::Bruchko::

"A tall prophet with yellow hair will come to us carrying banana stalks. Knowledge of life and God will come out of those stalks, and God will show us the way back to him."
::Ancient Motilone Legend::

Yesterday I read a book titled "Bruchko" by Bruce Olson  (originally titled "For This Cross I'll Kill You"). I've been sick for the last couple of days, and so I had time to read it straight through. I am glad, since it turned out to be a page-turner. I first heard about this book when I was at Harding. Many of my friends, including my sister, had to read it in various missions classes, but it was never assigned in mine. It's about a 19-year-old missionary who went to the South American jungle to share the Good News with uncivilized tribes.

I want to share more about this book to show that it is definitely worth reading. But if you are worried about "spoilers", feel free to stop reading here.

The stories in this book are incredible and inspiring. Bruce followed what He believed was an immediate calling at 19 years old to be a missionary to South America. He felt called to the unreached tribes in the jungle of Colombia and Venezuela, but literally took a "leap of faith." He left with a one way plane ticket and $70 of cash. A missionary had agreed to meet him at the airport, but never showed. Ultimately, when he met other missionaries, they shunned him and ultimately disfellowshipped him, because he did not have a missionary board backing him. To read about his experiences makes me incredibly grateful to have my supporters, AIM, my coordinator and a mission team to work with here in Ukraine.

Despite all of this opposition, Bruce wouldn't go home. He somehow managed to find his way into the jungle. His goal was to reach the Motilone tribe. They were known for killing white oil company employees with bows and arrows. No one had ever been able to communicate with them. His first contact was an arrow in his leg. He was rescued from the jungle to heal, and then returned to the same people.

The natives couldn't say "Bruce", and so they called him "Bruchko." One of the most amazing things about this story is how he chose to share the Gospel. He didn't try to "Westernize" the people. He lived with them to first learn about their world view. He wasn't looking to destroy their way of life, but rather show them how Jesus could better their way of life. Because of this, it took him 4 years of first learning the language and gaining their trust and friendship before he even told them about Jesus.

Some could argue that this was not the most "efficient" way of teaching them about Jesus. But I would argue that Bruchko was showing them Jesus by the way he lived. He first shared the truth about Jesus with his closest friend in the tribe. And then he waited for this friend to share the truth about Jesus with the rest of his tribe, in a way that they would understand.

The Motilone word for faith means "to tie their hammock strings to," because the Motilone people slept in hammocks. They understood the idea of hanging their hammock string and trusting it to suspend them and hold them up. Isn't that a beautiful description of faith?

Far too often I have trouble differentiating between Christianity and western theology. I expect Christianity to always look like it does in America: pews, song-leaders, church buildings, Sunday services and Wednesday night services, invitation songs. I would never argue that any of those things are wrong. But is that all Christianity is?

I am so blessed to have worshipped with brothers and sisters here in Ukraine, in Mexico, Nicaragua and Ghana, as well as all over the United States. All over the world, to be a Christian means the same thing: to be a follower of Christ.

You don't need a church building. You don't need to speak English. You don't need trees to meet under. You don't need to be a part of "Western culture." You don't need to "clock-in" at three assemblies every week. You don't need to wear shoes. You don't need to wear a suit and tie or a dress. You don't need an Ichthys decal on your car.

You need Christ.

And HE will change your life.

-ej