Third Entry

What does Jesus want us to do for the Sawi?

In II Timothy chapter 4, verse 5 it says, "But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you." Also in I Corinthians chapter 9, verse 16 it says, "Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn't preach the Good News!" Both of these scripture verses are informing the readers about what Jesus specifically wants them to do about people like the Sawies. Jesus specifically states in the first verse in the previous that people should work on telling others of the Good News so that they may receive salvation. Here, the Good News means the story of Jesus' resurrection. The only way for people to receive salvation and spend their eternity in heaven with God is to first, hear the Good News, then, accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. There is no other way. As for the Sawies, if Don Richarson had not been there to preach the Good News to them, it is likely that they would have never had the chance to know about God. To accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and Saviour, is probably the most important decision one would have to make in one's life. It is because unlike many other decisions, it affects one's entire life as well as one's after life whether in heaven or hell. From my own experience, I can safely say that living a Christian life, according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, is extremely difficult. There are many aspects of life, which I had to give up. These aspects of life include wordly pleasure, desire, and ambition. The hardest thing about it is that the more I try to avoid these things the harder they come back to haunt me. As a teenager, full of energy and desire for pleasure, I could not easily turn down sex, alcohol, and drugs. Yet, if I still embrace the opportunity to obtain any of these, there is no guarantee that I will neglect it. However, God forgives us of our sins. He allows us the opportunity to repent. Repent means a change of mind. Thus, it is to ask God for forgiveness and try not commit the same sin again.

Second Entry

How different is your modern culture from the sawi tenants?

My modern culture is very different from the Sawi tenants, yet, it is very similar. Obviously people do not highly value treachery or practice cannibalism in my culture; however, we are very similar in the fact that we practice our aspects of culture the way they best suit our ways of living. It is not surprising to me that people from other cultures like mine see how Sawies practice cannibalism as a part of their culture and think it is inhumane. It is because to those people, eating another human being is simply outrageous. Nonetheless, I observe it likewise to my culture being disdained by other cultures for eating dog meat. Personally, I have not eaten dog meat before and I am not planning to do so; however, this does not alter the fact that other people in my culture still would or would not continue to eat dog meat. Eating dog meat just became a part of our culture just as cannibalism became a part of Sawi's culture. At this point, people of one culture should not be so judgemental about the aspects of other cultures because not only do they not have any right to judge one culture, but there are some aspects of their culture, which may seem bizarre or inhumane to others as well. Terrorists, for example, make their religion, which is one aspect of their culture, an excuse for their butchery of a myriad of innocent people, when it is seemed only as a massacre in the perspectives of the rest of the world.

First Entry

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


When I was in fifth grade, I went to the states to get an education there. This was a choice that I made as a young kid attending elementary school. For some reason I wanted to study over seas and to me United States was a dream country. My parents could not come with me to the states because first of all, my father had buisiness in Korea and secondly, both of my parents cannot speak English. Altough I was not as fluent in English as I am now, I learned the language ever since I was five years old. I strongly believe that going to America and staying there for almost five years until last year when I first came to TCIS has influenced in shaping me into becoming the person I am today. According to my friends I am very Americanized, meaning I am influenced by American culture. I think based on the standard of American culture. If I ever get asked the question whether I am Korean or American I would have a hard time answering that question because, though I have both citizenships of United States and Korean, it would be unfair for me to say either I am just Korean or just American. It would even be more awkward for me to say that I am both. As a result, I cannot conclusively say which is my native culture at this moment. As for my religious world view, growing up in a Christian family had so much influence on it.

As a young kid growing up, I was almost forced by my parents to go to church and so without any other choice, I went to church as if it were a part of my weekly routine. Sometimes I wondered what it would be like to not go to church on Sundays. Honestly, as a kid, there were times when I really did not want to wake up early to go to church and sleep in or hang out with my friends. Every once in a while, in a chosen season of the year, there is something called morning services that was even worse. To go to this I had to wake up at five o'clock in the morning to get prepared. To wake up that early in the morning, for a kid I was, was worse than death. This went on until I was in fifth grade. Now I can proudly say that I am a Christian who asked Jesus Christ to come into his heart. I go to church with a purpose now, which is to learn more about God and give him glory and praise. I am thankful that I was born in a Christian family, which assisted in laying Christian foundations in me and leading me to Christ.

The advantage of experiencing both cultures is that I saw different views on religion of each cultures, especially Christianity. I learned that Christians in Korea values and relies on traditions in their forms of worship, where as Christians in the States are more free in their worship. If a person was to go to a church in Korea, he or she would notice there that people are formally well dressed mostly in suits. But this person would notice something different in American churches. In American churches people are well dressed but not all in suits but something much more comfortable. There is also a difference in the ways people pray in both countries. Korean Christians tend to practice praying out loud, where as American Christians pray quietly to themselves. In Korean churches there are services held on Wednesdays, every day in the early morning, and also Sunday evenings. This is discluding the main Sunday morning services. Lastly the ultimate thing I learned from each culture, which is also a common factor in both countries, is that Christians in both cultures love the Lord and want to spend their eternal life in heaven with God.