Choose a representative passage from this novel that holds particular significance to you. Type it in and comment on its significance.

It was an entirely new kind of question, one their ancestors presumably never had to face. For this reason there was nothing in Sawi legends which could guide this present generation in its approach to the Tuan question. They were on their own, and they felt themselves trembling under the responsibility of a decision which could dramatically affect their own destinies and the fate of their little ones. (Page 40)


Despite the fact that I’m a Christian, I also sometimes feel anxious and nervous whenever I have to make a decision. Although fearing the consequence of making “bad” decision is normal, we need to remember what God said in the Bible. He said that we should not worry because God has a special plan for each and every one of us, and He will guide us to the right path. Often times in my life, I tend to forget about the presence of God and get worried about my future. I worry about my future college and everything even though deep inside of my heart believes that God will be with me all the time. Wasn’t Jesus the one who halted the bleak storm by simply telling the wind to stop? He can control EVERYTHING in this universe, yet we humans with little faith try to live apart from Him and concern about our future lives. The students of the Christ in the Bible were worried about their lives when there was harsh storm even though Jesus Christ was with them. Thus we need to rely and believe in God that He will absolutely take our lives and be with us not only throughout this life on earth, but also throughout the eternal life in Heaven.

What reflection can you make with this novel?

Through this novel, I once again started to reconsider and question myself about my faith toward God. Would I be able to jump right into a strange “uncivilized” region like the Sawi to spread Christianity? Miserably my behaviors to others do not correspond with my faith toward God. I call myself a Christian, but I don’t implement things that I truly value and believe. But as I read this book, I was astonished by Don Richardson choosing to be with the Sawi for several years. If I had a choice to decide how I would want to spend the rest of my life, I would absolutely choose to spend my life in a nice lodge beside a beautiful beach with my future husband rather than to live among the man-eaters. But the mission of Don Richardson made me to realize the goal of the Christians. In the Bible, Acts, there is a verse that describes what Christians should do, and it says that we should spread the God’s love all over the world. The book definitely helped my faith to grow stronger since it challenged me to rethink about my current statue of being the Christian.

How different is your modern culture from the Sawi?

Without analyzing the culture of the Sawi and that of ours profoundly, I first consider that there were so many differences between our culture and the culture of the Sawi. Unlike the modern culture, the Sawi practiced cannibalism and behaved “primitively”. However, as I compare and contrast more about the difference between the two cultures, I made conclusion that all of us, are equivalent because we are the same human beings that are created by God. Even though there is no practicing cannibalism and slaughtering others in our modern culture, there are without doubt sinful acts that are even more sickening actions such as rape, child abuse, and more. Also in our modern culture, we do sometimes deceive one and other, by simply stabbing on their back. The scenery of people using ruse and chicanery to others in order to have their own benefits is ubiquitous in present days. Even “civilized” people like us are acting exactly like the “uncivilized” Sawi. Consequently there is no difference between them and us because we are all human beings and it’s the human nature to sin against God. This is when the Christianity comes in. Every single person on the Earth is a sinner, and without Jesus Christ in our souls, we will always be “uncivilized”.

What do mission organizations do for these people?

There are parts in this world that never had an opportunity to hear about gospel, and the goal of mission organizations is to spread the words of God to every part of the globe. The mission organizations support and aid “uncivilized” groups of people such as the Sawi. By these good deeds, the mission organizations show the love of God to the people so they can realize the presence of God.

If mission organizations never existed, then thousands of people might not have been able to live their eternal life with Jesus Christ. In fact, Christianity was first introduced in Korea by mission organizations from the Western countries as well. If the striving effort of the mission organization to spread Gospel did not happen in Korea during 1784, we all might never have an opportunity to receive the ticket to Heaven. The mission organizations also amend the corrupt and amoral societies. For instance, the Sawi practiced cannibalism and never considered that revenge is a sinful act. But as Don preached gospel to them, they realized their amoral behaviors and repentant themselves. Also mission organizations improve the life styles of those people. As the novel shows, Don made written language for the Sawi and translated the Bible in their language. So the Sawi were able to write and read their language and enjoy reading the Bible.
The impact of the mission organizations is indescribable. Thus without them, thousands of people would face the endless pain and suffering in their eternal lives.

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

It is impossible for people to live their lives without Faith since when people are in a dilemma, they rely on religion and faith. This occurrence is perfectly natural. When a baby needs something or is having trouble, the first thing the baby do is search for his mother. Thus in times of trouble, we ask God for help because He is our Father and Creator.




Without Faith, we cannot live our lives with satisfaction and happiness. Often time, we wander in our lives apart from God, questioning the real purpose of our lives. Life is like the Route 66, which is a route that starts from Chicago, Illinois to all the way to the Los Angeles, California. Before the realization of God being our Creator, we go to the California, West, whereas God is actually at Chicago, East. We keep on going to the direction toward West and find ourselves that there is such a thing as purpose of life since all the monetary and earthly objects do not bring the joy and the satisfaction in our lives. Nevertheless, at some point, God comes into our souls and makes us to realize that we were heading to a wrong destination and need to make a U-turn so we can start our new journey toward God. To allow God to come into our souls, we need to have Faith and let God to completely control our lives. Without Faith, we won't be able to make the U-turn and just keep on going to California, not realizing that there is nothing but hell.

What concepts in the Sawi culture intrigued/ reviled/ saddened/ angered/ surprised you?

There were many concepts in the Sawi culture that shocked me. Although I had a picture of uncivilized tribe in my mind before reading the book, when I read the passage where Kauwan deceives and murders Yae just for a girl whom he wanted to get married, I was totally shocked and couldn’t understand their minds at all. Yae was a relative of Kauwan, but how can he just simply kill Yae for a girl? Another scene that also surprised me was when the kids were messing with Yae, who was almost at the point of death. The kids and the people had no sympathy to Yae. It seemed like that they have no consciousness or pity at all. Moreover a concept that intrigued me the most was the respect that a husband showed to his mother-in-law. I think that most husbands in this modern society usually revere and care more about their own mothers rather than their mothers-in-law. But it was interesting because the husbands of Sawi were committing themselves to do anything that their mothers-in-law told. I was astonished to see the “uncivilized culture” like Sawi were way more loyal than some of us in our culture today. But what saddened me the most was the world view of the Sawi before when Don Richardson came to tell about God. The superstitious Sawi did not have the true understanding of Jesus Christ that He is the key to the eternal life and the purpose of their lives. I connected this scene to the today’s world that even some of “civilized” people are acting like the superstitious and “primitive” Sawi because they are skeptical about the whole Christianity.

What should society do for “uncivilized cultures” like the Sawi?

The society should establish more of mission organizations or service trips so that anyone, who is willing to help the “uncivilized cultures,” can join at anytime. Also the society should encourage and suggest to the citizens to help out the “uncivilized cultures” through media, broadcasting, and maybe advertisement, since people are mostly affected by media in these days. Most of the time, people tend to just think or say that there should be an improvement in “uncivilized cultures.” Therefore the society should spur those to implement their thought. Furthermore, society can stop the traders and NGO’S by making a law that doesn’t allow the traders and NGO’S to take and use the people of the Sawi coercively for their business by selling them as slaves or some sort of entertainment. The society definitely has a power to bring influence to the people to move into actions.