Third entry

8. What do mission organizations do for these people?

The true definition of a “missionary” comes into question. According to dictionary.com, a missionary is defined as, “a person sent by a church into an area to carry on evangelism or other activities, as educational or hospital work.” As a missionary, I believe that Don Richardson is not a destroyer. My perspective is that he is a culturally well educated man who reached out for a culture- a culture without a sense of moral judgment. Whether the “morality” of their world is correct is a different question, but if their world’s “morality” were to be placed in our society today, would it still be acceptable? The purpose of missionaries and missionary organizations is to inform and educate the needy. Yes, it may be argued that some cultures do not need education but only to preserve what they value. But the question is value of what?Don Richardson states that the world is not small enough anymore. He’s belief is that it was best for him to have reached the Sawi culture first, for example, because others in the world would have reached them in time to come, but not necessarily with the same positive influence. It is without a doubt that whoever would come into the Sawi culture would have changed the people into their standards. What type of people would the Sawi people have changed to if someone other than Richardson reached them first? Merchants, farmers, tourists-people with different visions and goals would have shaped Sawi into what themselves were. Christian theology on the other hand, is based on love, patience, and forgiveness. Missionary’s job is to give hope and help people to see something that they do not realize. What that factor is depends on the conscience of the missionaries. It is crucial that the missionaries carry out not their needs to change the cultural aspects of the needy, but to inform them about God’s love and their life’s purpose. Informing people of the morals and commonsense does not necessarily mean that all of their cultural aspects would be touched. It just may mean that their hearts would be touched. So when God asks, "Missionary, Why are you here?" what would be your ultimate answer?

Second Entry

2. How does Faith relate to the world in which we live?

Faith itself is a heavy topic. The word gives away the undeniable, metaphysical sense of its nature. Faith requires trust, and trust is something that the people today fear. This reason may be because trust involves effort, or because faith is a topic where people have hard time relating it to their own lives. Faith is a subject which requires depth and understanding of one’s identity, which is very much apart from what the world requires today. Secular faith, on the other hand, seems different. An absolute contamination; the world defines faith to be more of “ignorance” than anything else. Christianity on the other hand, puts faith along with trust. The world itself is ignorant that they do not understand faith as a necessary component in survival, despicable that it enforces ignorance instead of the truth. People today do not realize that faith does not necessarily have to do with lack of knowledge. What do the media teach? “Buy this product, it’s good for you. Don’t ask why, it just is.” It is sly approach of indirectly requiring faith and dependence, to do the things that are somewhat unexplainable. The cause of this may differ for pleasure, maybe for existence. But it is never an excuse. The sinful nature of human polluted the only factor, which we can depend on to humanly exist. Faith is a blessing. Christian faith is apart from this disastrous infection because it is genuine to the core of its heart. The real definition of faith is determined as we approach today with connection to God. Understanding that the world does not give safety, taking the step to accept Christ, giving him the driver's seat, and finally realizing what sinners we are, makes up the ultimate and only metaphysical faith."Open the eyes of my heart lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. I want to see you."Open the eyes of my heart Lord. To real faith.What exactly is having “faith”? In a way, faith is simple. The world is complex.

First Entry

Q: What factors of your native culture have informed your religious world view? Explain the impact of these factors.

I moved to the United States of America in fourth grade, second semester. Before that, I lived in Korea as a Christian, and I kept my faith throughout the six years of my life in America. The fact that the countries that I have lived in have freedom of religion was a blessing, yet it was not exactly the inspiration to my faith.
When I was young, I did not know that there were people who did not believe in the things that I believed in. My father is a pastor, and the advantage was that I grew up in a home with a strong Christian background. Never in my life was I not surrounded by bibles; never once I questioned going to church on Sundays for worship. I knew most all the stories in the bibles. Church and God was my thing. I thought this was how things were supposed to be: Church on sundays, prayer before every meal and before going to bed and reading Bibles. This was my world, until I was six.
Our family moved to a small townhouse in a place called 'Sangdodong'. There I met a friend. She was very different, very much apart from the world that I had came from and grew up in. I was shocked to hear that she had never been to church, never heard of the twelve disciples, of King David, Esther, and Jacob. She did not know Christ. I was a shock to her as well- she watched me go to church every sunday morning, filled with curiosity in her eyes. I thought that she was the strangest person yet encountered. But the problem was that there were more of people who lived in "her world" than mine. The new neighborhood that I had moved to lived people who were mostly atheists, buddists and non-christians. For the first time in my life, I wanted to make them understand "my world".
My young age added to the frustration that I felt. Why don't they go to church on sundays? Why don't they know that you need to pray before every meal, every night before going to bed? These little things were bigger than my daily chores for me, yet they did not keep any of the "must-follow" rules. The friend once asked me, "who is Jesus?" I was utterly out of words. She did not know my world-she lived in a very differnt one. Where would my little knowledges of stories of Esther, David, Jacob and Peter stand with such ignorance? Where do I start to explain? Then, at the time, I did not know that it was because she just simply had never heard of them. I was just angry.
I tried to take her to church with me one sunday morning. She never made it to the church though. She had asked me again, "Doesn't Zus rule the world?" and I just got so angry that I threw her out of the car even before the car's engine came alive. I remeber my mom, from the driver's seat, looked back and said, "Grace, she just doesn't know Jesus as much as you do." She said to bring her back next week, but I never tried agian.
I regret until this day, even as I refresh my memory in writing this blog entry. What would she be doing now? Had I tried convincing her to come to church with me one more time, would it have made a difference in her life? I was six, and I was not ready to be exposed to a world besides mine. Accepting was the most difficult; I did not want to believe that there were people who existed without the knowledge of Christ. I am blessed to be accompanied by God. Never had he left me in the ignorance. He choose places for me to be, for our family to stay at-a place where he is very near. Maybe I'll get to see her one day. Then, I'll tell her that I'm sorry. Maybe I'll even get to ask her to come to church with me. I am ready now.
"Grace, would you like to come to Church with me?"