Peace Child

A friend loaned me Peace Child:  An Unforgettable Story of Primitive Jungle Treachery in the 20th Century by Don Richardson and I'm so very glad I read it.  I feel a little bit like I'm the last one to read it as I've mentioned it to a couple people who immediately said "Oh yes, wasn't that great?"  Even if I'm a little late to the party, I'm still glad to have read it.

Peace Child tells about the Sawi tribe living in New Guinea who were cannibalistic headhunters before they learned about Christ.  Their culture admired treachery to the point that they honored tribal members who fooled an enemy into believing they were friends and then betrayed that friendship by killing and cannibalizing them.  They called this "fattening the enemy with friendship".  Isn't it just logical then, that they would esteem Judas's betrayal over Christ's sacrifice when they finally heard the gospel?

Richardson not only told his own story of his experiences living with the Sawi people for fifteen years (along with his wife and two young sons), but he also introduced us to a people group with a completely different culture and set of values from what we are accustomed to.  I think he did a wonderful job helping us understand some of the background of the culture and his love for the people was present throughout the pages.

My favorite part of the book, however, was his belief (and illustration of that belief) that God has preserved a way for His gospel to be understood deep within the mythologies of all people if we will just look for it.  Like Paul we must be "all things to all people" and get to know where others are coming from in order to "meet them where they are."  I was fascinated right along with Richardson when he realized that their culture makes one provision to prove allegiance and trustworthiness:  the peace child.  When two warring factions want to make peace a leader from each group brings forth one of his children and they exchange children.  As long as these children both live, there is peace between their groups.

Richardson was able to use the analogy of Jesus as the ultimate "Peace Child" who God sacrificed once for all to reconcile people to Him as the source of perfect peace.  Doesn't that just about give you goosebumps?

I was very intrigued by this book and am inclined to read another of Richardson's books, Eternity in Their Hearts.  I don't know that I am perceptive enough to make that parallel for a people group between their mythology and its foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, but I find the idea fascinating.  I would have to trust that the Holy Spirit would reveal the tradition that would help people understand the Truth of what the Lord has done for them when they were ready to listen.