Not-So Paradise
Sacred Saga Team
14 Comments
I serve the Lord in a unique art of the world. To be sure, there are lots of unique places, but the Western Pacific covers a vast ocean paradise that contains its very own culture, and a smattering of sub-cultures within the larger culture. One of the islands that dot the seascape is Guam, home to Pacific Islands Bible College (PIBC), which is home-away-from-home to a whole host of Micronesian students. I often call this place “the far side of the world.” Hopefully, this entry will help you get a glimmer of the many levels of meaning in that phrase.
The Federated States of Micronesia (600 extremely beautiful and remote islands located several hundred miles south of Guam) are comprised of the island-states of Chuuk, Yap, Pohnpei, and Kosrae. The region also includes the Republic of Palau (as in “Survivor”). A vast number of these islands have no electricity, cars, running water, or stores. Each island has its own culture, language, and many dialects within a language. One thing they all have in common is they are comprised of clans. This clan “system” has some amazingly great attributes producing stability and provision for its people. Tragically, it also has the tendency to produce power struggles and misuse of authority.
Recently, at PIBC’s annual Spiritual Emphasis Retreat, my wife and I had some very intimate and disturbing discussions with some of the students from the Chuuk islands. There are some huge challenges to bringing God’s love to this people group. There is a clear cycle of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual abuse, and alcoholism, which is humanely impossible to eradicate. My wife’s heart breaks for the Chuukese, especially for the women who, on some of the outer islands, must literally crawl on the hard, rocky ground, in a dress, in order to stay lower than their biological brothers to show respect. There are no police stations to report abuse, and if the victims were to come forward, they would bring shame on their immediate family and ultimately the whole clan. This is the greatest sin in their eyes – to bring shame upon your people. Therefore, your family/the clan would potentially be more upset at you for exposing the evil, thus bringing shame on them, than they would be at your being raped, sexually abused, etc. Plus, most likely, the perpetrator would beat you (or kill you) for exposing him.
It is this same people group that has many pastors who are not Christians. The pastor is appointed by the village chief and the position will go to someone in his family or someone to whom he owes a favor. Even when Christians are appointed to the pastorate, inevitably they have inadequate or no biblical training. The church tends to be very legalistic, ridden with rules and regulations. It seems that they have never heard of grace and don't understand the concept of a loving father. In some settings, if you cross the pastor or break one of their many rules, they will have a public ceremony where they literally erase your name out of their book (all "Christians" are recorded in this “Book of Life”). This would bring terrible shame on your family. Standing up for truth or healthy change could result in having your name erased. Essentially, it is NEVER safe to buck the system.
We are desperate for God's wisdom and guidance as to how we can best contribute to changing an entrenched system. Most of all, we covet your prayers as we prepare for the spring semester courses. We want to wisely choose books and be able to integrate information into the classes that will lead to life-transformation. We move forward in confidence, heartily believing that God has the power and desire to bring change here on “the far side of the world.”
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