Are primitive cultures, like the Sawi, necessary in our present world?

Honestly, I would say that primitive cultures, like the Sawi, aren’t necessary in our world. They don’t have any impact on the world; many of our lives would still remain the same even if we hadn’t learned about the Sawi. This may sound selfish but primitive cultures don’t really offer us anything. Though this is impossible, if America went extinct because of an unknown sickness, the whole world would go into a stage of chaos. Even if a smaller country, like the Philippines, went extinct, the impact wouldn’t be as big, but people would defiantly be devastated. Not many people know about primitive cultures, like the Sawi. The commercial world would agree with me. Like Don Richardson mentioned in his essay, if he hadn’t gone in first, others would have gone in to take the land. Isolation has caused the Sawi to be of no worth to the rest of the world.
As a Christian, I should think otherwise. God has called us to love others and make disciples. The Sawi matters to Him for they are a part of His creation. God cares about every man living on this earth; therefore, we should care. God wants everyone in his creation to be with Him in His heaven but because of sin, it is inevitable that some will experience his wrath in Hell. As believers, God commands us to go out and preach the Good News so that those, who haven’t been informed, may know where they can go after their life on earth. It is a Christian’s duty to spread the Word of God so to them, all cultures, whether primitive or not, should matter.
My beliefs are in a God who created the universe but my faith still hasn’t been grounded. I am still learning more about my God, trying to understand his ways. But there will never be a point in my life when my faith has reached its max because in Christianity, I believe there is only growing. That is why my thoughts sway between the worldly and the Christian point of view.

How would uncivilized cultures react upon receiving technology beyond their comprehension?

I’m not sure if everyone in a single culture would be able to receive technology. First of all, this question states “receiving technology beyond their comprehension.” Beyond their comprehension already confirms that not all people will be able to grasp that kind of knowledge.
Psychosocially, older people have a harder time comprehending new, abstract ideas. The reason for this is because as people grow older our fluid intelligence, the ability to think and solve abstract problems, declines. This doesn’t mean our brain turn into vegetables as we grow old because our crystallized Intelligence, the knowledge gained from experience, is still in tact. With this knowledge, I assume that the elderly in the uncivilized culture will have a harder time comprehending new technology. We see this happening even in our own “civilized” society. If someone said “My grandma has a cell phone and occasionally texts me,” most people would respond, “Wow! Your grandma is awesome!” This shows our prejudice against old people.
With everything said above, I’m still uncertain of the answer to the question. Looking at Korea’s past, we’ve overcome from being at the bottom of the economic class to the top within about sixty years. Even in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s Korea may have been considered as an “uncivilized” culture. However, I would consider Korea’s state to have worsened during World War II. Coming out of annexation, Korea was socially worn out and seemed like we wouldn’t be able to stand back up even if a century went by. Surprisingly, Korea responded conversely and has become a powerful country. Different cultures have their own way of receiving technology; therefore, answering this question is quite difficult.

What does God expect us to do for other cultures and faiths?

As Christians, we are to be emulators of Christ. Jesus had been sent down from heaven to not only die on the cross for the fallen people, but also to be an example to the believers. If he had been sent down for that reason, isn’t it our obligation to follow in his foot steps? Jesus’ commanded his disciples in the Great Commission “19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20) Relating this to other cultures and faiths, God expects us to be a witness to them. There is nothing more important to Him than saving the lost people.
“4Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:4-7) We are all morally depraved and deserve to perish in hell but Jesus’ death on the cross allows us a different rout; therefore, we must share the good news to those who may not have access to this knowledge, or to those who have different beliefs.

Before doing anything mentioned above, we must love the people. Loving is crucial when doing missionary work for without it, we are hypocrites. If we profess about the love of God and do not love, we may be just as good as the Pharisees. The Pharisees did not love the people; therefore, they did they have any interest in saving them. The Pharisees wanted the acknowledgment and the pedestal to stand on. My point is, although our attitude may not be the same as the Pharisees, without love, we shouldn’t be out there teaching the Word of God.

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

Faith is one’s personal trust or belief in something with or with no proof of its existance, and takes action accordingly. Everyone has faith in something whether it is tangible or metaphysical. The connotation around “faith” is “oooo… religion,” but people don’t realize that faith does not always mean religion; we inquire faith in our everyday lives. A hackneyed example of faith is sitting in a chair; you don’t know that the chair will hold your weight but you sit in it anyways, by faith.

Faith is something I personally struggle with. I have a problem with doubting everything. I doubt in myself, others, and eventually God too. My mind becomes disturbed when I read the verse, Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” What if I THINK I have faith but truly I don’t? If God is omniscient and our life story was written by him before we were even born, then where do we have free will? Our faith is what takes us to heaven and if our destiny has already been decided by God, what are we supposed to do? What is our point in life? These questions puzzle me. If you have any thoughts or answers to my questions, please comment because I want to see life from someone else’s perspective.

I admire those who have strong faith in God. Religion wise, there is a difference between those whose faith is real and those whose are fake. Though I have no right to judge others, for when I judge people, I judge based on perfection, which I am not, I am bothered by those who try too hard to be ostentatious about their “faith.” Usually, they are the people who are very emotional and “HALLELUIAH!” at Church or Bible camp but when they leave the building, their life is not the reflection of a true believer.

My thoughts may be scattered or even confusing in this post so I apologize. Faith is a hard topic for me and with too many questions I have about faith relating to life, I had a hard time gathering my thoughts.

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

I was born in America and grew up in a big Christian family and church was practically my home. My grandpa was the pastor of a small Presbyterian Korean church in Washington; therefore, my family attended church every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. For me, going to church were just days for my five year old love story with the church hunk. I listened to bible stories and admitted that I was a Christian, but Jesus was only the stereotypical, genie in a bottle, wish granter to me.

Ten days after I turned nine, I moved to Korea, stripping me away from my fiancé. The first six months in Korea were the hardest days of my life for the culture shock was too much for me to handle. My parents knew about my agony and always reminded me to pray, but whenever they mentioned God always answering prayers, I only became angrier at God. He was supposed to give everything I wanted in some supernatural way; living in Korea was not something I did not ask for.

In Korean school, I was always told I was not good enough. Education ranking meant everything to my class and my school. Coming from an American culture, ranking didn’t have any significance to me because my old school never ranked me. Every student takes the final exam on a specific day in July; from that, the education department obtains the average scores of students and rank schools. My school asked me not to take that test because my score would bring the school average down. Not showing up on the exam day was a plus for me because it was one less test for me to take, but it was the beginning of what would be my biggest struggle in my journey with God.

The culture shock and my anger towards God subsided when I started attending TCIS; however, I was horribly influenced by friends who always told me, “You are not good enough, and you never will be.” These words still impact me today. What I struggle with most as a Christian is taking my relationship with God a step further. As I learn more about God’s omnipotence and omniscience I felt inclined to withdraw myself from Him. “God would never want me. I’m an ugly, mean, and sinful girl. He could careless about me.” I can’t recall how many times Satan has placed those words in my head.

Coming into high school, my view of God changed drastically. Placing many faithful servants of his into my life, God challenged me to take my relationship with him a step further. Many of his faithful servants were my teachers. They encouraged me to be better but still loved me for being me. God taught me, through my teacher s, both his loving nature of and his wrath towards sin.

God gave me opportunities to see more of his world by sending me to several different countries. One mission trip that has made a huge impact on me was the medical mission trip I attended. I went to Laos with my church’s medical team to give free treatment to the people there. The patients I remember most were the pregnant women. I was able to observe, through the ultrasound machine, the forming of new life. As the doctor was pointing out baby’s eyes, spine, hands, feet, and heart, I experienced the moment of realization on how wonderfully I had been made.


“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139: 13-16

God had to love me immensely for me to be even created; therefore, how could people have the right to say that I am not good enough? God had finally proven to me that no human can judge me, now I am on the path, in which I am growing closer to Him and he is working in me as a daughter of Christ.