Four Books that are a must read to understand missionary work in 3rd World Counties.
Four Books that are a must read to understand missionary work in 3rd World Counties.
To round out the previous 2 Blogs on missionary work, which were about men who worked in 3rd World Countries, where Animism is THE religion, I would suggest these four (4) books, which while they are not "Christian" books, they are absolutely relevant to missionary work in 3rd World situations. The dynamics between the 1st World and the 3rd World are complex. The "haves" and the "have nots." The danger of making "rice Christians;" people who profess faith in Christ and allegiance to the Christian message and church, simply to get the good things of the 1st World which the missionary cannot help but to bring with him. I remember reading a story of a family that went to India to work as missionaries. They brought 18 drums of possessions with them. They worked among a good number of villages, but they had the least impact in the village where they lived, and their conclusion was that the people saw all the stuff, and that clouded the message; the people were dirt poor, and could not see past the stuff.
There is no way around some of these practical problems.
I offer these books to give some perspective. They were written by people who lived in the 3rd World, and only they can give insight to those who have not. The gulf is real and huge.
"Inside the Third World," gives helps us to understand how the 3rd World works. "Return to Laughter," "Thing Fall Apart," and "The Ugly American," help us to navigate into a foreign culture, which is generally pagan, without engaging in the sins of that culture. As Paul said, "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law." 1Co 9:19-21
"Inside the Third World" by Paul Harrison
Mr. Harrison understands the "Third World": What it is; Why it is what it is; and What keeps it that way. This book is a must read for anyone who will be traveling or staying for a lengthily time in a 3rd World country. My edition is a 2nd edition paperback printed in 1982. Over 40 years old, but still right on the money! For someone intending to do missionary work in the 3rd World, this book is a very important book. We cannot ignore the situation of the people with whom we work: the socio-economic-political situations and landscape. Although the book is not specific to any one country, we found it to be correct in virtually all aspects regarding Papua New Guinea.
https://archive.org/details/insidethirdworld0002harr/page/n2/mode/1up?q=the+third+world
"Return to Laughter" by Elenore Smith Bowen
This is a very useful book for the missionary who intends to work in a tribal setting. I can do no better than to quote the write-up as found on the back cover of the Natural History paperback edition of 1964 which I have:
"It is remarkable to have a novel included in the Natural History Library, but Return to Laughter is a remarkable book. A vivid and dramatic account of the profound change experienced by an American anthropologist in here first year as an initiate of a primitive bush tribe in Africa, it provides deep insights into the indigenous culture of West Africa, the subtle web of tribal life, the power of the institution of witchcraft. Primarily, however, it is a classic story of the outsider caught up and deeply, personally involved in an alien culture. And [as] Margaret Mead says, "The first introspective account ever published of what it's like to be a field worker among a primitive people."
All of the above statements apply to someone intending to do missionary work here in a 3rd World country. While we don't become "initiates," as these cultures of demonic to the core ("the power of witchcraft"), we do need to live among the people, we need to learn what they do (though we don't do it), and most importantly why they do it; we need to get into their heads! And this is not just applicable to tribal settings. As we say, "You can take the boy out of the farm, but you cannot take the farm out of the boy," so to the person who leaves his/her tribal settings to go to town, does not leave the traditional religious beliefs and practices behind, they bring them with them. The first Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea said in an interview (which I read it the newspaper), "The source of my power is the men's house back in the village. I go back there to receive my power." (not verbatim). Where he was from, the men's house was the place where the men did all of their demonic witchcraft ceremonies; that is where the Prime Minister got his power to run the country, and he felt safe saying that publicly, because all of the citizens of PNG would understand, and be happy that he was doing it, because for them too, the power to live life comes from their traditional animistic practices.
The tribal cultures and mind-sets continue in the cities of the 3rd World!
As a Christian missionary working among animistic tribal people here in Papua New Guinea, this book rang true regarding both the personal struggles the young anthropologist went through, and the observations she made of the tribal life into which she had stepped. Tribal groups are self-contained worlds, fully functioning without us, into which we go as outsiders. They have been in existence for centuries without us, and will continue on when we are gone. We are foreigners, we will always be foreigners. As Christian missionaries, we must try to balance bringing a message which is supra-cultural, and which therefore changes every culture which it comes into contact with, while at the same time learning how to live among a people totally different from us, whose culture in the indifferent things of life, we are not called to change, but in the things contrary to God, we must challenge, and expect to see him change as people "turn from idols to serve the living and true God (1Th 1:9). This is much easier said than done, and is the cause of much stress. This is what "Return to Laughter" deals with.
https://ia801601.us.archive.org/33/items/dli.ernet.524278/524278-Return To Laughter(1956).pdf
"The Ugly American" William J. Lederer & Eugene Burdick
This book is basically a political science book. The following quote, not referenced, "If this were not a free country [meaning America], this book would be banned," appears on the back cover of my Corgi Paperback Edition. It is about a fictitious country in South East Asia, during the Cold-War, and the bumbling way some of the American diplomatic crops interacted with the people. The Ugly American is an engineer, Homer Atkins, who "is short, unattractive, inelegant" hence called "The Ugly American." While he may be ugly, his understanding of how to interact with the people is profound; that is why this is excellent reading for a prospective missionary. Too many missionaries think mission work can be done from a remote "station" with periodic, sporadic, surface interaction with the people; no way!
The book tells of the total lack of understanding on the part of the US Embassy Staff as to what is really going on around them in the country, and it gives the reasons: no personal interaction with the people (only surface interaction at work, in the office), no fluency in the language (so they cannot understand what is being said around them, or about them, nor even read the newspapers, and are therefore ignorant about what is really happening), no friends among the people (they stand apart, they like it that way, they are outsiders: always have been and always will be), they view the people as stupid, inept, back-ward, and therefore demean them, they do not seek advise from the people, and when offered, they ignore it, being content to simply impose their will on the people and the country regardless.
If a missionary acts the same way, at worst it will bring disaster with the missionary leaving and saying (to defend their honor), Those people are hopeless; at a minimum, it will result in a work devoid of lasting fruit, a waste of time, a waste of the missionaries life, with little fruit to show.
Strong words? Read "The Ugly American" and then see if you think those are strong words.
“Unto the Jews I became as a Jew …” I Cor 9:20.
And do NOT watch the movie, they totally missed the point of the book!
https://archive.org/details/uglyamerican0000unse
It can also be found on Amazon.
"Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe
This book is about Okonkwo, a leader of his people, the Ibo of Africa, and how he perceived the coming of Christianity among his people. It confused him, troubled him, was largely unaccepted by him, and in the end, he hung himself, because he could not understand why, nor accept that, his world was "falling apart."
It is a powerful book.
Of course as a Christian I could write how this is not surprising, because the natural man cannot understand God, His ways, or His word; but as a Christian missionary working among animistic people, I have seen this happen, not the suicide, but the lack of understanding of the Christian message, and the subsequent clash of kingdoms on a personal level, resulting in despairing bafflement. It was very hard and sad to see as it happened to people who had become my friends, and ended up dying outside of Christ. They were truly seeking for Truth and Light, they had an understanding that it was to be found in Christ and the Gospel, but in the end, they could not (on a human level) forsake their old ways.
One of these men was Joshua, that was the western name he used. His secret name was, well … secret! Joshua was one of the most faithful attendees at the Sunday meetings, but when he lay dying (while we were on furlough in 2012) he turn to the magic arts of darkness, and died lost. He was my friend, and I miss him. I understood him; his world was falling apart. I often spoke to him of the light and truth and life in Jesus Christ; he was genuinely interested, but in the end ...
I recently (March 2025) asked one of the Christian men if he thought Osa, another man, had been saved before he died, and he thought for a minute, and said, "No, he was like Joshua, he came close, but could not forsake the old ways." He remembered Joshua, and linked the two together; I was stunned!
But the ways of God are not our ways, we recently baptized Osa's wife. She became a Christian, and a powerful evidence of the reality of her conversion was that when Osa died, she refused to allow his relatives to do "all of the old ways," pertaining to death. She risked a lot, even physical attack. Another Christian woman, Ruth, did the same when her husband died, and his relatives threatened to kill Ruth! These things are real!
"Things Fall Apart" is a very good book for anyone who will work among animistic people, IF it is read with an open mind, to try to get into their skin, their thoughts ("to the Jew I became a Jew"), to be able to see the world as they do. They are in bondage to the devil and are lost, make no mistake about that, but they are human beings made in the image of God, groping after the truth, even as a blind man gropes (Acts 17:27), and if you one can understand that, it will go a long way to understanding them, and helping you as you work among them.
16 April 2025