I really don't know what is going on this year, but reading just doesn't seem to be taking priority. That said, with the upcoming start of our school year, I wanted to pre-read some of the books Palmer and Dempsey would be reading this year.
The first one of these books is Peace Child by Don Richardson(http://www.sonlight.com/130-15.html). This book describes how Mr. Richardson traveled as a missionary to New Guinea and introduced native tribes to Christ. I found this book to take a while to really get going. Part of the reason for this is because Mr. Richardson takes the time to introduce the reader to this part of the world, this culture has been previously unknown. But as events unfold and tensions increase the plot does pick up.
Mr. Richardson places himself in the midst of the Sawi people. Their culture makes legends of those who make friends with enemies for the sole purpose of betrayal. The bigger the friendship scam, the greater the hero. This culture is a violent one. The victim of betrayal is usually eaten.
Mr. Richardson finds himself asking how in the world is he going to have a message of peace mean anything to these who immortalize this kind of thinking? But, Richardson does not give up. He continually tries to comprehend the Sawi people and by doing so he finds a hole through which to explain the message of Christ.
For all of Richardson's work, we cannot ignore the courage of the first of the Sawi to stand up and say a big "YES" to accepting Christ.
Thank God for those people who heed the call to travel to all ends of the earth to make sure everyone has the opportunity to hear the message of Christ. They give new opportunities to people for salvation. In the process, there are also new opportunities for education and medical treatment given.
This was a rewarding book to read because it gave insight into a culture that may not be written about in history books. It also reminds us about the missionaries that choose to live their life with Gods' purpose in mind.
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