Two friends of mine are new translators and recently got back from a several month stay in their village. They were not expecting people there to know about Christ, obviously, otherwise they would not have become missionaries to go. But what they found was a bit surprising. They had been told about cargo cults before. We all have heard about them. But apparently in this particular language area, there is a very strong cargo cult.
Cargo cult is a term that can mean a variety of things. The core of the idea is that there a religion has been built around the idea of how to get stuff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo-cult
In this particular area, they have a complex structure of beliefs that revolve around stuff. So what he found was a very attentive audience listening to him talking about the Gospel because they believed that because he had white skin, he was an emissary from heaven to teach them all about how to get more stuff.
No one wanted to offend them, because if the white saints leave, then they will never unravel the secret to finding more stuff.
Their system is so ingrained in them, that they in fact have no problem believing some basic tenants of the Gospel because they, from the perspective of a cargo cult, only make sense.
They don't reject the Gospel, they simply see it as more evidence that the white people understand more about life in general and therefore they want to be more like what they understand Christ would be like.
It makes for a very difficult obstacle to reaching them with the TRUTH. However, one thing works in my friends' favor. They have a seeking heart. They desire to learn, and know and understand!
Pray with us that this cargo cult mentality will find the Truth, and that our friends will have the wisdom to know how to pierce it with God's truth.
