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Dangerous Territory: My Misguided Quest to Save the World
Amy Peterson grew up in church, where she loved the adventurous stories of missionaries in foreign countries who won people to the Lord. After college, she was ready to “do big things for God” on the mission field herself. Dangerous Territory is a captivating memoir that tells Amy’s personal journey from wide-eyed adventurer to questioning believer to simply a beloved child of God. Her story will challenge your notion of “mission work,” showing how you can have a vital relationship with God that naturally spills over to affect others.
224 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2017
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January 13, 2020
Parts were amazing. Parts were disappointing, and much of it was unsettling.
Part of this book is a critique of short-term missions trips, and she has some a valid points. Then the odd ‘interlude’ about Taize jumps in. The salvation of her friend was amazing. The following persecution was heartbreaking, but it moves off that really quickly. It’s more a personal struggle to find and accept God’s will in her life.
It sounds like she was heavily influenced by American Feminism. Domination, Colonialism, Patriarchy, Misogyny, Capitalism, Imperialism, Privilege, White, Male, American, and Diversity, she uses those words to describe her culture over and over again. At times she sounds quite guilty about being a white American, but that’s offset by being an oppressed woman. There is a lot in this book about gender roles, but not much about it from the Bible. Well, she does see one thing very clearly, the conflict between the roles that are deemed acceptable for women in overseas missions and the acceptable roles for women in the Church at home. Unfortunately, she bases her new beliefs on experience rather than solid Biblical exegesis or seems to. She never states a definite conclusion. That’s how she handles just about every issue. By the end of the book, it looks like she has given up knowing anything for sure…
Then at the conclusion of the book, she claims a need to accept the prayer and worship practices of Catholics, Muslims, and Buddhists. I’m sorry, but I cannot accept that. Didn’t Christ teach us to come to God as our Father and not with the mindless repetition of Buddhists? At one point in the book, she talks about how unbiblical Catholic practices are and then at the end just accepts them. Didn’t God forbid the use of false religious practices over and over in the Old and New Testament?
It was very sad to read that last part. I can’t recommend this book. I believe many of the influences she quotes favorably are indeed leading her and many others away from the sure foundation of the Word of God and into very dangerous territory.
I received this as a free ARC from NetGalley and Discovery House.
Part of this book is a critique of short-term missions trips, and she has some a valid points. Then the odd ‘interlude’ about Taize jumps in. The salvation of her friend was amazing. The following persecution was heartbreaking, but it moves off that really quickly. It’s more a personal struggle to find and accept God’s will in her life.
It sounds like she was heavily influenced by American Feminism. Domination, Colonialism, Patriarchy, Misogyny, Capitalism, Imperialism, Privilege, White, Male, American, and Diversity, she uses those words to describe her culture over and over again. At times she sounds quite guilty about being a white American, but that’s offset by being an oppressed woman. There is a lot in this book about gender roles, but not much about it from the Bible. Well, she does see one thing very clearly, the conflict between the roles that are deemed acceptable for women in overseas missions and the acceptable roles for women in the Church at home. Unfortunately, she bases her new beliefs on experience rather than solid Biblical exegesis or seems to. She never states a definite conclusion. That’s how she handles just about every issue. By the end of the book, it looks like she has given up knowing anything for sure…
Then at the conclusion of the book, she claims a need to accept the prayer and worship practices of Catholics, Muslims, and Buddhists. I’m sorry, but I cannot accept that. Didn’t Christ teach us to come to God as our Father and not with the mindless repetition of Buddhists? At one point in the book, she talks about how unbiblical Catholic practices are and then at the end just accepts them. Didn’t God forbid the use of false religious practices over and over in the Old and New Testament?
It was very sad to read that last part. I can’t recommend this book. I believe many of the influences she quotes favorably are indeed leading her and many others away from the sure foundation of the Word of God and into very dangerous territory.
I received this as a free ARC from NetGalley and Discovery House.
April 21, 2020
I have mixed feelings about this book.
Amy does raise valid points and concerns about the way we "do missions," and I agree with much that she says.
There is also much that she says that concerns me. For example, her take on the role of women in missions and the church. This is actually an issue I wrestled with myself in my time at a university in China, but the fact that a certain method seems to be effective or even necessary does not negate clear teaching of Scripture. I believe it is extremely dangerous to place expediency, even for a cause as precious as sharing the Gospel, above God's Word.
I did not appreciate her almost flippant dismissal of men like David Brainerd and Adoniram Judson, who devoted their lives to taking the Gospel where it had never been. Her treatment of them seemed rather arrogant to me, although I know that's not what she intended.
I also really don't understand why she was so blown away by what happened to Veronica and the others. "What had God done to Veronica, and why?" she asked. "Yea, all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution," the Bible answers. Rather than being an anomaly, suffering and persecution on some level are actually the status quo for the Christian life, promised in His Word. It almost seems like perhaps Amy did not understand the very nature of Christianity. The followers of our suffering Savior are guaranteed suffering of our own.
She says that she wonders if she did more harm than good in her time there. Really? Veronica, Cecilia, possibly even Sarah will spend eternity with the Lord because of her time there. Maybe I'm being too hard on Amy, but it almost feels like she's feeling sorry for herself, focusing more on her current grief and confusion than eternal dividends. (And, lest I sound too harsh, I should perhaps state that I, too, am well acquainted with the agony of grief, the temptation to make it about me, the necessity of having it point back to Him.)
She stated that she knew having her boyfriend stay where he did would look bad, but she didn't care because those who knew her would know that everything was on the up and up. I'm sorry, but that seems immature and selfish at best, showing an utter disregard for the souls one is ostensibly there to reach. Why on earth would you ever intentionally do something that would harm your testimony to all but those who knew you best (and maybe even to them)? I don't understand that.
I would like to reiterate that there was much that was thought provoking in this book (which is always a good thing!) and much with which I wholeheartedly agree. There are just some pretty big red flags.
Is this worth a read? Definitely. Just read with discernment, as always.
This book was provided by Netgalley.
Amy does raise valid points and concerns about the way we "do missions," and I agree with much that she says.
There is also much that she says that concerns me. For example, her take on the role of women in missions and the church. This is actually an issue I wrestled with myself in my time at a university in China, but the fact that a certain method seems to be effective or even necessary does not negate clear teaching of Scripture. I believe it is extremely dangerous to place expediency, even for a cause as precious as sharing the Gospel, above God's Word.
I did not appreciate her almost flippant dismissal of men like David Brainerd and Adoniram Judson, who devoted their lives to taking the Gospel where it had never been. Her treatment of them seemed rather arrogant to me, although I know that's not what she intended.
I also really don't understand why she was so blown away by what happened to Veronica and the others. "What had God done to Veronica, and why?" she asked. "Yea, all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution," the Bible answers. Rather than being an anomaly, suffering and persecution on some level are actually the status quo for the Christian life, promised in His Word. It almost seems like perhaps Amy did not understand the very nature of Christianity. The followers of our suffering Savior are guaranteed suffering of our own.
She says that she wonders if she did more harm than good in her time there. Really? Veronica, Cecilia, possibly even Sarah will spend eternity with the Lord because of her time there. Maybe I'm being too hard on Amy, but it almost feels like she's feeling sorry for herself, focusing more on her current grief and confusion than eternal dividends. (And, lest I sound too harsh, I should perhaps state that I, too, am well acquainted with the agony of grief, the temptation to make it about me, the necessity of having it point back to Him.)
She stated that she knew having her boyfriend stay where he did would look bad, but she didn't care because those who knew her would know that everything was on the up and up. I'm sorry, but that seems immature and selfish at best, showing an utter disregard for the souls one is ostensibly there to reach. Why on earth would you ever intentionally do something that would harm your testimony to all but those who knew you best (and maybe even to them)? I don't understand that.
I would like to reiterate that there was much that was thought provoking in this book (which is always a good thing!) and much with which I wholeheartedly agree. There are just some pretty big red flags.
Is this worth a read? Definitely. Just read with discernment, as always.
This book was provided by Netgalley.
November 17, 2021
I was prepared to hear her say she regretted everything and I'm glad that's not what this is about. To me, it's just the honest journey of a young Christian woman who is trying to be honest with herself and those she's serving and do right by them; grappling with how American evangelicalism oversimplifies, glorifies, and at times contradicts the mission of a "missionary". I definitely felt along with her, as I continue to grapple with these things.
Editing to add: She makes some really important observations. I appreciate it's not a sweeping conclusion with more black and white answers, but supportive of a change in the narrative and conversation.
Editing to add: She makes some really important observations. I appreciate it's not a sweeping conclusion with more black and white answers, but supportive of a change in the narrative and conversation.
January 7, 2024
This is not really a book about missions, as some people think. It's Peterson's "growing in Christian faith" story.
She starts out naive, optimistic, arrogant, and with a savior complex. She ends up realizing that real life and real faith are messier than we would often like. We don't always get to understand why God does what He does. While I could certainly relate to a lot of her growth, and therefore want to extend some grace to her, I feel it necessary to say that at the end of the book, she still seemed just as arrogant... her positions had changed, but she is just as convinced of her own "rightness."
Peterson is very critical of "traditional" missionaries, even though her own experiences were only possible because of the groundwork these missionaries laid. No missionary, no Christian, no person is perfect, and nothing we do will be 100% inscrutable. However, I felt that she was trying to apply 21st century principles and practices to people and organizations who lived in completely different eras and cultures. This just isn't fair. In another hundred years, how harshly will future Christians be judging us for everything we messed up? Will they acknowledge any of the good that happened? Will they acknowledge that the "missions" that were recorded in the Bible were also messy? Will they acknowledge God's sovereignty?
I find it very frustrating to hear young Christians preach to all Christians, including those with far more experience and wisdom, about how "wrong" the Church is doing everything - how they know the "right" way to do these things.
So this book is valuable for what it is: a memoir - one person's experience and opinions. But it left a bad taste in my mouth at many points.
She starts out naive, optimistic, arrogant, and with a savior complex. She ends up realizing that real life and real faith are messier than we would often like. We don't always get to understand why God does what He does. While I could certainly relate to a lot of her growth, and therefore want to extend some grace to her, I feel it necessary to say that at the end of the book, she still seemed just as arrogant... her positions had changed, but she is just as convinced of her own "rightness."
Peterson is very critical of "traditional" missionaries, even though her own experiences were only possible because of the groundwork these missionaries laid. No missionary, no Christian, no person is perfect, and nothing we do will be 100% inscrutable. However, I felt that she was trying to apply 21st century principles and practices to people and organizations who lived in completely different eras and cultures. This just isn't fair. In another hundred years, how harshly will future Christians be judging us for everything we messed up? Will they acknowledge any of the good that happened? Will they acknowledge that the "missions" that were recorded in the Bible were also messy? Will they acknowledge God's sovereignty?
I find it very frustrating to hear young Christians preach to all Christians, including those with far more experience and wisdom, about how "wrong" the Church is doing everything - how they know the "right" way to do these things.
So this book is valuable for what it is: a memoir - one person's experience and opinions. But it left a bad taste in my mouth at many points.
September 17, 2019
Wish I could have read this before heading overseas on my own many years ago. Similar to the author, I hated being called a "missionary" because of so many connotations and stereotypes. The overseas portion of our stories diverge, but we both landed in a similar place of disorientation and grief about what God was doing with this believed answer to God's calling.
Peterson writes, "Letting go of my ownership of the language of faith meant recognizing that I could only speak it as a second, and learned language. The words of faith didn't belong to me, or to anyone but God, who was himself the Word made flesh. It was in this recognition that the language of faith was transformed for me, and it was in this that I, too, was transformed."
No question, Peterson is incredibly perceptive and insightful in processing her tumultuous time working and serving in a cross-cultural context. Even over a decade later, I found myself reflecting on my own experience and this became a balm to old wounds I had forgotten about.
Peterson writes, "Letting go of my ownership of the language of faith meant recognizing that I could only speak it as a second, and learned language. The words of faith didn't belong to me, or to anyone but God, who was himself the Word made flesh. It was in this recognition that the language of faith was transformed for me, and it was in this that I, too, was transformed."
No question, Peterson is incredibly perceptive and insightful in processing her tumultuous time working and serving in a cross-cultural context. Even over a decade later, I found myself reflecting on my own experience and this became a balm to old wounds I had forgotten about.
August 22, 2018
Review originally appeared at Servants of Grace.
Reality, C.S. Lewis says, is the great iconoclast. Whatever fragile ideas we may have about God, about ourselves, and about our neighbors are constantly at risk of being broken when they confront the real thing. Lewis explains that God himself is an iconoclast, and that “shattering is one of the marks of his presence,” which can be especially seen in the way that the incarnation of Jesus challenged any previously-held notions of how the Messiah would appear.
Amy Peterson’s autobiography, Dangerous Territory: My Misguided Quest to Save the World, explains how the reality of missionary work conflicted with her treasured images of what missionary work ought to be. The whole book is organized in three parts: Sent (chapters 1-15), Stripped (chapters 16-22), and Surrendered (chapters 23-30). By the time she reaches this climactic description of God as an iconoclast in chapter 25, readers will have already seen how Peterson’s ideals had been crushed by the reality of her work. Though this is first and foremost her story, what she has written also honors the heroic courage of our missionary past and offers fruitful suggestions for how we might reevaluate our missional mindset moving forward.
Peterson is honest about the complicated ways in which her own sense of adventure mingled with a sincere desire to fulfill the need for bringing the gospel to hard-to-reach places. She captures her original attitude, saying “I traveled with the confidence of the young and privileged…moving with careless confidence, trusting the world as it comes to us, believing in the essential goodness of humanity.” This, of course, is one of those ideals that will be challenged by reality, which she alludes to when she admits later on the same page “I’d like to say my confidence was founded on faith in God’s providence, but that wasn’t really it. It was simply that I was 22 and I believed I was safe and strong. I believed in adventure” (65). Her ability to recount her experiences and offer honest insight into her expectations is what makes this such a unique and helpful book on modern missions.
All throughout this honest retelling of her mixed motives, Peterson brings up important questions that apply not only to her but to all who aspire toward mission work. What do we think the world needs from us? Does the modern missionary narrative inadvertently put too much pressure on too few of us? Who do we think we are? Her story, which is frequently framed by quotes from well-known missionaries of the past, complicates the missionary narrative, offering grace to those who may have had their own “misguided quests to save the world.” Another recent book, The Gospel of Trees by Apricot Irving, offers an equally engaging story of a complicated missionary journey from the viewpoint of the daughter of a missionary to Haiti. Both women offer honest reflection and raise important questions about how the missionary impulse impacts the churches who send missionaries and the countries who receive them.
I felt a great deal of compassion for Amy as she allowed God to reorient her earnest and good desires. I loved watching her receive vivid and tangible forms of grace (most memorably in the form of borrowed electricity and, later, cubed watermelon) even as she experienced the pain of disappointment and uncertainty. Peterson raises interesting questions about missions and women’s roles in the church, some of which she attempts to answer and others she leaves unanswered. I don’t agree with all of her conclusions. Perhaps some of her new conclusions will have to be shattered eventually, too. Perhaps so will mine. For now, I can testify along with Amy Peterson that God has been gracious enough to shatter what needed to be shattered but left me with a solid foundation on which to build a life of faith.
Reality, C.S. Lewis says, is the great iconoclast. Whatever fragile ideas we may have about God, about ourselves, and about our neighbors are constantly at risk of being broken when they confront the real thing. Lewis explains that God himself is an iconoclast, and that “shattering is one of the marks of his presence,” which can be especially seen in the way that the incarnation of Jesus challenged any previously-held notions of how the Messiah would appear.
Amy Peterson’s autobiography, Dangerous Territory: My Misguided Quest to Save the World, explains how the reality of missionary work conflicted with her treasured images of what missionary work ought to be. The whole book is organized in three parts: Sent (chapters 1-15), Stripped (chapters 16-22), and Surrendered (chapters 23-30). By the time she reaches this climactic description of God as an iconoclast in chapter 25, readers will have already seen how Peterson’s ideals had been crushed by the reality of her work. Though this is first and foremost her story, what she has written also honors the heroic courage of our missionary past and offers fruitful suggestions for how we might reevaluate our missional mindset moving forward.
Peterson is honest about the complicated ways in which her own sense of adventure mingled with a sincere desire to fulfill the need for bringing the gospel to hard-to-reach places. She captures her original attitude, saying “I traveled with the confidence of the young and privileged…moving with careless confidence, trusting the world as it comes to us, believing in the essential goodness of humanity.” This, of course, is one of those ideals that will be challenged by reality, which she alludes to when she admits later on the same page “I’d like to say my confidence was founded on faith in God’s providence, but that wasn’t really it. It was simply that I was 22 and I believed I was safe and strong. I believed in adventure” (65). Her ability to recount her experiences and offer honest insight into her expectations is what makes this such a unique and helpful book on modern missions.
All throughout this honest retelling of her mixed motives, Peterson brings up important questions that apply not only to her but to all who aspire toward mission work. What do we think the world needs from us? Does the modern missionary narrative inadvertently put too much pressure on too few of us? Who do we think we are? Her story, which is frequently framed by quotes from well-known missionaries of the past, complicates the missionary narrative, offering grace to those who may have had their own “misguided quests to save the world.” Another recent book, The Gospel of Trees by Apricot Irving, offers an equally engaging story of a complicated missionary journey from the viewpoint of the daughter of a missionary to Haiti. Both women offer honest reflection and raise important questions about how the missionary impulse impacts the churches who send missionaries and the countries who receive them.
I felt a great deal of compassion for Amy as she allowed God to reorient her earnest and good desires. I loved watching her receive vivid and tangible forms of grace (most memorably in the form of borrowed electricity and, later, cubed watermelon) even as she experienced the pain of disappointment and uncertainty. Peterson raises interesting questions about missions and women’s roles in the church, some of which she attempts to answer and others she leaves unanswered. I don’t agree with all of her conclusions. Perhaps some of her new conclusions will have to be shattered eventually, too. Perhaps so will mine. For now, I can testify along with Amy Peterson that God has been gracious enough to shatter what needed to be shattered but left me with a solid foundation on which to build a life of faith.
May 31, 2017
Going to go ahead and say all Christians would be wise to give this profound and personal book a read.
February 6, 2017
This is not the kind of book I'd usually pick up, so I'm really glad that Amy is one of our authors at Discovery House! Amy has such a great story to tell and an authentic voice sharing an uncensored experience framed by the historical context of foreign missions. Her tale is refreshing and raw, inspiring a reevaluation of the current Western idea of missions.
November 5, 2019
Run, don't walk to wherever you buy books and get this one. Dangerous Territory: My Misguided Quest to Save the World by Amy Peterson is where it's at, friends. If you grew up in American evangelicalism you will especially relate. And if not, you will still find a captivating, intelligent, and honest spiritual coming-of-age story and I just loved it. ❤🌍
May 13, 2021
I read this on my flight to SE Asia and I really enjoyed it. I grew up in a similar context to the author and see my kids also being influenced by missionary movements. I also work for a company that seeks to bring business opportunities to people in poverty around the world. I loved how she asked many thoughtful questions, gave interesting historical background, and shared her heart.
p. 40: we were all full of ourselves at dinner, bandying about our theories as if we had within ourselves the power to do great things. Maybe we did have an influence to wield within the university, a privilege we could leverage on behalf of our poor students. We should do that, and we should work to make unjust systems just. Yet we were still foreigners, with no guarantee that we could affect this culture from our outsiders' position. And even if we could make changes, wouldn't some of the corruption remain. After all, corruption is not just bound to a system; it is intrinsic to the human heart. The best hope for change comes from people who understand both kinds of corruption--and who recognize the corruption in our own prideful hearts as well.
p. 44: The first and most famous of the desert fathers, St. Anthony, was once asked, "what must one do in order to please God?" His answer had three parts: "Whoever you maybe, always have God before your eyes; whatever you do do it according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it."As I read about these monks who stayed quietly in the same places, doing the same tasks and praying the same prayers for years and years, I began to wonder if my own definition of sojourner was missing something....
p. 49+: What if, instead, we called them "vision trips" or "learning trips"? A simple renaming might change the whole way we plan, prepare for, and experience such trips. ...Dr David Zac Niringiye was assistant bishop of the Kampala diocese of the Anglican Church in Uganda. When asked if short-term mission trips could serve African Christians well, he suggested that short-term trips ought to be oriented around listening. What if, he said, instead of going with a "mission" in mind, Americans just brought greetings from one church to another, and opened up a conversation, a relationship.
p. 71: I knew that the heaviness I felt was not really about fear or guilt or worry; it was simply that my pride was hurt. I hated making mistakes, especially public ones, especially in front of Camille, whom I adored. I hated being wrong. I confessed my pride and self-righteousness to God, and tried to get on with the work in front of me.
p. 84: The doctrines I'd grown up with--about gender divisions in church leadership--seemed to make even less sense outside the United States. What was a female missionary to do? She could preach the gospel in evangelism, but once a church was formed, she was forbidden from preaching in the church pulpit? She could teach men about the Scriptures in small groups or one on one (or could she?) but not as head pastor of a church? And wasn't there something ethnocentric--even racist in the American church's willingness to send female missionaries to preach and teach in foreign countries while refusing to let women preach or teach white American men?
p. 108: I reconsidered my sense of my own self-sufficiency. Maybe that was an American cultural value that I had baptized in my mind as equal to responsibility or maturity. Though my culture praised independence, this culture valued interdependence, and I began to wonder if that wasn't actually the more Christian value.
p. 135: And I --I had wanted to save the world, to have a significant life, to have adventures and freedom and to be one of heaven's heroes. In Veronica I'd found an explanation of who I was: a teacher, a messenger--an identity I could settle happily into. Maybe we were all using each other to figure out who we were.
p. 157: A book I was reading for grad school quoted Jonathan Edwards, who said that telling people to ignore and guard against their feelings was a work of Satan. "There is no true religion where there is no religious affection...If the great things of religion are rightly understood, they will affect the heart ...This manner of slighting all religious affections is the way exceedingly to harden the hearts of men."
p. 181: Today it would appear that we Christians prefer to talk of a measure of commitment, the length to which we are willing to become involved, rather than the depths of God's immeasurable love in which we long to become immersed. (Helen Roseveare, missionary to Congo)
p. 194: Had Jesus made a distinction between "big" things we could do for God and "small" things we could do for God? Was "making a difference" really something I was called to do--was it even possible? No verse in my New Testament asked me to make a difference. According to Jesus, I wasn't supposed to try to be "salt and light" to a desperate world; I already was. It wasn't something to do; it was the very identity I'd been given. ...It is easier, Wai Mung had said, to serve Jesus than to follow Jesus. It was easier to commit than to surrender. It was easier to work for him than simply to accept my identity, and to walk in the world as the Beloved of God. I hadn't been able to understand that I was loved by God until I stopped doing anything for him. I had to stop being "useful" before I could believe that I was loved.
p. 200: A good friend had once confessed to me that she found herself praying a prayer for me that made her bite her tongue. She'd starting praying from Phil 3: "God, I ask that Amy would know Christ, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing--" and then she stopped, wondering if she could really ask for another person to know the fellowship of sharing in Christ's sufferings. Should she? Did she have the slightest idea of what she might be requesting with such a prayer? Yet Paul clearly desired it for himself--he wanted to "know Christ, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow to attain to the resurrection of the dead" (Phil 3:10).
p. 203: Elisabeth Elliot: Each separate experience of individual stripping we may learn to accept as a fragment of the suffering Christ bore when he took it all. "Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows." This grief, this sorrow, this total loss that empties my hands and breaks my heart, I may, if I will, accept, and by accepting it, I find in my hands something to offer. And so I give it back to him, who in mysterious exchange gives himself to me.
p. 217: But understanding what it means to be held by God, to be beloved apart from performance, is the heart of the gospel. Ironically, I wasn't really able to grasp that truth until I went to share it in another country. Some of these American college students will talk to me about calling. They will wonder if their vocations lie overseas. And this is what I'll say: "calling is a complicated beast. If you want to go, you should go, but only in full recognition of your status as the Beloved of God, in full recognition of your status as the Beloved of God, in full recognition of your own mixed motives, your very limited understanding of any situation, your need to be a learner. Don't go out of guilt or desire to achieve. Don't go because you want to be one of heaven's heroes. Don't go to save the world--go because you want to learn to love it. Go because you know that you are loved.
p. 40: we were all full of ourselves at dinner, bandying about our theories as if we had within ourselves the power to do great things. Maybe we did have an influence to wield within the university, a privilege we could leverage on behalf of our poor students. We should do that, and we should work to make unjust systems just. Yet we were still foreigners, with no guarantee that we could affect this culture from our outsiders' position. And even if we could make changes, wouldn't some of the corruption remain. After all, corruption is not just bound to a system; it is intrinsic to the human heart. The best hope for change comes from people who understand both kinds of corruption--and who recognize the corruption in our own prideful hearts as well.
p. 44: The first and most famous of the desert fathers, St. Anthony, was once asked, "what must one do in order to please God?" His answer had three parts: "Whoever you maybe, always have God before your eyes; whatever you do do it according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it."As I read about these monks who stayed quietly in the same places, doing the same tasks and praying the same prayers for years and years, I began to wonder if my own definition of sojourner was missing something....
p. 49+: What if, instead, we called them "vision trips" or "learning trips"? A simple renaming might change the whole way we plan, prepare for, and experience such trips. ...Dr David Zac Niringiye was assistant bishop of the Kampala diocese of the Anglican Church in Uganda. When asked if short-term mission trips could serve African Christians well, he suggested that short-term trips ought to be oriented around listening. What if, he said, instead of going with a "mission" in mind, Americans just brought greetings from one church to another, and opened up a conversation, a relationship.
p. 71: I knew that the heaviness I felt was not really about fear or guilt or worry; it was simply that my pride was hurt. I hated making mistakes, especially public ones, especially in front of Camille, whom I adored. I hated being wrong. I confessed my pride and self-righteousness to God, and tried to get on with the work in front of me.
p. 84: The doctrines I'd grown up with--about gender divisions in church leadership--seemed to make even less sense outside the United States. What was a female missionary to do? She could preach the gospel in evangelism, but once a church was formed, she was forbidden from preaching in the church pulpit? She could teach men about the Scriptures in small groups or one on one (or could she?) but not as head pastor of a church? And wasn't there something ethnocentric--even racist in the American church's willingness to send female missionaries to preach and teach in foreign countries while refusing to let women preach or teach white American men?
p. 108: I reconsidered my sense of my own self-sufficiency. Maybe that was an American cultural value that I had baptized in my mind as equal to responsibility or maturity. Though my culture praised independence, this culture valued interdependence, and I began to wonder if that wasn't actually the more Christian value.
p. 135: And I --I had wanted to save the world, to have a significant life, to have adventures and freedom and to be one of heaven's heroes. In Veronica I'd found an explanation of who I was: a teacher, a messenger--an identity I could settle happily into. Maybe we were all using each other to figure out who we were.
p. 157: A book I was reading for grad school quoted Jonathan Edwards, who said that telling people to ignore and guard against their feelings was a work of Satan. "There is no true religion where there is no religious affection...If the great things of religion are rightly understood, they will affect the heart ...This manner of slighting all religious affections is the way exceedingly to harden the hearts of men."
p. 181: Today it would appear that we Christians prefer to talk of a measure of commitment, the length to which we are willing to become involved, rather than the depths of God's immeasurable love in which we long to become immersed. (Helen Roseveare, missionary to Congo)
p. 194: Had Jesus made a distinction between "big" things we could do for God and "small" things we could do for God? Was "making a difference" really something I was called to do--was it even possible? No verse in my New Testament asked me to make a difference. According to Jesus, I wasn't supposed to try to be "salt and light" to a desperate world; I already was. It wasn't something to do; it was the very identity I'd been given. ...It is easier, Wai Mung had said, to serve Jesus than to follow Jesus. It was easier to commit than to surrender. It was easier to work for him than simply to accept my identity, and to walk in the world as the Beloved of God. I hadn't been able to understand that I was loved by God until I stopped doing anything for him. I had to stop being "useful" before I could believe that I was loved.
p. 200: A good friend had once confessed to me that she found herself praying a prayer for me that made her bite her tongue. She'd starting praying from Phil 3: "God, I ask that Amy would know Christ, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing--" and then she stopped, wondering if she could really ask for another person to know the fellowship of sharing in Christ's sufferings. Should she? Did she have the slightest idea of what she might be requesting with such a prayer? Yet Paul clearly desired it for himself--he wanted to "know Christ, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow to attain to the resurrection of the dead" (Phil 3:10).
p. 203: Elisabeth Elliot: Each separate experience of individual stripping we may learn to accept as a fragment of the suffering Christ bore when he took it all. "Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows." This grief, this sorrow, this total loss that empties my hands and breaks my heart, I may, if I will, accept, and by accepting it, I find in my hands something to offer. And so I give it back to him, who in mysterious exchange gives himself to me.
p. 217: But understanding what it means to be held by God, to be beloved apart from performance, is the heart of the gospel. Ironically, I wasn't really able to grasp that truth until I went to share it in another country. Some of these American college students will talk to me about calling. They will wonder if their vocations lie overseas. And this is what I'll say: "calling is a complicated beast. If you want to go, you should go, but only in full recognition of your status as the Beloved of God, in full recognition of your status as the Beloved of God, in full recognition of your own mixed motives, your very limited understanding of any situation, your need to be a learner. Don't go out of guilt or desire to achieve. Don't go because you want to be one of heaven's heroes. Don't go to save the world--go because you want to learn to love it. Go because you know that you are loved.
October 4, 2018
This was an excellent read. It was a privilege to get to be invited into Amy's journey of losing her faith and God renewing her faith. Thank you, Amy, for sharing your story! It touched me and contributed to "making things new, to mending what is broken or healing what is sick or bringing wholeness to what is torn apart" during a trying time for me and my faith. I will be sharing it with anyone who will listen!
February 7, 2017
I am not, nor have I ever been, a missionary. Not in the travel to far-off places and share the Gospel sense. Still, I have a bit of wanderlust and a desire to do important things. Which must be why I connected with Amy Peterson's story in her spiritual memoir, Dangerous Territory: My Misguided Quest to Save the World. (To be clear, this is not just a book for missionaries or would-be missionaries or young people because I am none of those things!)
Peterson's account of her time teaching English in Southeast Asia and events that led to trouble in her host country, as well as her deconstruction of the faith she'd grown up with is relatable and engaging. It is not a hero's story but a humble retelling of finding God again and learning that all service to Him, no matter where, no matter what, is important and part of the kingdom work of restoration. (Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author. Review reflects my personal and honest opinion.)
That stories like this exist give me hope that future generations will be encouraged to live a spiritual life wherever they are or are called to, whether that is somewhere across the ocean or down the street from their childhood home. Peterson's struggle to find meaning and purpose in staying instead of going is a much-needed story in a world that continues to value the big and bold steps of faith.
Even though it's applicable to anyone deconstructing their faith or who has ties to missions, I'd call this one a must-read for anyone new to missions or considering missions for longer than a short-term trip. It's a realistic and honest look at what it's truly like "on the field" and not the kinds of stories you typically hear from visiting missionaries during a church service.
Peterson's account of her time teaching English in Southeast Asia and events that led to trouble in her host country, as well as her deconstruction of the faith she'd grown up with is relatable and engaging. It is not a hero's story but a humble retelling of finding God again and learning that all service to Him, no matter where, no matter what, is important and part of the kingdom work of restoration. (Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author. Review reflects my personal and honest opinion.)
That stories like this exist give me hope that future generations will be encouraged to live a spiritual life wherever they are or are called to, whether that is somewhere across the ocean or down the street from their childhood home. Peterson's struggle to find meaning and purpose in staying instead of going is a much-needed story in a world that continues to value the big and bold steps of faith.
Even though it's applicable to anyone deconstructing their faith or who has ties to missions, I'd call this one a must-read for anyone new to missions or considering missions for longer than a short-term trip. It's a realistic and honest look at what it's truly like "on the field" and not the kinds of stories you typically hear from visiting missionaries during a church service.
July 28, 2017
I really enjoyed reading this, the author brought up many things I have thought or wondered before and enjoyed discussing it with my MK husband and discussing what the solution would be. It was comforting, relate-able, and helpful when she talked about Isaiah 49: "What if God was whittling me into a polished arrow? What if he was hiding me away, teaching me to be content in the quiver as I would be when aimed in a stretched bow or flying through the air? What if God didn't want me to be useful? Could I surrender to that? Was I willing to be useless for God?" There were many helpful things in the book: learning about God's love, understanding we are not called to change or save the world, how missions needs to change. However, the author never seems to come to any conclusion and often forms a view based on her experience rather than scripture. At the end you wonder if this is because she has become a Universalist and left things with no conclusion so the book could sell to Protestants. I agree that Protestants can learn things from other denominations such as Roman Catholics but talking the same way about Buddhism and Muslims sounds like she came to a Universalist mindset in order to be at peace. I'm glad I read it but be ready to separate the true and helpful from the unsound.
February 9, 2017
Having served overseas, I related to Amy Peterson’s memoir in many ways- from the reading of the missionary hero stories to the depression of wondering if going had made a difference. I found comfort in Peterson’s story, in knowing that I was not the only one to ask these questions after serving. In a world where we are not encouraged to share our struggles, Peterson’s story is real and honest. She doesn’t sugar coat her experiences and allows us to see what serving God could mean- heart break, disappointment and feeling like a failure. It is refreshing to read a missionary story and hear not just the highs but the lows as well.
I think this is a must read for anyone who is considering serving overseas, for those who are preparing to go and for those who have already served and returned home.
I think this is a must read for anyone who is considering serving overseas, for those who are preparing to go and for those who have already served and returned home.
February 15, 2017
DANGEROUS TERRITORY features a warm, intelligent voice; a compelling story with a memorable cast; thoughtful and often excellent writing, and introspection without self-absorption. On this last point, the author avoids a trap into which many of her fellow young memoirists fall; their books often center on the relationship between the empirical and the visceral—what happened and how it felt. Not only does Amy do this better than most, delivering rich and well-articulated insights, but she also invites the reader into a third realm: the expository. The book contains brief interludes in which the author reflects on the broader historical and cultural contexts of missions. All of this comes together to make a very strong debut and, I'm certain, a harbinger of even better things to come. Amy Peterson is an important new writer.
January 13, 2017
This is not your average missionary story. Amy is a great writer, and this book will make you think. Interview forthcoming at Off the Page.
February 3, 2020
So so so good!! I'm buying a few copies to give away. Great perspective on missions, women in leadership and our identity in Christ. I could not put it down!
February 13, 2017
"I was a conflicted missionary - desperate to save the world and afraid of doing it wrong - but also very willing just to go love God in a new place. I was equal parts zeal for God's glory, hunger for adventure, and fear of failure."
Amy Peterson's story feels familiar. I too went to Asia & served for several years with a faith-based organization. I went seeking to live the Christian superlative of capital-M Missions, seeking a life of spiritual high adventure & performative devotion. Things didn't go quite as expected, and I came away sorely confused. Even now, it's difficult to understand what happened and why.
Stories like this aren't uncommon, but they aren't commonly told. So I am grateful that Amy Peterson has publicly shared hers here with refreshing candor & depth. Punctuating her personal experiences are reflective chapters on the history of missions, American missiology, and the role of women in the Church at home & abroad. Throughout, she astutely engages complex questions about identity, idolatry, cross-cultural community, sacrifice, suffering, doubt, and the ineffable love of God.
This slim book is brave & important. We need voices like Amy Peterson's to help us faithfully navigate the fraught terrain of global Christian service.
Amy Peterson's story feels familiar. I too went to Asia & served for several years with a faith-based organization. I went seeking to live the Christian superlative of capital-M Missions, seeking a life of spiritual high adventure & performative devotion. Things didn't go quite as expected, and I came away sorely confused. Even now, it's difficult to understand what happened and why.
Stories like this aren't uncommon, but they aren't commonly told. So I am grateful that Amy Peterson has publicly shared hers here with refreshing candor & depth. Punctuating her personal experiences are reflective chapters on the history of missions, American missiology, and the role of women in the Church at home & abroad. Throughout, she astutely engages complex questions about identity, idolatry, cross-cultural community, sacrifice, suffering, doubt, and the ineffable love of God.
This slim book is brave & important. We need voices like Amy Peterson's to help us faithfully navigate the fraught terrain of global Christian service.
January 2, 2020
I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to. What I expected was a cynical critique of missions, but what Amy wrote was a raw account of the very real struggles of life in a foreign country. Having spent two years in a foreign country myself, Amy’s depiction of her struggles with relationships, faith, the loneliness of an experience that no one else can relate to, and depression hit incredibly close to home. Her transformation from “doing for God” to “being with God” also spoke to me.
Though I don’t agree with everything Amy says, her critiques of the missions culture were insightful and honestly spot-on in many ways. I highly recommend this book to those steeped in evangelical culture.
Though I don’t agree with everything Amy says, her critiques of the missions culture were insightful and honestly spot-on in many ways. I highly recommend this book to those steeped in evangelical culture.
January 11, 2021
I am glad I read this one! Amy brought up many issues related to missions that I think every Christian should consider, especially if you are interested in overseas work!
One issue Amy talked about often was women's roles in missions and ministry both overseas and in the US. I think she brought up great points and asked great questions that forced me to look at what expectations there are for me as a woman who wants to do ministry overseas. I can't say I really agreed with her conclusion about this, nor do I think she came to a very succinct conclusion about this issue herself. This is an issue the Bible does address and we must always turn to the Bible as our source of clarity and direction.
I did love Amy's description of Veronica's salvation and subsequent walk with the Lord. It was beautiful, encouraging and insightful. Sometimes it is too easy to forget the power of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit working in people's lives. I was challenged to think about how I would extend Christ's offer of Grace to people from a culture where 'accepting Jesus into your heart' would not translate or connect.
Overall, I would recommend this book and I would recommend readers to read it with hearts and ears open.
One issue Amy talked about often was women's roles in missions and ministry both overseas and in the US. I think she brought up great points and asked great questions that forced me to look at what expectations there are for me as a woman who wants to do ministry overseas. I can't say I really agreed with her conclusion about this, nor do I think she came to a very succinct conclusion about this issue herself. This is an issue the Bible does address and we must always turn to the Bible as our source of clarity and direction.
I did love Amy's description of Veronica's salvation and subsequent walk with the Lord. It was beautiful, encouraging and insightful. Sometimes it is too easy to forget the power of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit working in people's lives. I was challenged to think about how I would extend Christ's offer of Grace to people from a culture where 'accepting Jesus into your heart' would not translate or connect.
Overall, I would recommend this book and I would recommend readers to read it with hearts and ears open.
August 30, 2020
I really appreciated Amy’s perspective and just general critique of “missions.” She was never derisive, and I liked how she could envision better education, better cross-cultural exchanges, and a total deconstruction of the imperialist and capitalist ties for missionaries. Asking simple questions like “Can you even actually do this in an ethical and genuine way?” were key. Her personal experience paired with research on the evolution of the concept was valuable to me, and she’s a great writer.
July 22, 2022
Wow. Amazing and relatable memoir. At several points in the book, her writing felt like a verbatim transcription of my inner wrestlings.
December 25, 2019
I felt very seen by this author as she described her struggles with the American version of Christianity and missions. I feel like she could have gone much further in her analysis, but overall, a really interesting memoir. Should be required reading for all teens in youth group and stupid college kids with starry-eyed gospel idealism. 3.5 stars
April 18, 2021
I went back and forth between giving this 4 and 5 stars. I felt a connection to Amy’s experience living overseas and loved her questions about missions work.
February 24, 2025
Wow I could’ve written this, and I think I liked it so much because I resonated so deeply with the author’s experiences. So many of her experiences/expectations/delusions of overseas life are what I also wrestled through, going from overconfident and ambitious to broken and stripped to reworking my view of God and how He works in the world and our lives.
March 6, 2017
An excellent book from a very good and thoughtful writer. I enjoyed every minute of the reading and learned a lot along the way. Bravo Amy Peterson!
March 13, 2018
So, I picked this book up based on a recommendation on a blog I read, though I admit that when I scrolled through the goodreads reviews, one claimed that the book "smelled of unbelief" which, naturally, meant that I HAD to read it as soon as possible. Gotta love how arguments that nuance and concern about harmful aspects of religion are immediately dismissed by some people.
The book is well-written, compelling, and thoughtful. And I connected with it because it felt like I was reading the story of the woman I might have been. I was going to be a missionary, once upon a time. I think I realized a semester or two into a master's in linguistics that me on the mission field was a bad idea; I was far more interested in the linguistics theory than the Bible translation, and I spent the last couple years in the program surrounded by current, former, and future missionaries, one of a handful of people in the program who wasn't going into missions.
Peterson's memoir includes several brief chapters outlining the history of missions (primarily from an American Protestant perspective, since that was what influenced her life choices). These I found interesting, and helpful in providing a better background to what I encountered while I attended a university where the linguistics program was run by a branch of Wycliffe Bible Translators. While I'd read stories about missionaries as a kid, they didn't saturate my life as much as they did hers, so while the names were familiar, a lot of the details, like the formation of mission organizations in the early 19th century and the more corporate models they ended up using, were new. Although that definitely explained the corporate-speak in Wycliffe's Vision 2025 that I criticized when I took a course on language program development so I could finish off my course requirements.
One of the stories she related, which was entirely new to me, was the story of George and Hannah Leile, the first American missionaries to another country, who have frequently been overlooked because they were black, and because their work in Jamaica was not funded by a mission organization, but enabled through their own hard work and willingness to do secular work in order to fund their ministry. That was absolutely worth reading about.
I am no longer a Christian, but Peterson's words reminded me of why my faith was once so important to me, and it was healing to read, to remember where the good in it can be, even if it's no longer a religion that works for me personally. While I don't think missionary work is inherently a good thing, and feel that it typically harms more than it helps, Peterson's work to connect with people in a new culture, her encouragement to listen to what others' needs rather than assuming we know what's best, and her honest portrayal of her own struggles and mistakes, are something that American evangelical culture sorely needs to pay attention to.
The book is well-written, compelling, and thoughtful. And I connected with it because it felt like I was reading the story of the woman I might have been. I was going to be a missionary, once upon a time. I think I realized a semester or two into a master's in linguistics that me on the mission field was a bad idea; I was far more interested in the linguistics theory than the Bible translation, and I spent the last couple years in the program surrounded by current, former, and future missionaries, one of a handful of people in the program who wasn't going into missions.
Peterson's memoir includes several brief chapters outlining the history of missions (primarily from an American Protestant perspective, since that was what influenced her life choices). These I found interesting, and helpful in providing a better background to what I encountered while I attended a university where the linguistics program was run by a branch of Wycliffe Bible Translators. While I'd read stories about missionaries as a kid, they didn't saturate my life as much as they did hers, so while the names were familiar, a lot of the details, like the formation of mission organizations in the early 19th century and the more corporate models they ended up using, were new. Although that definitely explained the corporate-speak in Wycliffe's Vision 2025 that I criticized when I took a course on language program development so I could finish off my course requirements.
One of the stories she related, which was entirely new to me, was the story of George and Hannah Leile, the first American missionaries to another country, who have frequently been overlooked because they were black, and because their work in Jamaica was not funded by a mission organization, but enabled through their own hard work and willingness to do secular work in order to fund their ministry. That was absolutely worth reading about.
I am no longer a Christian, but Peterson's words reminded me of why my faith was once so important to me, and it was healing to read, to remember where the good in it can be, even if it's no longer a religion that works for me personally. While I don't think missionary work is inherently a good thing, and feel that it typically harms more than it helps, Peterson's work to connect with people in a new culture, her encouragement to listen to what others' needs rather than assuming we know what's best, and her honest portrayal of her own struggles and mistakes, are something that American evangelical culture sorely needs to pay attention to.
July 16, 2020
Have you ever read someone's story and related so deeply to the main character? As Amy's adventurous spirit leads her into the mission field, encounters across the seas guide her to question her cultural upbringing and discover both a broadened world and a deeper, truer faith. Learning to recognize and critique the faith of her childhood, Amy dives deep into conversations about the role of women in the Church, wonders if her mission work is effective, and realizes some noteworthy aspects of vocation. In addition, she weaves in a fuller historical narrative of the missions field over the course of the past 400 years.
Also, I just absolutely loved her descriptions of her life in Asia- the colors she paints of the towns, people, and food were spectacular.
"God's mission has never been about seeing yourself as a spiritual superhero in an action story. God's mission, as St. John of the Cross said, is to put love where love is not. It's about relational flourishing" (236).
"I used to think that I spoke "Christian" as a native language- that it belonged to me....As a native speaker, I trusted my comprehension of the language and doubted the legitimacy of anybody who understood the words differently than I did... When my card-house construction of God collapsed, and I began to see that he was father beyond my understanding than I had ever realized, I was actually joining a long history of Christians who celebrated the inscrutability of the divine. I had begun to learn what Christians had always known: that God cannot be captured with words" (240).
Also, I just absolutely loved her descriptions of her life in Asia- the colors she paints of the towns, people, and food were spectacular.
"God's mission has never been about seeing yourself as a spiritual superhero in an action story. God's mission, as St. John of the Cross said, is to put love where love is not. It's about relational flourishing" (236).
"I used to think that I spoke "Christian" as a native language- that it belonged to me....As a native speaker, I trusted my comprehension of the language and doubted the legitimacy of anybody who understood the words differently than I did... When my card-house construction of God collapsed, and I began to see that he was father beyond my understanding than I had ever realized, I was actually joining a long history of Christians who celebrated the inscrutability of the divine. I had begun to learn what Christians had always known: that God cannot be captured with words" (240).
January 24, 2018
A new blog I found highly recommended this book and I decided to try it. I don't read much non-fiction in general, but this story? Ms. Peterson's journey swept me up and away to the back hills of China and there I stayed until she was finished. Her journey is so not an easy one! As the title says, there is danger to be had, so beware. But it's a danger with a happy-ish ending and the sojourn to that ending is oh-so-worth discovering, reader friends!
Her descriptions of life on the other side of the world are vivid and detailed just enough for one to find themselves smack in the middle of this seemingly quiet little town. Yet I never felt bogged down with too much, Ms. Peterson mixes things up enough to keep you on your toes wondering where this journey will lead. In fact, I kept having this ominous feeling, like all this build up of tension was surely going to split apart and there would be mess and chaos. And there is! But in a quieter sense than I'd imagined. So yes, this feels like a quiet, little story, but don't let that fool you. There is much to learned from Ms. Peterson and it's well worth discovering right alongside of her! :)
Her descriptions of life on the other side of the world are vivid and detailed just enough for one to find themselves smack in the middle of this seemingly quiet little town. Yet I never felt bogged down with too much, Ms. Peterson mixes things up enough to keep you on your toes wondering where this journey will lead. In fact, I kept having this ominous feeling, like all this build up of tension was surely going to split apart and there would be mess and chaos. And there is! But in a quieter sense than I'd imagined. So yes, this feels like a quiet, little story, but don't let that fool you. There is much to learned from Ms. Peterson and it's well worth discovering right alongside of her! :)
February 9, 2017
Peterson tells our story. Those of us who formed our identity in the evangelical enthusiasm of Passion and One Day and Urbana. Those of us who believed our single lives were best lived in uncompromising devotion, in a thirst for adventure, and a desire for sacrifice. Peterson powerfully tells her memoir with the "language of faith," the wrestling dance of knowing God and the joyful pain of the journey. Now eight years from my own missionary experience, I read Peterson's story between diaper changes and laundry folding, hoping to "put love where love is not." Everyone who has ever gone or thought about going needs to read this book. Everyone who wonders about meaning and purpose and our place in this world needs to read this book. Everyone who has ever been thrilled with the thought of eating bugs on a stick or been disgusted by it but does it anyway for the sake of the call needs to read this book. Purposeful and poetic, educational and encouraging, challenging and confirming, Amy's young voice rings beautiful and strong.
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