Peace Child: An Unforgettable Story of Primitive Jungle Treachery in the 20th Century

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Peace Child: An Unforgettable Story of Primitive Jungle Treachery in the 20th Century

4.27 of 5 stars 4.27 · rating details · 3,618 ratings · 142 reviews

In 1962, Don and Carol Richardson risked their lives to share the gospel with the Sawi people of New Guinea. Peace Child told their unforgettable story of living among these headhunting cannibals who valued treachery through fattening victims with friendship before the slaughter. God gave Don and Carol the key to the Sawi hearts via a redemptive analogy from their own myth...more

Paperback, 256 pages

Published August 8th 2005 by Regal (first published 1974)

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Feb 16, 2013 MaryAnn Koopmann rated it 5 of 5 stars

For years, I have been fascinated with the question of how undiscovered, isolated groups of people would held accountable for their decision to accept or reject God. How could uncivilized people understand how God's message related to their lives? After reading this book, I found my answer! I realized that through what Don Richardson calls "redemptive analogies," God makes a way for ALL people to understand his loving message. Just as he ably used analogies that were particularly meaningful to t...more For years, I have been fascinated with the question of how undiscovered, isolated groups of people would held accountable for their decision to accept or reject God. How could uncivilized people understand how God's message related to their lives? After reading this book, I found my answer! I realized that through what Don Richardson calls "redemptive analogies," God makes a way for ALL people to understand his loving message. Just as he ably used analogies that were particularly meaningful to the Jews and Greeks in the Bible, God is able to use analogies that are meaningful to cannibals and other isolated groups. Peace Child is Don Richardson's account of how he discovered the analogy that God had specially designed to make a cannibalistic tribe in New Guinea understand his love... and then of how he risked his life trying to share that analogy with those people.

This book chronicles one man's purposeful encounter with a group of people who had never come in contact with Godly principles. Perhaps because I'm a wife and mother of two, Richardson's decision to include his wife and two toddlers in his quest to share righteousness really made me understand his degree of commitment to God.
Richardson's powerful text outlines a sacrifice of earthly comforts for spiritual reasons and shows God's protection of the lives of people who actively seek to serve His purposes. While written by a very educated scholar, the text is very easy to follow. The careful reader will also notice that Richardson used a combination of both white collar and physical talents to convert members of the cannibalistic tribe. (To live and teach the cannibals, he was required to work not only as a carpenter and foreman, but also as a linguist and dictionary author.) That was a real revelation for me.

I want to emphasize, though, that this book is more than the masterpiece story of Don Richardson's experiences as a missionary. It is also a book that really convicts its readers to think about what their own roles should be in influencing the moral compass of people who have no social rules and no agreements about how to live together in groups - people with no Ten Commandments and no Magna Carta. There was a point at which I put this book down for a minute because tears were rolling down my face. I felt such an inward "call" to become more involved in sharing both the message of love and salvation and the principles of organized group behavior with the forgotten people of this earth, even if it meant sacrificing the comforts I am so used to. My brother-in-law read it years ago, and as a result, he started sharing the Christian gospel with prisoners in his hometown every Saturday morning. He still does that today.
Buy it and share it with your friends. It will change you inwardly and motivate you to inspire others.
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Dec 22, 2010 Skylar Burris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Skylar by: Jennifer Eppley

Shelves: christianity, biography

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. If I were to play a drinking game with Peace Child and take but a single sip of wine every time I came across an exclamation point, I would be passed out by page 100. But if one can get past the excessive use of exclamation points – and, with some effort, I did – Peace Child tells a fascinating story.

It is the true tale of missionaries who go to live among the remote Sawi tribes of Netherlands New Guinea, learn their language from scratch, and seek to communicate the love, forgiveness, and reco...more If I were to play a drinking game with Peace Child and take but a single sip of wine every time I came across an exclamation point, I would be passed out by page 100. But if one can get past the excessive use of exclamation points – and, with some effort, I did – Peace Child tells a fascinating story.

It is the true tale of missionaries who go to live among the remote Sawi tribes of Netherlands New Guinea, learn their language from scratch, and seek to communicate the love, forgiveness, and reconciliation of Christ. But how does one communicate the gospel story to a headhunting, cannibalistic, vengeance-seeking, violent culture that seems, on the surface, to have no redemptive metaphors? How do you get across the meaning of the gospel to a people who so value treachery that when they first hear the gospel story, they think Judas the hero of the tale? When a people consider a man’s most admirable feat to be his ability to befriend and then betray his enemy, to successfully “fatten with friendship for the slaughter,” how do you tell the story of a God who sent his own Son to His enemies like a lamb to the slaughter?

Our missionary author does at last discover an apt Sawi cultural metaphor after he struggles to break the inter-tribal cycle of revenge, murder, and cannibalism, eventually threatening to leave the warring Sawi people if they do not establish peace amongst themselves. Desperate to keep the “tuan” (mainly for his medicine and tools), the Sawi do seek to make peace through a unique, ancient Sawi ritual that also serves as the very metaphor the missionary had previously sought for in vain: the exchange of a peace child. Eventually, the missionary discovers still more metaphors in Sawi culture that he can use to communicate the gospel, and I was again reminded that the transformative power of Christianity is housed in the vehicle not of law, but of story. Peace Child shows how God communicates most profoundly and universally with His diverse creation through story, using their storytellers to implant in their minds and hearts metaphors that are not always fully apprehended, but in which rest a dormant seed of the Truth that may one day be nurtured into bloom. Christianity itself is a story (“the greatest story ever told,” as the saying goes), one we liturgical Christians tell and live through every year, from beginning to end, in our rituals, pageants, and holy days. And again I am reminded of why I was drawn by liturgy and found myself moving from the starker rituals of evangelical Protestantism to the rich, inspiring story-telling of the liturgical Christian world.

This metaphor of the peace child, though it comes from a culture very different from my own, nonetheless helped me to again see the gospel afresh. The metaphor shifts the focus of the gospel story for me from the blood sacrifice/sin component of the story to the peace/ reconciliation component, the reconciliation that has occurred not just between God and man through the peace child Christ, but the peace and reconciliation that ought to occur between all men who lay claim to this peace child, who have taken the peace child not merely into their villages, but into their hearts, and even into their bodies through the Eucharist ritual. It was an appropriate book to read this Advent season, a book that helped me better appreciate why Christ’s birth should indeed be heralded with the words, “Peace on earth, and good will to men.”
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Feb 20, 2008 Tim Headley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Even if treachery is a culture's highest ideal, the Creator has planted within that culture a "key" to "unlock" such seemingly "closed" minds to at least consider the fact that the Creator actually may have visited this planet. We just have to find that "key" within each culture, so that people will at least listen and consider the "story" of Jesus. This is an amazing story. I first heard it first-hand, humbly told by Don Richardson to me and just 5 others, around 1975. I had no time in my sched...more

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Oct 23, 2007 Ilona rated it 5 of 5 stars

The argument goes like this(though it is told in a narrative story) in each culture God places keys, redemptive analogies, to aid in the communication of the Gospel. Analogies which are made evident are then appropriated by the missionary. For example Paul in Athens appropriated the unknown god to proclaim the true God.

In the Sawi people the Peace Child was a redemptive analogie Don and his wife used to communicate Christ. Hearts which admired Juda's betrayal more then Jesus' sacrifice were tran...more

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Dec 05, 2012 D.I. Telbat rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian-must-reads

Peace Child is the exciting true story of Don Richardson, the first missionary to the cannibalistic Sawi tribes of New Guinea. After an education at Prairie Bible Institute in Canada, Don and his wife Carol entered the primitive jungle atmosphere by dugout canoe, and began their ministry for Jesus Christ to the curious Sawi people.

Or were the Sawi tribes merely fattening Don, Carol, and their infant child for a final meal? Regardless of the manifold risks, Don was the first to break the Sawi lan...more

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Jul 28, 2011 David Westerfield rated it 5 of 5 stars

This true missionary story is such an excellent picture of how the Gospel can come in to even the most morally backward culture and transform it from the inside out. It seemed Don and Carol Richardson were up against impossible odds; indeed they were. How can a stone-age tribe who valued treachery more than sacrifice possibly comprehend, let alone believe the sacrificial message of Christ's redemption for sinners? Only the Holy Spirit alone could make this possible. And at the same time, the Hol...more This true missionary story is such an excellent picture of how the Gospel can come in to even the most morally backward culture and transform it from the inside out. It seemed Don and Carol Richardson were up against impossible odds; indeed they were. How can a stone-age tribe who valued treachery more than sacrifice possibly comprehend, let alone believe the sacrificial message of Christ's redemption for sinners? Only the Holy Spirit alone could make this possible. And at the same time, the Holy Spirit used the difficult work of the missionaries to clearly communicate this message to the Sawi people in Netherlands New Guinea.

To start off, Don and Carol had to learn their language. Then they had to attempt to communicate the Gospel, and in so doing, the Sawi people wound up valuing Judas' betrayal of Christ more than Christ's sacrifice! How in the world could they possible communicate the Gospel now? Little did Don know God had foreordained redemptive analogies within the Sawi culture long ago that would be used to display the wondrous work of Christ. In order for the tribe to make peace with another tribe nearby where there had been enmity for quite some time, each tribe had to offer a peace child: one of their own children was given over to the other tribe in order to establish peace. And as long as the children lived, there was peace between the tribes, no matter what one did to the other. However, if one of the children died, peace no longer reigned between the tribes.

Don realized he could use this analogy to communicate that Christ is the Perfect Peace Child, the one who was given on behalf of sinners to create peace between us and the true God, forever; and He is the One who will never die, unlike their frail children, in an environment thick with diseases and no cures. Once the Sawi people saw this beautiful display of the Gospel in a way they could finally comprehend and see as valuable, by the work of God's Spirit alone through the message preached, many believed, and slowly the tribe began changing from the inside out. Over time, through the continued communication of the Gospel, they no longer valued treachery, but rather they valued the Ultimate Peace Child who was given on their behalf so they could be at peace with God. In addition, the Gospel message spread to many of the other tribes and there was unity that had not been there for possibly eons. Not only did the Gospel come in and save their souls from eternal destruction, but it came in and revolutionized the culture, their ethics, value systems, and it reversed the curse of Satanaic darkness that had held this people in spiritual bondage for so long. Praise God for such a wonderful picture of how the Gospel can come in and not only revolutionize individuals but also entire communities!

The Gospel and its message is no different in our Western culture. Though we come from a Judeo-Christian background (or really post-Christian in many respects), we have value systems, beliefs, understandings of reality, that all need healing and reversal by the work of the cross. In the same way the Sawi people were held in bondage by ideas of reality that were lies of Satan (doctrinal error, if you will), so also, our culture has ideas that need reversing by the message of the Gospel. This book is a great illustration of contextualizing the Gospel to a unique people group so they can see the light of Christ. And at the same time, this is exactly what we need to be doing with the Gospel in our own increasingly secularized setting we find ourselves in. With the missionary ideas of Gospel sharing and preaching presented in this book, it is my hope we all realize we too are missionaries in our respective settings and that we have the message of eternal life to present to many who just assume they are Christians because they are Americans.(less)

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Jul 13, 2011 Romy rated it 5 of 5 stars

After finishing End of the Spear, I was inspired to read more biographical stories of people who have devoted their lives to God's call. My son read Peace Child earlier this year as part of his history curriculum and really enjoyed it. He said that I should read it. So, since I've now found time to get some reading time in, this book was my next choice. This story is similar to End of the Spear in that missionaries enter a world totally different from their own. The two stories begin around the...more

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Feb 06, 2013 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Most books about missionaries that I've read start with the missionary: his call, his preparation, his arrival among people with an unfamiliar culture and language, his painstaking efforts.
In "Peace Child," as in "Lords of the Earth," Don Richardson starts with the people the missionary is trying to reach, in this case the Sawi people of what then was Netherlands New Guinea (now Papua Indonesia; Irian Jaya in the interim).
The missionary in this case is Richardson himself, along with his wife, C...more Most books about missionaries that I've read start with the missionary: his call, his preparation, his arrival among people with an unfamiliar culture and language, his painstaking efforts.
In "Peace Child," as in "Lords of the Earth," Don Richardson starts with the people the missionary is trying to reach, in this case the Sawi people of what then was Netherlands New Guinea (now Papua Indonesia; Irian Jaya in the interim).
The missionary in this case is Richardson himself, along with his wife, Carol. But we don't meet the Richardsons until the second part of the book. By the time, he has made us somewhat familiar with the stone-age Sawi people. So we don't just sense the apprehension the Richardsons must feel as they come among a people known to be headhunters and cannibals. (They also are a people who celebrate treachery, but the Richardsons don't realize this at first.) We also sense the terror the Sawi must feel the first time they meet 20th century technology with its high speeds and throbbing noises in the person of these strange, seemingly immortal, pale gods.
Richardson struggled mightily to translate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Sawi people in a way that would make sense to their culture. He only succeeded after he encountered the strange and troubling peacemaking ceremony that involved surrendering a "Peace Child" to a rival clan. The Gospel story started to click when Richardson was able to explain that God had surrendered his own Son, the perfect Peace Child, to bring peace to all people.
"Lords of the Earth" was an even better book than "Peace Child," I thought, but both were impressive. And they were especially meaningful to me because of missionaries I know who came to another stone-age tribe in Papua Indonesia in 2000. Richardson's books give me at least a little insight into what my friends the Crocketts must have been up against when they first arrived among the Moi tribe.
It's amazing that almost 40 years after the Richardsons came to the Sawi, there still were unreached people groups in Papua. And I'm told there remain many more.
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Feb 05, 2008 Callie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: missions-stories

I read this book last year. I am fascinated in the lives of missionaries and in other cultures, but I'm usually put off by the often weak writing that is put out by Christian publishers. I remember reading this book though and finding it quite poetic in places and well written. The choices and the faith that brought this man and his family to live in such a remote area were inspiring to read about. I would like to read this one again.

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Oct 04, 2007 Elise rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book a long time ago, perhaps not long after it came out. At the time I was very impressed with the way it beautifully conveyed how every culture has myths/legends/traditions that point to the story of redemption, restoration, and healing. Though I have since read or heard other similar stories, I still consider this book to be a valuable read.

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Aug 12, 2011 Randall Pratt rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a fascinating book about a missionary couple reaching out to the tribal Sawi people of what was then the Netherlands New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea, a part of Indonesia?). As they learned about and experienced the Sawi culture and language, they found that a concept had been built into their culture that served as an effective "redemptive analogy" that helped explain the good news of Jesus, the ultimate "Peace Child."

Don Richardson posits that most, if not all, cultures have embedded i...more

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Oct 23, 2010 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: High school, adults

Shelves: i-own-it, five-star

Peace Child is about a missionary who shares the gospel with a hostile tribe in what is now an Indonesian island. These cannibals think of Judas as a hero for 'fattening Jesus with friendship for the slaughter'. The missionary is finally able to explain the truth when he finds out about the custom of giving a peace child. When two villages make peace with one another, they exchange peace children to ensure that the other village isn't planning to betray them. He explains how Jesus is God's peace

...more

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Apr 10, 2007 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: global-perspective

Great story that demonstrates Gods creativity in creating diverse cultures; his self-disclosure and unique pursuit of this remote tribe in Papua New Guinea. The missionary in this book lived with the tribe, learned their worldview and discovered the key to explaining the gospel in a culturally relevant way.

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Jan 20, 2008 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Caleb and I read this together for school and it was really intersting. The traditions of the people were disgusting, however.
A great book for every Christian because it is one example of how to tell the Gospel of Jesus to a different people who have a different culture.

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Dec 07, 2012 Dottie Parish rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian-non-fiction, missions

Peace Child is the story of Don and Carol Richardson’s experience living among the headhunting tribes of the western half of New Guinea. In sharing the gospel with them Richardson discovered they admired Judas and his betrayal rather then Jesus and his sacrificial love. They viewed deceitfulness and betrayal as qualities to be emulated. They befriended their victims before taking their heads!

Peace Child is a spellbinding account of how Don and Carol Richardson and their young children lived thro...more

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Mar 26, 2007 jenn rated it 5 of 5 stars

this is my favorite missionary book. i love the idea that every culture has some story of redemption thus showing the human need not only for relationship with something greater but also for some kind of redemption.

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Mar 02, 2012 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: loaned-out

While some of the content was a bit too violent/graphic for my usual tastes, the premise behind this book is beautiful, something I never considered before. God has put into every culture and people on earth a means of connecting withe the gospel, the good news that Jesus indeed is Saviour for our sin. With the tribe in this book, it was hard to see that - they were brutal and deceptive and prided themselves in their evil. And yet, Don Richardson found a motif, a story, within their debased cult...more

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Jul 13, 2007 bridget. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: on-my-bookcase

this is a phenominal true story. i love how this couple really takes the gospel to the culture and doesnt just try to change the culture.

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Jan 18, 2013 Steve Miller rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian, missiology

The book opens with from the point of view of a man trying to establish an alliance with another village, with the risk that they might be fattening him up to eat him. Then the Richardsons came, the first white people the cannibals had ever seen. Within the first few days of moving into the area, arrows flew between warring factions. Don Richardson wanted them to peace, but they knew he didn't understand what that would take.

The plot matches fictional thrillers at times, and The Peace Child is o...more

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Jan 04, 2011 Jeff Short rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: missions

Missionary biography and powerful story. The title comes a cultural practice within tribes in Papua New Guinea that provides a redemptive analogy to communicate the Gospel to these people. Missionary biographies open our minds to different times, places, and peoples. This is a good thing for Christians in particular who are to be concerned about the Glory of God to the uttermost parts of the earth.

We did this as a family read-aloud. Missionary biographies form a crucial part of our family readi...more

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May 02, 2013 Chris Watkins rated it 3 of 5 stars

Read this year's ago when my beliefs matched the writer's. Fascinating read about a very, very different culture and the experiences of a missionary couple trying to reach then with their message.

I'd love to read an anthropologist's perspective on this culture. But looking back, the impression I have is that Richardson was a genuine and honest person driven by compassion. The story isn't one of signs and wonders but of struggle and searching.

For a different perspective I recommend the fascinati...more

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Jun 24, 2011 Desiree rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: read-and-reread, true-stories

Don Richarson gives an intriguing look into the dark, inner workings of the cannibal Sawi tribe in New Guinea, 1962. I appreciate that he didn’t just gloss over the details – they are essential to impart the complete miracle of this story. He handled it all in a tasteful manner. I cannot remember how I came across Peace Child originally, but I first read it when I was 12 years old (that was more than 15 years ago :P ) and it is *still* on my list of top ten AMAZING books. Since then I have read...more

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Oct 29, 2009 Natalie Wickham rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-autobiography

Years ago, I heard about a book called, “Peace Child.” The people who talked about it spoke very highly of its author. So I acquired the book and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since. The book is a first-hand account of the Richardson’s missionary work among the tribal people of Western New Guinea, Indonesia. As soon as I began reading, I was captivated! The writing is full of color, and overflows with rich spiritual truths. One can’t help but be in awe of God’s power to transform the most p...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Caryn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: business, conflict-resolution, school-acu-macr, peacemaker, spirituality

I found this story interesting but very difficult to read. The theme is not easily visible while reading and very hard to follow the threads of the various individuals. I read a lot and on a wide variety of subjects; this book was extremely slow going for me.
Peace Child was required reading for a class on identity, culture and conflict and I believe the story could have been told more effectively in half the time. Having said that, I respect that this is the authors' account of their time as mi...more

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May 08, 2013 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian, biography, books-every-christian-should-read

To be called by God to a foreign country as a missionary of the Gospel is a privilege and an awesome undertaking. But to be called as a missionary to a culture that is virtually untouched by the modern world, has no written language, and is based on violence and treachery as a lifestyle is almost unimaginable. This is exactly the kind of people that Don and Carol Richardson, with their eight-month old son, went to live among for the purpose of bringing them Christ. Richardson’s book, Peace Child...more To be called by God to a foreign country as a missionary of the Gospel is a privilege and an awesome undertaking. But to be called as a missionary to a culture that is virtually untouched by the modern world, has no written language, and is based on violence and treachery as a lifestyle is almost unimaginable. This is exactly the kind of people that Don and Carol Richardson, with their eight-month old son, went to live among for the purpose of bringing them Christ. Richardson’s book, Peace Child, describes their introduction to and ministry among the Sawi people of New Guinea. After reading Richardson’s account of his experience among the tribal people in Irian Jaya, I can only say that surely God takes great care and consideration when He hand-picks His servants to carry out such an overwhelming task.

Don Richardson explains that as a fairly new believer at age twenty, he felt a strong urgency deep inside from the Lord to serve Him as a missionary; the only question for him was, Where? One day in 1955, as a student at Prairie Bible Institute in Canada, he heard this from a representative of Regions Beyond Missionary Union:

[You will find yourself in] the midst of entire tribes that have never known any kind of governmental control, where people are a law unto themselves and where savagery is a way of life. You must learn to make yourself and your message understood in the medium of languages never before learned by any outsider…You will encounter customs and beliefs which will baffle you, but which must be understood if you are to succeed…You must prepare to endure loneliness, weariness and frustration with fortitude. Most of all, you must be prepared, in the strength of the Lord to do battle with the prince of darkness, who…is not about to give them up without a fight!

Little did Don know at the time that this would describe his later ministry on the Indonesian island of New Guinea. For the next seven years, Don and Carol studied and prepared until the time would come that they would be assigned their field of service. He writes, “After years of preparing and waiting, just to hear the name of the people we would devote our lives to was exciting! The Sawi! I turned the name over in my mind. I could almost taste its savor on the tip of my tongue.” And so with this excitement they traveled to the place where they would make their home and raise three children for the next 15 years. (Wow, I thought, would I have been up to that challenge and sign up with the enthusiasm that Don and his wife did?)

Before their arrival, the Richardsons were warned that the Sawi were a society of cannibalistic headhunters, and that the many local tribes were at enmity and often at war with one another. To read more about the Richardsons' experience with the Sawi people and how they were able to communicate the Gospel to them, visit my blog: www.ImAllBooked.com.(less)

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Apr 06, 2013 Ashton rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Suffice it to say that it's been a long time since I picked up any book and read it entirely in just one day. This was a book that I'd read in the past at university and I was looking for something biographical to read with the other books I'm reading right now and I thought, why not? I didn't imagine when I picked it up this morning and started reading it that not only would I thoroughly immerse myself in the book but I would do so to the point of finishing it in just one day.

This book has the...more Suffice it to say that it's been a long time since I picked up any book and read it entirely in just one day. This was a book that I'd read in the past at university and I was looking for something biographical to read with the other books I'm reading right now and I thought, why not? I didn't imagine when I picked it up this morning and started reading it that not only would I thoroughly immerse myself in the book but I would do so to the point of finishing it in just one day.

This book has the power to draw the reader into the story from the opening pages of the book. Unlike most books, it transports the reader right away into another world that is so removed from our own that it almost seems like a fictional account. It doesn't place us in our world and then draw us into another culture, it drops you there quite suddenly and leads you down a path that is quite different from what you're thinking it might be.

Within the first few chapters of the book there are surprises that both shock and horrify the reader but at the same time give them a deep understanding of the darkness that this culture was enmeshed in before missionaries reached them. And the same things continues throughout the book with surprises and times when you're pulling for something to happen and it just doesn't. Or things don't work out perfectly. The beauty of this book is that it allows its real characters to shine through and helps the reader feel like they've lived through the same things as the authors. We know these characters, we hear their wails of pain and anger, understand their mistrust, feel the hopelessness of the missionaries at some point.

But in the end, all of it works out to the perfect timing of God and through His plan. This book reveals the way that missionaries can use their host culture to bring lost men and women to truly understand God's truth through their own culture. This book paints a beautiful picture of that while revealing the struggles and joys of service. (less)

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Oct 04, 2012 Wanderer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, missionary

Cannibals! I first heard of them in Robinson Crusoe but now here they are again, in 1962, in a non-fiction missionary story. These cannibals are real, they hang around longer than a mere chapter or two, and there is no “my man Friday”.

Peace Child opens with the whistle of a spear and the rattle of bones. Everyday village life in the jungle makes for fascinating reading but you might not want to leave this book lying around where your impressionable ten-year-old can reach it. They will have night...more

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Jan 14, 2012 Don rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Christians

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. If you would like to hear a first-hand account from what it is like to be a Christian missionary to a jungle people who may kill you, this is it.

At times it tells the story from the viewpoint of the Sawi people, how they interpreted the world around them, and what the arrival of the missionaries meant to them. It is told in a way in which you can understand their amazement. At other times the missionaries relate their thoughts about their experiences --...more

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May 30, 2010 Garin Hess rated it 5 of 5 stars

Peace Child by Don Richardson - this one was recommended to me by Bethany when we hiked Timp in the summer. It is a first-hand account of a protestant missionary effort to preach the Gospel to the cannibalistic and head-hunting Sawri tribe of New Guinea in 1962. Their culture is the type of culture that has spawned all of our stereotypes of cannibals and our stereotypes aren't all that far off! At that time, unbelievably, the tribe had only seen whites once before. What makes this an incredible...more

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Oct 25, 2008 Melinda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, christian

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. After reading "Jungle Jewels and Jaguars", I was reminded of this wonderful book by Don Richardson and his experience with a tribe of head-hunting cannibals in Irian Jaya Indonesia.

Don Richardson, his wife, and infant son go to live among the Sawi people as Christian missionaries. Unreached by outsiders until 1962, the Sawi were headhunting cannibals, an almost unheard of combination in anthropology circles. Some tribes might be cannibals, others headhunters, but the Sawi brought both together...more After reading "Jungle Jewels and Jaguars", I was reminded of this wonderful book by Don Richardson and his experience with a tribe of head-hunting cannibals in Irian Jaya Indonesia.

Don Richardson, his wife, and infant son go to live among the Sawi people as Christian missionaries. Unreached by outsiders until 1962, the Sawi were headhunting cannibals, an almost unheard of combination in anthropology circles. Some tribes might be cannibals, others headhunters, but the Sawi brought both together in one culture. This book is about how the Richardson's discovered that God had planted the seeds of truth about Jesus and his sacrificial death for our redemption in the very culture of the Sawi, headhunters and cannibals though they were.

Initially it did not look as though there were any common elements between the truth of Christianity and the Sawi culture. The Sawi glorified treachery and deceit. The most honored men among them were those who had sought friendship with men from a neighboring tribe, only to "fatten him for friendship" and then trick him into being captured, killed, then eaten. When Don Richardson tells the Sawi the story of Jesus and his betrayal by Judas, the Sawi see Judas as the hero! How impressive Judas had been to betray his friend with a kiss! The Richardson's are at first frustrated and saddened to be unable to reach these people, until the Lord leads them to a wonderful discovery in the very culture of the Sawi.

[SPOILERS:] Peace between tribes did happen, and the Richardson's wondered how peace could be possible when every man is plotting to deceive every man they befriend from another tribe. They discover that peace is attained only when the father from one tribe gives his own son to a man in the opposing tribe. The man who receives this baby son then gives HIS own son to the first man. Each man promises to raise the "peace child" as his own, and peace is kept between the tribes while the sons live. For any Sawi to deceive and kill a "peace child" is the most wicked action that could happen.

When Don Richardson explained that Jesus is our "peace child", the Sawi cried and mourned, realizing what a terrible thing Judas had done... to kill God's "peace child"! From this, the Richardson's are able to share the truth of God's word in such a way that each Sawi understands that since Jesus is our "peace child", and he is also God, there will never need to be another peace child. He has indeed paid it all for us, and peace can be attained with God and with our fellow men.

This book is a WONDERFUL book, and I was so happy to read it again. I heard Don Richardson tell his story in person back in the 1980's, and everyone within hearing distance was riveted to their seat while he spoke. What a powerful message to hear, that God plants seeds of His truth in every culture! Even a culture as self-destructive as the Sawi. (less)

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About Don Richardson

DON RICHARDSON, author of Secrets of the Koran, Lords of the Earth and Eternity in Their Hearts, has been studying the Muslim world for more than 30 years.

He and his wife, Carol, spent 15 years among the Sawi, a Stone Age tribe of Irian Jaya. Don designed an alphabet suited to the Sawi language, authored 19 primers, taught the tribesmen to read in their native tongue and translated the entire New...more

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Books by Don Richardson

Eternity in Their Hearts: Startling Evidence of Belief in the One True God in Hundreds of Cultures Throughout the World

Acting Without Agony: An Alternative to the Method

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