Tom Jaynes
Viet-Nam: Young Montagnard Mother
Central Highlands of South.Viet-Nam - 1966
This young woman, with a small child clinging to her breast, has precious little in this world. She is not alone, but she is typical of all the tribes living in these mountains, far away from most civilization. They are neither friend nor foe, for they know little to nothing of the American war. They do not speak Vietnamese in any dialect. Their language sounds a little like they are singing, and is very pleasant to listen to,
Missionaries from the US came here a few years ago and built a church for the poor Montagnards. And with them, the missionaries brought the evangelical message of Christ, but the Montagnards understood little of what they saw and heard.
They were frightened by the white man's God. They were exposed to the belief of a powerful, punishing God, and the belief that this new God would cast them into a fiery pit, where they would live in extreme torment forever after.
After the missionaries left, the Montagnards locked the church and their people were forbidden to go near it. Let God live in the house his people built. It isn't for the Montagnards. Not now, anyway.
-end-
Viet-Nam: Young Montagnard Mother
Central Highlands of South.Viet-Nam - 1966
This young woman, with a small child clinging to her breast, has precious little in this world. She is not alone, but she is typical of all the tribes living in these mountains, far away from most civilization. They are neither friend nor foe, for they know little to nothing of the American war. They do not speak Vietnamese in any dialect. Their language sounds a little like they are singing, and is very pleasant to listen to,
Missionaries from the US came here a few years ago and built a church for the poor Montagnards. And with them, the missionaries brought the evangelical message of Christ, but the Montagnards understood little of what they saw and heard.
They were frightened by the white man's God. They were exposed to the belief of a powerful, punishing God, and the belief that this new God would cast them into a fiery pit, where they would live in extreme torment forever after.
After the missionaries left, the Montagnards locked the church and their people were forbidden to go near it. Let God live in the house his people built. It isn't for the Montagnards. Not now, anyway.
-end-