One of the poignant factors about culture change among the Urapnim people, which Joel Robbins pointed out, was the ability of the community to fully embrace Christianity, a culture very different from their traditional Min Ok culture. According to Robbins, communities that go through some dramatic cultural change take gradual steps in doing so- changing one part of the old and replacing bits and pieces of the new. However, the Urapnim community did something that might seem very unique to anthropologists.
In contrast to the common way of Christian missionary work in most parts of Africa- missionaries come into communities and introduce Christianity to the locals through conviction and conversion to the new religion- the people of Urapnim did the opposite and sent out their young men to seek out the "truth" at the shops of the missionaries in the nearby areas. One thing that was surprising to me was their zeal to seek out a new religion that they most likely knew could change the current and historic tradition that was already in place and governing lifestyle in the community for as long as the community existed.
Another interesting part of the cultural change in the Urapnim community was the concurrent existence of both the old Min Ok culture and Christianity at the same, in one community. I expected that there would be a lot of tension and conflict between those who chose to live by the old tradition and those who opted to adapt to the new Christian movement. However, the coexistence of both cultures was what resulted instead. I am interested to see how both cultures are either complementing or conflicting each other in present day and it also makes me wonder whether or not the Urapnim people fully understood the impact of what they sought for (Christianity).
Reference: Robbins, Joel. Becoming Sinner: Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society
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