Richardson, p. 219).

The contribution Peace Child makes to missiology is lesson 101 in cross-cultural dynamics, torn right from the pages of Acts. I am grateful for this book as it encourages me to take risks with my “outreach.” It shows me what happens when faith outruns fear. And above all, it shows how God orchestrates the communication among cultures that clash, in a grand symphony of unexplainable, yet understandable wonder. God is not limited to cultural concepts but instead by people unwilling to go.

Will I stay or will I go?

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