March's Book Selection

Interesting!

It was great to have Karen Hall with us tonight!  She had actually been on a mission trip to the area we read about!

Everyone pretty much agreed that this book was a good pick for our book club.  There were 15 of us and we all felt that though parts of the book were difficult, it made us think about a lot of things.   How awesome our God is and how much in need of a Savior humans are...whether in Louisville, KY or in the jungles of South America....without Him, we are depraved, whether we have clothes on or not!

May we never forget to be thankful for the place that a God has determined for us to live (Acts 17:26) and may we be reminded that we have a job to do in praying for, giving to and being personally involved in the promotion of the Gospel both here and around the world!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SPIRIT OF THE RAINFOREST

Was it hard for you to read this book? (because of content and/or writing style?)
Did it help or hinder the story to have it told through Jungleman?
Did you wonder how he knew certain things, like what others were thinking at times?  Like when he was telling things that happened when he wasn't around?

Is it hard for you to imagine that there are people groups who live like this on the same earth that you live on?

A review on Amazon says "This book is a cheat.  It appears to be a true story until the middle of the book where the Christian claptrap becomes obvious.  The Author simply uses the Yanomamo as a shill to promote his own religious beliefs with a story that is clearly fictional."  Talk about this.

Mark Ritchie has received much criticism for this book - from other anthropologists, who feel he made it too "religious"...... to Christians, who feel he included too much sex and violence.  Do you think it is good for Christians to know the brutal truth about the sin in the world?  Does it cause Christians to dwell on things they shouldn't or does it give them a greater passion for the Gospel to go out and cause them to give God more glory for His redemption story?

Jaime helped me with some of these questions, and she said "I think God reveals Himself as cultures and/or individuals need."  Thinking about how God revealed Himself to Jungleman when he finally threw away his spirits, it seems revealing His great power seemed more important to the Yanomamo than even revealing His great forgiveness.  What do you think about that?

Contextualization is taking into consideration the cultural context in which we are seeking to communicate the Gospel.  Do you agree or disagree with the way the Yanomamo people learned about Jesus from missionaries who seemingly did this?
(i.e. The Great Spirit, The Enemy Spirit, His Son who made a path through the jungle. etc.)

What do you think Jungleman meant by his statement at the end of the book..."I am ready to begin my real life with Yai Pada"?

I made a lot of notes in my book as I read.  Did you note anything that you would like to discuss?