One, gains an unmistakable impression that the Sky- God wanted to communicate with people of various folk religions all the time, but for His own mysterious reasons maintained a policy of restraint until the arrival of Yahweh’s testimony! This is surely a powerful exta-biblical evidence for the authenticity of the Bible as revelation from the one true and universal God! Don Richardson
Eugene Bach recently met with international speaker and author of best-selling books, including Eternity in their Hearts and Peace Child, Don Richardson.
In his book, Heaven Wins, Don reflects on the words of C S Lewis: “Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.” This reflects the life and commitment of Don Richardson, who has devoted his life to missions, and put much of his experience and studies into his writings.
Originally from Canada, Don spent fifteen years with his wife and young family as a missionary in the West Papua jungles. During this time he lived among the Sawi tribe who honoured treachery as a virtue. When he shared the gospel of Jesus with them, they hailed Judas Iscariot as the hero of the story. They admired the fact that he had betrayed Jesus. Approaching the gospel from his Western viewpoint was not reaching into the hearts of the Sawi. It was then that Don began to understand that a redemptive analogy was needed to reach the tribe.
A redemptive analogy is a component in a culture that God has placed so that when a messenger brings the good news of Jesus, it will make sense. It’s like finding the fingerprint of God that is already on that culture.
The redemptive analogy for the Sawi tribe was found in the form of a ‘peace child’. A child was given from one warring tribe to their enemies to bring about peace. This paved the way for Don to share about Christ with the tribe. To this day, there are numerous Christians in West Papua because of Don’s perseverance to find a component of their culture that they could relate to the redemption of Christ.
When the terrorist attacks of 2001 highlighted the threat that Islam had become to the church, Don knew that he needed to study the Koran in depth. Through his studies, Don found a redemptive analogy that would be relevant to Muslims. This breakthrough has enabled Christians to reach out to Muslims in a relevant and effective way. Don shares his findings in his book, Secrets of the Koran.
You can purchase Don’s books here:
http://www.donrichardsonbooksales.com/
Eugene Bach had the opportunity to catch up with Don and hear more of his extensive knowledge about Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures. You can listen to this Podcast by clicking on the link below:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/episode-22-live-interview/id1086176943?i=363475689&mt=2
BTJ Contributing Author: Jo
