Bruchko: The Astonishing True Story of a 19-Year-Old American, His Capture by the Motilone Indians and His Adventures in Christianizing the Stone Age Tribe [Paperback]

Bruce Olson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 2006

What happens when a nineteen-year-old boy leaves home and heads into the jungles to evangelize a murderous tribe of South American Indians? For Bruce Olson, it meant capture, disease, terror, loneliness, and torture. But what he discovered by trial and error has revolutionized then world of missions.

Bruchko, which has sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide, has been called “more fantastic and harrowing than anything Hollywood could concoct.” Living with the Motilone Indians since 1961, Olson has won the friendship of four presidents of Colombia and has made appearances before the United Nations because of his efforts. Bruchko includes the story of his 1988 kidnapping by communist guerrillas and the nine months of captivity that followed. This revised version of Olson’s story will amaze you and remind you that simple faith in Christ can make anything possible. “[Bruchko is] an all-time missionary classic. Bruce Olson is a modern missionary hero who has modeled for us in our time the reaching of the unreached tribes.” —Loren Cunningham Co-founder, Youth With A Mission

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bruce Olson, born in Minnesota and now a citizen of Colombia, is a linguist and graduate of sociology from a South American university. He has won the friendship of four Colombian presidents and appeared before the United Nations. His first book, Bruchko, has sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide. He lives in the jungle on the border of Colombia and Venezuela.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Charisma House (July 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159185993X
• ISBN-13: 978-1591859932
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (138 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,107 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Ministry & Church Leadership > Church Administration
  • #8 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Evangelism > Missions & Missionary Work
  • #96 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Religious

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I've ever read outside the Bible November 16, 1999

By Dr. Marc Axelrod VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a riveting story of a young man who was so passionate about winning lost tribes for Jesus Christ that he plunges himself into the work and immerses himself into the culture. You have to pinch yourself to remember that this is a true story. It's so outstanding and so unbelievable that one man endured so much for Christ. I kept thinking of the words of God in Acts 9: "I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Taking Missions to Heart April 15, 2002

By Bill Reese

Format:Paperback

Bruchko is a fascinating story of a young man's struggles, Bruce Olsen, to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to civilizations that were previously unreachable within the South American continent. To me, a missionary, this book brings life to all the things that must be considered on and off the mission field. As an avid reader, the story of one man's determination to spread the gospel, as well as the trials and tribulations he faced, kept me riveted. I have heard and read stories like this most of my life, but could not believe some of the hard facts and daily adversity that Bruce Olsen had to face.

I appreciated the day-by-day encounters of Bruchko, as he was called, with the tribal people of South America. The literary work by Bruce Olsen opened my eyes to the things of this world that one person can and does face daily when focused on getting the Palabra de Dios, Word of God, to other civilizations. The story tells of a man who was turned away by mission organizations because of his young age and inexperience. I recommend this book for anyone seeking a great story as well as those people considering going to the mission field for active work.

Despite the book ending on the last page, I know the story of his mission did not end there and look forward to hearing more about it in the future. Even after reading it twice, I look forward to the next time I pick up the book to peruse the pages. I cannot help but think about what the world would be like if more people would follow the leading of God and use Bruchko's zeal and desire as an example to bring the gospel to the world.

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Proof that we mustn't underestimate the power of the gospel November 11, 2001

By "cdwitmer"

Format:Paperback

It has been I while since I read "Bruchko," and my copy of the book is now out on loan, so I might have a few details wrong in what follows (but I am mostly confident in my memory). This is the story of a Bruce Olson, a 19 year old American youth who went, on his own (i.e., with close to zero support from anyone), as a missionary to the Motilone, one of the most feared and least understood Indian tribes in South America. He nearly died several times but in the end seems to have converted the greater part of the tribe to Christianity. He did several things that were quite unusual. Two that stick in my mind were: 1) he and the Indians composed original hymns in their peculiar musical language, which is reported to sound eerie and dissonant -- almost demonic -- to Western ears; and 2) he went to great extremes to use dynamic equivalence in translating the Bible into their language. For example, he completely reversed the metaphor used by Christ in Matt. 7:24-27; in that tribe's culture, only a fool would build his house on a rock, and the obvious wise place to build a house is on *sand.* Architectural references were also modified, as in their culture the box-like rectangular architecture familiar to us is considered ugly; "virtuous" architecture is all round. And so on.

As an aside, I'll bet that over time a new translation of the Motilone Bible will come to be needed, one that is more "direct and literal" in its approach and resorting less to "dynamic equivalence." I think they will eventually "outgrow" the one they have. The same may happen with their music; European music certainly evolved after contact with Christianity and there is still plenty more room for change. I think that over time the Motilone culture will be greatly transformed by the gospel, and in some ways it will inevitably come to resemble that of Christian Europe, but there could very well be many other ways in which it persistently retains many features quite different from the Western culture we generally associate with Christianity. Nothing wrong with that! -- in the Godhead the One and the Many are equally ultimate, and there is no reason to expect that human cultures should all become monotonous cookie cutter duplicates of each other as they turn to Christ.

Here are a few more interesting particulars that stick with me after reading the book. First, there was another tribe of Indians, speaking an entirely unrelated language, with which the Motilone were perpetually at war. Both tribes would take every opportunity to inflict pain and suffering on the other. Well, after the Motilone became Christian, some of them insisted on sharing the gospel with their traditional enemies, with which they previously had had no contact except to give or receive violence. Olson knew the languages of both tribes (as he had lived among the other tribe as well), and he knew that they would never be able to communicate, so sharing the gospel would not be possible. Accordingly, he tried to discourage the would-be evangelists from going, fearing they would only get hurt or killed. Well, they went anyway, and the other tribe also converted to Christianity! A miraculous repeat of the power of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2? Who can say? Another interesting thing was that while Olson was away one time, the Indians cured a deadly ailment using totally inappropriate medicine from Olson's supplies. When he came back, the Indians explained that they knew it was praying to God that was the essential part of the cure, and thus they didn't see any problem in using the "wrong" medicine. Before becoming Christians, the Motilone were so fierce that no Westerner had been able to approach them -- several white men had been killed upon making contact -- so no outsider would believe Olson was actually living among the Motilone. Finally some government and oil mining company officials went with Olson to these "primitive" Indians and found that in the short time since their conversion to Christianity, they had established schools, agriculture and a hospital more sophisticated than those used by the white men around them. Eventually it became standard practice for the the white people to go to the Indians for health care.

Finally, without wishing to knock missionary organizations, I find it interesting that a maverick who "bucked the missionary system" so completely should have achieved results where nobody else could. The pastor of my church is also a totally independent missionary to Japan, and has also enjoyed unusually great success in this country. He attributes part of his success to the fact that he hasn't been constrained by some of the peculiar handicaps common to missionary organizations. Another important factor is simply staying on for the long haul. If anyone reading this is contemplating missions, I hope you will think about this. Some people will definitely work best within a missionary organization, while others will definitely be able to do more without one. Part of your success will depend on knowing which type of person you are and allowing yourself to be led into a situation where your talents can be put to best use. One thing is for certain: humanly speaking, you will always achieve more if you have a lifelong, or at least "career-long," commitment to your mission station than if you just rotate in and out every few years. Why so many missionaries only stick around for a couple of years has always puzzled me to no end. And living in a missionary "ghetto" is another no-no. If you're going to go, go all the way.