Ironically, coming from a mission school student, I actively try to ignore anything that has to do with religion, though I think being around Mark has influenced me quite a bit.
No offense to you guys, but religion causes trouble and is full of hypocrites. Just look at Islam now, and how far the radical groups have twisted it. And look what all the European colonists did to native cultures using Christianity as justification. For better or for worse, almost the entire world now follows or aspires towards Western culture. And Africa's nothing but a continent full of crime, violence and lawlessness, after the European powers arbitrarily divided the place into countries that suited them, not giving once-powerful local tribes the chance to say anything.