FAIR SUNSHINE

It was by providence that I came across this recommended read by a dear missionary brother in Peru. After researching the title and some more reading I purchased the kindle version immediately with what was left of my money. So convicting was the narration of Bruce Olson I simply could not leave it off, that I finished it in three hours. It was a profound realization that God had wonderfully steered me in the right direction from the beginning. I have long sought the mercies of God for a clearer vision, and with this, all the cloud of confusion surrounding our circumstances lifted. I highly recommend this book. It will challenge the present illusions of our comfortable Christianity. 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  by  Bruce Olson What happens when a nineteen-year-old boy leaves home and heads into the jungles to evangelize a murderous tribe of South Amer...

Our third street meeting took place on the promenade of the town proper's municipal hall. Because of the previous violent protests in and around Metro Manila, the administration shuttered the park to protect it from potential vandalism. Last Sunday it was closed for a night market, prompting us to hold fellowship at a nearby diner to share a meal and continue our message on the chronological events of the life of Christ. Despite the rain throughout the first two meetings, we persisted. We were blessed with beautiful weather this Sunday. The authorities informally permitted us to conduct our meeting here even while the area remains closed to the public. We were able to invite the few folks in the park to join us for a seat. Both the saints and the common folk were considered in our exegesis of Luke 12:13–34. I spoke to them as fellow humans and begged them as souls heading to eternity. Before we read the word, a group of six young adults sat not far from us. We invited them to j...

A year went by. Hudson read his Bible through for the fortieth time. He wrote hundreds of letters and prayed constantly for China and the missionaries who served there. The news that Jennie had cancer hardly changed their lives at all. Both of them were already living in the light of eternity. Although she was thin and weak, she told a friend, "I couldn't be better cared for or happier. I'm nearly home. What will it be to be there! The Lord is taking me slowly and gently." And so He was. On July 29, 1904, Jennie died with Hudson at her bedside. Hudson was now seventy-two years old and badly wanted to go back to China. There were so many people to encourage there and so many people to thank. So, in the spring of 1905, he and his son Howard, now also a medical doctor, and Howard's wife, Geraldine, set off on Hudson's eleventh journey to China. And what a trip it was. Hudson was able to visit many areas by train now. Trains were much more comfortable than the whe...

Triumphs come at a cost. Such is the story of the cross. There are no victories where none dares to count the cost. All die, not all die for something of eternal worth. Even our view of death is marred by sin as unfortunate. But for a child of God it is merely the end of sorrows and the beginning of endless joy. *** By Christmas 1869, Hudson and Maria had made the most difficult decision of their married lives. Their four oldest children, Herbert, Howard, Samuel, and Maria were to be sent back to England to stay with their grandparents. It would be safer for them there, and they could go to a regular school. At that time it was quite normal for children to be sent home like this, but it still upset Hudson and Maria to think they wouldn’t be seeing their children for a long time. They decided to keep one-year-old Charles with them because he was too young to be separated from his parents. Also, Maria was pregnant again and due to give birth in the middle of the year, so Charles would ha...

It was May 25, 1866. The following day, the first official group of missionaries from the China Inland Mission would set sail aboard the Lammermuir , bound for Shanghai. Hudson put his pen down and smiled. He had just completed writing a passenger list to give to Captain Bell the next day. He looked at the list. His name was at the top, along with Maria’s and their four children, six-year-old Grace, five-year-old Herbert, three-year-old Howard, and little Samuel, nearly two years old. Listed below the children were the names of the only other married couple in the group, Lewis and Eliza Nicol. Lewis was a blacksmith from Scotland. Below them were the names of five single men: James Williamson, George Duncan, Josiah Jackson, John Sell, and William Rudland. Following them were the names of the single women: Jane McLean, Emily Blatchley, Jennie Faulding, Mary Bausum, Mary Bell, Louise Desgraz, Elizabeth Rose, Mary Bowyer, and Susan Barnes. Hudson prayed for each name on the list and asked...

Very early in the course of His ministry, the Lord Jesus taught His people that they were to be the light— not of Jerusalem, not of Judea, nor yet of the Jewish nation, but— of the world . And He taught them to pray—not as the heathen, who use vain and unmeaning repetitions; nor yet as the worldly-minded, who ask first and principally (if not solely) for their own private benefit and need: "For," said He, " your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him. After this manner therefore pray ye:— " Our Father which art in heaven, " Hallowed be Thy name; " Thy kingdom come; " Thy will be done; as in heaven, so in earth." And it was only after these petitions, and quite secondary to them, that any personal petitions were to be offered. Even the very moderate one, "Give us this day our daily bread," followed them. Is not this order too often reversed in the present day? Do not Christians often really feel, and also act, as t...

If a man relies on his fellowmen to alleviate his suffering, he learns to put his faith on men. If he receives no help from men he placed his hopes on, he harbors bitterness and self-pity. God lovingly allows troubles to come into the lives of His beloved so we would look to Him. Only then does He move men to help us—help us see that he was there with us all along, He is Immanuel, that we can fully trust Him (Isa. 7:14). When our need for money causes us to question God, we should question our faith in God, because to question Him is a departure from faith. Our treasure is where our heart is (Matt 6:21) . Our needs reveal to us where our hearts truly stand. It unmasks the reality of our hearts; if we are full of worry and resentment, bitterness comes out; if we know God intimately as Father, worship and praise. God is not oblivious to the earthly needs of His children (Matt 6:32) because it was He who sovereignly placed that need. He in His wisdom knows what we need more than help, is...

Having immersed myself in a few accounts of notable missionaries these past nights I find the peculiarities of our present situation less disconcerting and more comforting—knowing we are in the center of God's will pertaining to His Gospel. I had previously thought and endeavored much to steer our ministry towards observing the accepted standards of what is defined today as "church". To attain formality or to be recognized officially. But what is it really, if not to simply invite people to sit in the pew and listen to a sermon during Sunday and keep with "Christian" fellowship and activities? Twice I have pursued this, twice I've hit a wall. God was leading me to another direction it seems. I surrendered and waited on Him instead. However, after reading about missiology these past few evenings, I have come to understand it better: that I am not called to become what I've always believed to be wrong with the church today. I have been called to evangelize...

It started to rain just before Children's Church ended in the morning. And it kept pouring till two in the afternoon, pausing briefly, giving us time to get ready to leave. We had talked about this last Sunday, and have prayed for it during our prayer meeting: we will be holding our gatherings in public, instead of staying inside. On our way to Santa Maria, we drove through a little rain. I did not wish for everyone to have to go through this, but as grace would have it, they were all agreeable and did not mind being wet. We arrived with a few souls sitting idly under the gazebo. I had spent much of my early mornings this week pleading on my face before the Lord, and have wrestled greatly with my flesh. Drowsiness, fear, doubt, apprehension, excuses, timidity, coldness of heart: miseries which only drove me to look to Christ—and His wounds bleeding for sinners. I withdrew back to personally ask for divine leading, before blindly walking up to the corner where I usually stand. From...

Bruce Olson and the Motilones are not preaching a “social gospel.” By faith they are born into the family of God. But this spiritual “new birth” naturally engenders the dedication to live and share Jesus’ example. The Motilones make sure that this is fully understood.  When one of the former presidents of Colombia saw the dynamic advancement of the Motilones as they employed scientific solutions to their problems, he said, “This is true development in response to the needs of the community.” He assumed it was these factors that had brought peace.  But Kaymiyokba, who was talking with the president, became disturbed. He knew it wasn’t preventive medicine or tropical agriculture that had brought understanding and coexistence between tribes. “It is because our tribe now walks in the footsteps of a new leader,” Kaymiyokba explained. To walk in a tribal member’s footsteps is to recognize him as chieftain.  Smiling, the president acknowledged that this was “Bruce, the missio...

More than thirty years have passed since God first led Bruce Olson to the Motilones. The illness, pain, loneliness, and death threats have continued. But through it all, Jesus is being glorified, and His work through Bruce’s tribal brothers and sisters increases.  Even his nine-month captivity and torture by the ELN in 1988–1989 worked for good. For years the Motilones had shared their faith with the Barís, Cuibas, Yukos, and Tunebos (Indians of the Catatumbo region). But they never could get the tribes to work together even though Bruce begged God for this breakthrough.  However, when he became prisoner, all five groups put aside their differences to plead for his life. Together they published open letters in national newspapers demanding his liberation. And in a special Sunday edition of Bogato’s “El Tiempo” [“The Times”], they cooperated in a full-page article, “A Norwegian Motilone Cry [sic] Out for Freedom.” God does indeed do more than we can ask or think.  The co...

Halfway through a jungle trail may seem to go nowhere, but it actually leads somewhere. Our trail leads to Christ accomplishing His work through the lives of the teachers, for the sake of the children. If we are to compel men to come into the kingdom, the same goes for children. Mary's back was to her class as she wrote a lesson on the board for her students. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw figures at the window. As she turned to look, she let out a gasp. There were three men with spears in hand, headdress, body piercing and tattoo, dressed only in a loin cloth.  Mary realized she must keep her composure for the sake of the children. She went back to writing on the board, although now the writing was shaky as her hands were trembling. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the men left. One of the older boys walked to the front of the class and said, “Those men are from the Naga Hills. They are Headhunters.”  When school was over, Mary rushed home to her husband, Edward...

PROLOGUE: NINE MONTHS IN CAPTIVITY —from the book, Bruchko. The jungle echoed with the calls of birds and the screeching of monkeys. In the background the monotonous drone of katydids sometimes appeared to drown out everything else. Smoke from morning campfires filtered up through the dense foliage overhead. Guerrilla members huddled in groups, eating or discussing the events of the day ahead, occasionally glancing at their prisoner Bruce Olson.  This was to be a special day—the day Bruce was to be executed before a firing squad for “crimes against the people.” His capture by the guerrillas had not come as a surprise.  The leaders of the ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional) , or the communist-inspired National Liberation Army, had worked for years to gain a following large enough to enable them to overthrow the government. The twenty-plus Indian tribes who lived in the jungle had not been considered citizens until members of the Motilone tribe, with whom Bruce had lived and ...