The Very Worst Missionary

A Memoir or Whatever

By: Jamie Wright

Narrated by: Madeleine Lambert

Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

After finding Jesus at a suburban megachurch, young Jamie Wright trades in the easy life on the cul-de-sac for the green fields of Costa Rica. There, along with her husband, kids, and the family cat, she intends to serve God and make converts.

But she soon loses faith and falls into a funk of cynicism and despair. Fortunately, Knives the cat is there, looking on with just enough disinterest to make her laugh...and dare her to try another way. That other way turns out to be telling the truth. She launches a renegade blog, Jamie the Very Worst Missionary, which against all odds soon wins a large and passionate following around the world.

Slowly, she begins to see that being a bad missionary - awkward, doubtful, skeptical - can mean that you're just the kind of person someone else might be willing to hear...and that loving others is just as much about changing yourself as it is about converting them.

©2018 Jamie Wright (P)2018 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Well-rounded testimony of a missionary.

This is a very real and well-rounded testimony of a modern day woman becoming a missionary, and the personal journey of growth accompanied with it.

Radical candor and badassery at its finest!

Jamie's kinda, sorta memoir had me laughing hysterically, then tearing up, then diving into the depths of my soul for self-examination. An amazing book for an accidental writer! By the time it was over I felt I had gained a validating sister and kickass mentor!

Raw. Unfiltered. Grace-full.

A voice of the remnants who are just wanting to live, love, and mirror Jesus today. I’m encouraged that I’m not on the wrong side of the cognitive “line in the sand” in regard to traditional, archaic, stale, repetitive programs and monotonous displays of Churchianity. Thank you Jamie.

it will catch you off guard

There is something to be said about unfiltered truth that both punches u in the gut and has u shaking your head in agreement. This book does just that. Its worth the read if nothing else then to push u out of your normal into thinking deeper thoughts. ps wonderful narrated...

Encouraging and thought provoking

I share a lot of similar life experiences as the author and it was life giving to hear someone express the same thoughts and questions I’ve struggled with. I just ordered a physical copy of the book so I can annotate it and share it with friends. My only negative is the voice performance of the reader. She had a funny quality where she ends every other sentence with an up tone so statements sound like questions. If the story had not been so engrossing I might not have kept listening solely because the performance was so distracting. Listen to a sample before buying. This is a very personal pet peeve and probably doesn’t bother others. Please read this book if don’t listen to it! <3

Convicting and honest

Glad I didn’t pay attention to the negative reviews. This book was just so honest and definitely humble. But more than that it shares a truth of missions that needs to be out there. Thank you for this.

Interesting point of view

The narration could have been better but Jamie is a good writer. I enjoyed this short book.

Honest, real, humorous.

As a non believer, the religious stuff took me a couple of chapters to get past, but so worth it. Great story.

Poignant, Gritty, Thought-Provoking and Real

I've followed Jamie's blog for several years. This book didn't disappoint. There are moments so tender, so poignant as she discusses God in her busyness as a young mom or her years-long battle with depression. There is unflinching and needed critical dialogue on the short-term mission "industry." And in between a lot of F-bombs and plenty stories about Knives the cat is God's hand moving so clearly in her story. This is a must read, especially for people wanting to have a real conversations about missions. And it is a life-giving read to anyone thirsting to see vulnerability instead of trite christian jargon.

I also enjoyed the reader. I was disappointed that Jamie didn't read it. But this reader really gets the tone and doesn't try to christian-ize sarcasm, which I've experienced in other books...ahem all Jen Hatmaker books that she didn't read herself.

Challenging in more ways than one

I appreciate this book and how the author drew her conclusions about the standard missionary model we seem to use. I agree, sending uninformed people to foreign countries to try and "westernize" and "Christianize" them is wrong. We end up "pushing" an American Christianity and our resources and our ignorance send the message that any other way of following Jesus doesn't interest us. We "push" our method of Christianity rather than ministering to others. This book will challenge you to think differently about how we minister (or send a missionary) to people in a foreign country.

But I was also challenged in another way. Because the author has a valid point about our missionary model, yet, she then goes out of her way to make it difficult for some people to read. First, she is very black-and-white in her conclusions. I got the impression she has made up her mind, and I'm wrong if I don't agree. And seconed, I'm also wrong if I have trouble with her swearing. I, too, use foul language, mostly in my self-talk. I'm not proud of it. And I don't use it when I want someone to consider my point of view. I could only conclude the author wants to make sure we all know, this is her memoir and if we don't agree with her, that's not her problem... It's ours.

The book is valuable to understand that everyone processes their relationship with Jesus for themselves. It does make you think, and for that, I'm grateful.