Book review of Bruchko, a missionary’s autobiography

When I first heard about this book, Bruchko, I was fascinated. However, I had this slight problem called 24 hours in one day, and I had no time to delve into reading it. So again, my 13 year old who loves to read helped me out. Now I’m affirmed in thinking I need to get this book read at one point or another. It sounds like an incredible, inspiring read! Here is my daughter’s book review:

Bruchko book review

The book, “Bruchko” was an amazing book about the incredible journey of Bruce Olson. The book starts off with 14 year old Bruce asking, “Who is my God?” He tries to find answers, with no help from his family or his Lutheran church. He struggles with his faith and is scared of God and his judgment. When he reads the New Testament he is confused by how kind Jesus seems to be. That night, he prays to Jesus and asks Jesus to help him change and to become born again, and when he prays, he feels Jesus’ presence all around him and he feels at peace. He is amazed at what happened and it changes his life. 

The next morning he tries to share his faith but is rejected by everyone, saying that Bruce is crazy for thinking that he is more special than them for talking to God. But one day, his friend tells him that he too experienced God and his power. He invites Bruce to his Christian church, which sounded a lot different from Bruce’s Lutheran church. When Bruce goes there, he experiences something he never has before, fellowship. And Bruce couldn’t get enough of it. His family was upset with his decision and made fun of him for it. But Bruce kept going. He would walk five miles to get there and five miles back. He kept up with it just so he could learn more about Jesus. 

When he was 16, he learned about missionaries and their work. When Bruce heard about this, he felt God nudging him to go to South America to help the people there. He is turned down by the missions board, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to get there. Eventually he finds a way, and makes his way to Caracas, where he lives with a tribe of Indians and starts to learn their culture. He soon leaves though and struggles with money and finding a place to stay. But the Lord provides for him and somehow he is able to scrape through. One day he hears about the Motilone Indians and decides he is being called to help them. He goes through many hardships just trying to get to them, but when he finally does, he makes one friend. He is called Bobby and becomes Bruce’s closest friend. Bruce is able to convert Bobby to Christianity, and Bobby helps Bruce try to convert the rest of the Motilones. Bruce is still active in mission work today and has helped convert many Indians to Christianity. 

I really liked this book and it taught me a lot. It taught me about how to have strong faith in Christ and it also taught me the power of prayer. Whenever Bruce was in trouble or in need, he prayed and the Lord always provided. Bruce also always trusted God, even when it seemed impossible and when he was near death, he trusted that God had a plan and He would provide. It showed me that whenever I am afraid, I can always put my trust in Jesus and pray to him. The beginning of the book was also very interesting to read and to learn about how he came to faith in Christ, even when all of his family and friends rejected him and made fun of him. Even when they bullied him for his faith, he stood firm in the word of God. 

Love it!

Doesn’t that sound incredible? It’s amazing how God uses those who are willing to be obedient to Him. I love inspiring stories like this where God’s fingerprints are so evident all over it. Check out this book for yourself! I’m certain you won’t be disappointed.