missionaries. secondQ

What do mission organizations do for these people?

Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
Yes or No?
"Yes"...*gun shot

I always appreciated mission organizations.
For their prayers, hope, support, funds, and faith.

And I always admired missionaries. 

I admired their courage, commitment, love, and patience with whoever they were serving.

As a pastor's kid, my dad used to tell me stories of the cruel, harsh lives of missionaries.

Missionaries sacrificed their lives to save someone's life physically and spiritually

with all their power, strength, belief, and love. 

I remember not long ago, my dad had told me stories about medical missionaries.

There was one that I vaguely remember, but I know that I was moved by it.

A missionary came to Korea and it was during a time of need.

I think that it was near the end of the Korean War.

My dad told me that there was some commotion going on and people were leaving on big boat.

Many people were on that boat, including a missionary.

But along their way, a tragic event happened. The boat crashed and started sinking.

Everyone fought with each other to survive, trying to grab the last of the life vests.

The missionary was given one and was told to save his life to save others later.

Right before he was about to put it on, he saw a man who was nearly drowning.

The missionary believed that the man's life was worth saving so he sacrificed his vest

 and threw it to the man drowning. During this whole tragedy, the missionary died.

He died saving someone else' life and that same man today never forgot

what the missionary did for him. I believe he is a believer today, if I remember correctly.

Anyways, this story was just a reminder of what missionaries do for a living.

They are out there risking their lives to share the word of God and they don't care

what the circumstances are. I always look up to them because they have so much courage

and strength, hope, and such strong faith. I sometimes can't fathom the idea that

they never give up on God. How do they serve God like that?
How do they live with that constant fear of dying?

They sacrifice so much to share the word of God and save people, I just think it's amazing.

I always loved that passion and looked up to it, to the point where I wanted to be one.

I was so jealous of their relationship and walk with God.

I wanted that same faith and strength and just be able to depend on God and let him work miracles.

Of course, I gave up on that idea a long time ago, but I just think that missionaries are so special.

I respect their perseverance and patience, the strength and faith that they have.
I admire how they never give up on God no matter the circumstances.

.

In this particular story of the 'Peace Child,' Don Richardson serves to be a missionary.

Looking at Don Richardson's situation, for example, he had a lot of work to do

Throughout the book, I was always waiting for him to give up.

It seemed impossible for him to put up with all the troubles that he ran into.

I couldn't see a solution for myself when I tried to put myself in his shoes.

Yet, I was amazed for his patience of learning the new language and never

giving up even when he got teased or rejected while sharing God's word.

he never gave up.

I couldn't even understand how he could deal with their ways.

I was always afraid that something tragic would happen to him during the book

and that maybe there was no hope in changing/saving the Sawi people.

But God worked through him and changed a whole culture through one man.

God used Don Richardson to change a whole culture.

I don't know how he was able to do it like that and make it so effective.

I believe Don Richardson's task, the people that he was assigned to share the word of God with,

were one of the hardest people on Earth to deal with, yet he changed them.

He changed a whole culture!
I am in total awe of the final results and have come to appreciate God's word far more than I ever did.

What missionaries do for this world makes a huge difference. Because of them, many of us

are able to be saved through Jesus Christ and go to heaven. Because of

their patience, devotion, faith, strength, willingness, and love for us,

mankind is able to have hope. Although this may seem a little spiritual and all, but

I just think that missionaries have really changed our world.

My dad tells me all the time that Korea would never be this far without missionaries.

And I agree.
Missionaries have really changed history and the people.
It is because of them that we can find Christ and come to be with him. 

And to finish the last of this, I'll close with a shockingly amazing fact that shows

the work of missionaries, especially Paul.
Paul was a devoted, humble missionary who served God well.
And he is known to be one of the greatest missionaries on this earth.
Paul brought up so many churches and changed so many people's hearts.
We all know his past of what he did with Christians.
But the fact that even a person like him can change is amazing.
Now the story is, when Paul was finally caught and sentenced for death,
he was not crucified like others. That was because he was a Roman citizen.
And Roman citizens got less pain in dying. Their heads were chopped off.
If you ever saw a chicken's head chopped off, you might have seen that
it's body can still move without it's head. The same works for humans.
The brain and everything can function for a minute or so because of the blood flow.
When Paul's head was chopped off, his head bounced three times.
His last words before he died were, "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!"
Three times for each bounce and died.
Even as he was about to die, he mentioned Jesus some way.
Just through his death, so many people became believers.
This is the true power of the gospel and missionaries live each day to share it.
No matter what, they live for God, all the way.

melting pot. firstQ

What should we do when we are confronted with other cultures?

Okay, what should we do when we are confronted with other cultures? 

Culture is a sensitive topic to touch over because it brings up so much controversial issues
First of all, here's another thought that came across my mind. 

 What do we usually do when we are confronted with other cultures?

I know I'm always thinking "Ugh, why are they naked? What are they eating? Why are they making such ugly faces? What are they thinking?!" and on and on and on. 

I know it's kind of a judgmental kind of thing that I'm doing, but I'm pretty sure everyone is like that. 

It's 'human instincts', as we call it, and you know sometimes you can't help but be judgmental about certain things that you don't agree with or you just don't value as much as others.

Everyone is comfortable and accustomed with their own cultures and traditions 

and so when they see other people doing something different, they start criticizing, judging, and rejecting.
Those are the first few things we start doing.
We tend to only see the differences that separate us, instead of appreciating and accepting
all the things that we have in common, the things that bring us together.
We are so involved in ourselves and our own cultures and only the small picture,
that we can't see everyone equally and that all we need to do is learn to accept.
I mean I can't imagine myself out in the wet, humid forests running around barefooted and covered in nothing but leaves. I can't imagine myself doing that. And I can't even imagine cutting off my fingers one by one when someone dies. Of course, these are just a few examples from the book. But, worldwide, it's really hard to accept some cultures because they are so extreme in some ways compared to the ones that we are comfortable and familiar with.
However, no matter what extreme or how different some other culture is,
we should learn to accept it, appreciate it, and come to respect each other.
We all came from the same place, yet we're so different.
No one is better than the other or is the "standard" culture.
Hurting each other with mean words about the different cultures would just bring wars.
What we need to do is not only accept, appreciate, and respect,
but also see it in a different perspective and that can change one's attitude.
All I'm saying is that we shouldn't hate each other and judge.
We should learn to accept one another and learn new things.
It is because of our differences and different cultures, that makes this place so special.
Without the differences, where would this world be?
We need to appreciate everything and open our eyes to new things.
If we can do this, it will bring us together in harmony and peace and that's what matters.