How did Christianity change this culture?

Through Peace Child, once again, I realized “Faith” can change people’s mind miraculously. Particularly, Christianity has influenced this Sawi culture in great extent. Before Don approached to this people, the culture depended on “Peace Child” to maintain peace between tribes. However, Peace Child was just a temporary promise between them; whenever the Peace Child dies, their peace also breaks apart. Without a Peace Child, it meant “no promised-peace” between tribes.

Kauwan turned away and said simply, “You should have given me a Peace Child. Then I would have protected you (pg 32).”

In the first chapter of the book, it described that Yae’s tribe and Kauwan’s tribe did not exchange a Peace Child. As a result, it didn’t matter whether Kauwan betrays Yae. This showed how the term “Peace Child” was important to the society and the idealization of treachery was part of their life. After fattening friendship with Yae for slaughter, they relished Yae’s flesh for their feast. Thus, killing the men and practicing cannibalism was perfectly normal to the culture. However, as Don Richardson spread the gospel and God’s love to the Sawi people by translating the Bible with the Sawi’s alphabet (which was created by Richardson), the Sawi culture began to change gradually. Jesus replaced the term, Peace Child, promising “eternal peace” among all of the tribes and cannibalism was also discarded.

In conclusion, I don’t want to think the changes of this culture made the tribes "lose" their culture. However, I think God has finally granted the real term of “peace” to the culture and led them to right way, by abandoning the wrong actions, such as practicing cannibalism. Christianity has influenced this culture spiritually.