[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t has been nearly 25 years since I was introduced to Don Richardson’s incredible book Peace Child. If you have never read it, I encourage you to find it used or order it new today. It is worth any amount of money you need to pay.
If you could imagine a cultural belief system so dark that Judas’ betrayal of Jesus made Judas the hero, you can begin to imagine what these Don and his wife faced as they sought to bring the gospel to these remote people. In the Sawi culture of the time, the highest ideal of manhood was to gain the trust of a man in a neighboring tribe, betray him, then cannibalize him. Upon first hearing the gospel, the Sawi considered Judas, not Jesus, to be the picture of ideal manhood. How God had prepared this people to receive the gospel will leave you in awe.
Richardson went on to write two more books, Lords of the Earth and Eternity in Their Hearts, both of which are essential reading for anyone interesting in the gospel being taken to the ends of the earth.
Recently Richardson and his three now-grown sons returned to Papua New Guinea to visit the Sawi people. His youngest serves there now.
If you have a heart for the people of the world, be prepared to shed a tear. Or a hundred. (HT: Randy Alcorn)
Never the Same from Pioneers-USA on Vimeo.
Below you can order any or all of Don Richardson’s books. You pay the same low Amazon price and I get a small commission.