Book Review: Bruchko

What's the book?

Bruchko by Bruce Olson

What's it about?

Bruchko is a missionary biography about Bruce Olson who left his home as a nineteen year old with nothing but the conviction that God wanted him to go to South America and reach the native Indians. He was saved as a child in spite of the dead religion that he was brought up around and a zeal for God grew that his parents and minister’s discouragement couldn’t temper. Throughout his teen years he gained a conviction that God wanted him to become a missionary and even after being turned by a mission board, he left for Venezuela anyway.

Through a long period of trials and God leading him, Bruce eventually made contact with the Motilone tribe, a people who had little if no contact with the outside world and who were feared for being killers. At first contact the Motilones shot Bruce with an arrow and took him back to their village and made him stay there. After escaping and getting back to civilization Bruce did what most of us wouldn’t have dreamt of doing, he went back. This time he was warmly accepted however and so began the rest of Bruce’s life.

After becoming one of the tribe, eating, hunting, and living with them Bruce eventually learnt the language and was able to tell them about Jesus. What is important is that Bruce waited until he understood their culture and worldview before he did this. He was passionate that Christianity should not destroy their culture and way of life but enrich it. This is exactly what happened. God’s Spirit moved and many Motilones gave their lives to Christ.

As well as bringing spiritual life Olson also introduced medical help. Again, instead of trying to replace their culture he introduced it through their culture, first persuading the witch doctor to integrate medicine into her practice and showing her that it worked and was nothing to be afraid of. Eventually medical stations were set up throughout many of the surrounding tribes with the Motilones learning how to administer the medicine themselves.

Is it any good?

It is a well written and interesting book. It is told from the first-person perspective of Bruce and so we get his anxieties and fears as the narrative progresses. This gives it an advantage over other biographies written about missionaries. Bruce is incredibly honest about his heart throughout, even when God had to rebuke him for a sinful attitude or distrust. You get to see that missionaries are real human beings with real fears and worries.

If you have never read any mission biographies before, I hadn’t read that many, this is a good place to start, it is written in a fresh language and it keeps you gripped, I read it in a few days.

What can we learn?

The need to understand people before we can witness to them. Bruce became a Motilone to reach the Motilones, in this he was just following the example of his Saviour Jesus who became a man to reach men. It is a challenge to us, are we making an effort to reach people by seeing the world how they see it? Or do we expect people to just understand all that we take for granted even though they have none of the teaching that we have? Olson shows us the need to love people and enter into their world and care about it to truly reach them.

(For a slightly more critical review, one which I would recommend reading after you have read the book, see Trevin Wax's thoughtful review )