MTP Book Report:

Bruchko by Bruce Olson

Running barefooted down the jungle path, lightly skipping over roots, occasionally swinging from vines to avoid streams of water; some medicine and a Bible packed in a bag on my back. I was tired, but couldn’t stop, lives were hanging in the balance, and dependent on my speedy arrival…Callie the Jungle Missionary was coming to the rescue… I dreamily open my eyes, refocusing on the reality around me. Sighing, I set down my book “Bruchko” the life story of Bruce Olson, a real jungle missionary.  Tape worms, bloody bowl movements, starvation, broken bones…living in the jungle is not quite as glamorous as I imagined it to be. Yet, even while reading about these things I can’t help but see the romance in Bruce Olson’s story.  Romance? I think to myself, am I really willing to look at the life of a single man and declare it romantic? Doesn’t this contradict everything I have every thought about romance? It’s a big thought, one that I cannot easily push aside. Could a life lived in service to God really be considered romantic? As I recall the story of Bruchko, I have to conclude that his relationship with God actually fits into the mold…

At 14 years old, Bruce met the Lord for the first time. His quest for truth ended in a powerful realization and personal encounter with Jesus Christ. He described the experience this way “And then I knew that I was being saved. I felt miserable and broken and sick of myself. But I also realized a peace coming into me. It was alive, and it was making me alive.” After this experience, Bruce changed. He was so in love with Jesus that everyone around him began to notice. He left the Lutheran church his family attended and begin going to another church. He was shocked by the difference of the people in this church. He was actually being fed and he began to grow.

I wonder if pastors of dead churches are dead. It’s a sobering thought to know that is it possible to know all the answers, be in a place of leadership, and still fail to make any difference. My thoughts drift off again…how do I make sure that I my own walk with Christ impacts people for good? Are we supposed to purposefully attract people for the Lord or is it meant to be something that just happens as we follow Christ? A quote from Bruce that I wrote down pops back into my memory… “He hadn’t called me to be a missionary like Mr. Rayburn. He has called me to Himself, to be like His Son, Jesus Christ.” Well, that’s my answer. If we are striving to follow Jesus, serving Him no matter what, it will be reflected in our lives. We should never try to get people to follow us, but rather, we should always try to get people to the point of desiring to follow Jesus.

Smiling faces swarmed me. Skinny arms and legs, chopped, dirty hair…little ones pushing and shoving to get close, older ones standing back shyly, yet longingly. They were starving and my heart was torn into pieces, a little bit given to each one of them. I will never forget my experience at the orphanage in Uganda; I am often reminded of those sweet little babies. As I was reading Bruchko, something Bruce said stood out to me, reminding me of that time. He said “Most of all they are starving for the knowledge of Jesus Christ.” Food is just food. It keeps us alive and on earth for a little while longer, but what good is all the food we eat on earth if we are just going to hell when we die? Bruce lived with this reality every day. Although he was not serving a starving community, he was living in the jungle with a spiritually starving people, people who were really searching to know the Creator and longing for God. As I read this book, I was stuck at how many ancient beliefs actually pointed to Jesus. God had been preparing this remote jungle tribe to hear the message that was to be brought to them, by one lone missionary, for hundreds of years before his arrival. God had always planned to save them; He just used Bruce to accomplish His purpose. Because Bruce allowed the Lord to lead him, he ended up in a remote jungle in the middle of South American…and hundreds of lives were changed as a result.

“I was discovering that the cross of Christ meant more than joy and peace. It meant suffering too. Suffering that was necessary to bring a later hope.” Bruce Olsen suffered in the jungle…he really suffered, and from more than just broken bones…but also from a broken heart. Both his fiancé and his best friend died, leaving him behind to morn and question God. As I read that section of the book, my heart rebelled for a minute….But God, I argued, you did so many miracles there. How could that happen? You had already proven yourself to be so much bigger than any other force, yet you allowed them to die!?

 Then it struck me…God had saved lives, He had healed people, He had translated languages. It was because of His past faithfulness and miracles Bruce could be assured that God really was in control. I pondered this…are the things we see as bad always from the enemy? Doesn’t God have control? I know He does. He gives us what we need…Bruchko talked of Gods provision for him…“It had come when I needed it, not a day sooner, not a day later.” The biggest lesson I learned from reading Bruchko was this…God takes care of His children and He uses us, and in the end, we get to be with Him. Some get to go before others, but while we are waiting for Him to take us to heaven, we serve Him.  We serve him with “Only a drive within from God that nearly everyone else thought was foolish”.

I closed the book, wiping tears away. Would I be willing to go to such a place? Would I be willing to learn from such a people? What is the prayer of my heart? Sometimes I catch myself praying “Please God, anywhere but there.” I want to live my life with a new prayer…”Use me God, wherever I am.”