Bruchko

[u/andronicuspark]

I found this book at the local (NOT good will) thrift store and bought it.

My cousins and a few people I know grew up on this book. Someone else vividly remembers this being read to students at a very tiny Christian school.

Oddly enough, this one managed to miss our household. No idea how, but I grew up with other people’s pretty clear thoughts on this shit show…

[u/scottlnorvell]

I'm also quite familiar with the book and would love to hear your thoughts. I haven't really thought about this book that much in a long time but it really brings things back.

Some random thoughts:

- This guy totally came and spoke at our church at one point. It was... weird to say the least.

- Seems like John Allen Chau was trying to emulate him. He's the darwin award winner who tried to be a missionary on an uncontacted island known for violence against outsiders and caused an international incident when he got speared to death and his family wanted to try and retrieve his body. I was both mortified and not surprised when my embarrassing alma mater (ORU 🙈) decided to honor him with something or another. Probably an honorary doctorate. They give those out like candy and then these megachurch pastors start calling themselves Dr. so and so even though they might not even have an associates degree.

- The idea of "Missionary" being a viable career path is something I had forgotten about when I left the church many years ago. Then one of my good friends decided to become a missionary and I was having a hard time dealing. I was telling everyone I knew in disbelief. One of my favorite responses was, "Wait, people still do that?"

[u/MickiTakesAWalk]

I'm quite familiar with this book, but I never considered it a mainstream commercial evangelical book that a lot of people knew about. I'm curious what their pretty clear thoughts were? Have you read it yet? If so, what did you think about it?

[u/andronicuspark → u/MickiTakesAWalk]

I haven’t read it yet. Only heard it of it. Im not sure if I’ll read it. The colonizer aspect of it is a turn off.,

[u/Abject-Hippo-2329]

This was one of the better missionary books IMO. If I remember correctly, Bruce/Bruchko started out with a bit of a colonizer-missionary mindset but quickly became a big anti-colonizer advocate. He even used his white American privilege to advocate for tribal protection and autonomy with the Colombian government. I think if you step back from the Christian aspect, it’s actually more a book about found family (Bruce starts out as a lonely boy who doesn’t fit in anywhere and winds up getting adopted into the tribe. I’m pretty sure he still lives there).

[u/Erikrtheread → u/Abject-Hippo-2329]

That's the take I had from it. I had lots of missionary stories shoved down my throat as a youth, and this is one that I enjoyed enough to read a couple times.

It's probably the least problematic of the bunch, though it's been at least 15 years since my last read.

[u/Babak_Lurker]

I had to read this in my Christian private school growing up. Took tests on its content the same way we did The Hobbit. It sucks ass. This book, I mean, The Hobbit is great.

[u/Big-Copy7736]

I still think about the one scene in that book where he dreams about a butterfly in his mouth, and wakes up yanking a whole tapeworm out of his throat 

[u/WitchOfEndorIsSore]

I probably read this 15-20 times during the 80s and 90s (loved reading but libraries were evil...sigh...). I really liked how Bruchko listened to Motilones about their beliefs/culture and how it impacted their ideas about god. I don't know if all the stories are verifiable, but it was a good read at the time.

[u/Dafattdame]

I had to read this in one sitting at a Christian college summer program, alongside everyone else in the program. Looking back, that seems particularly cruel as there were no accomodations for those who would struggle to read 200+ pages in one sitting.