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The Missionary Kids by Holly Berkley Fletcher comes out August 19, 2025
5🌟/5🌟

This is a interesting and quick read. Drawing from her own experience as a missionary kid (MK), interviews with other MKs, and her expertise as a historian, Holly Berkley Fletcher critically examines the white, American evangelical missionary complex. Woven throughout her personal stories is a powerful analysis of the missions system—including mission boards, theological frameworks, and the structures that have perpetuated harm and abuse.

It's long past time for the white, American evangelical church to reckon with the racism and abuse embedded in its institutions, including the world of missions. This book is a bold step in that direction. The voices of MKs are rising, exposing broken systems—and we must not look away.

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As a young person growing up in an American Baptist Church, missionaries were always in the picture. They were ether visiting to raise support or to report out on their activities. My dad, being a social studies teacher, was always very interested in the culture of the countries where the missionaries were located. As such, he often kept in contact with them outside of the usual newsletter reports and furlough visits. As such, I had two penpals growing up whose parents were missionaries. There were Bible translators on Easter Island and teachers at a MK school in Brazil. This book caught my eye, as I only saw a brief glimpse into these gals lives through their airmail letters sent to me in the late 80's. I found this book to be a peak behind the curtain into the lives of MK. It made me wonder, if I could talk to these pen pals as women today, how would they describe their growing up years on the mission field. Later, I was the 'missionary correspondence' coordinator for my Sunday School class. I organized Christmas gifts and birthday cards for the families that our class sponsored. Again, I wonder if I could talk to those kids today, who were growing up on the mission field in the early 2000's, how they would describe their experiences. This book makes for a very interesting read, coming from the POV not usually taken into account when talking about missions. While the mission movement can be problematic, the author focuses on the MK experience and benefits/challenges from being brought up in that life.

I received an Advanced Read Copy via NetGalley.

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This is an important book. It is also a very brave one.

In The Missionary Kids, MK Holly Berkley Fletcher gives an unfiltered look at Southern Baptist international missions and theology based on her upbringing and extensive research with other MK's. My interest was piqued by this title because my mom is an MK who was born and raised not too far from Fletcher's family in Kenya (though NOT Southern Baptist). My mom had a positive experience abroad and has shared her experience at length with me. I was interested to hear a different perspective. One of the strengths of Fletcher's book is that she writes in such a way that the reader can draw commonalities from their experience but does not need to have come from the same background to understand the world of which she is describing. She makes some connections that I have not seen elsewhere and gives credit when she is echoing connections others have made. Her research is thorough and her points are clear. I found myself highlighting sentences or paragraphs on nearly every page. The book has qualities of memoir, investigative journalism, and religious nonfiction that combined make it quick to read.

Fletcher chooses to tell the truths that the SBC either ignored or chose to dismiss. She has also thought critically about the root causes of problems within the international missionary field rather than simply criticizing the symptoms of those problems. Some might call this book "provocative" but I would call it courageous. She gave voice to many who were scared or may have not shared their stories otherwise. We owe it to them to listen to their experiences and respond with compassion.

My only critique of this book is that I don't think Fletcher was entirely accurate when it came to her portrayal of mainline missionaries and denominations. She made the claim that after World War II, most mainline denominations left Africa but the SBC stayed and expanded. Where my grandparents were, they had United Methodists, Presbyterians, and Mennonites and they were there from 1969-1985. I would agree that the United Methodist Church is not sending US missionaries to Africa anymore but I think Fletcher's assessment was premature. She also made occasional side comments about other denominations, which felt out of place alongside such a detailed critique of the SBC.

Overall, even with my critiques, I would still recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about American Christianity, international missions, or experiences of long-term Missionary Kids. Fletcher's is a necessary perspective for Christians in America today and for those interested more in upholding the institution than being faithful to God.

Thank you Broadleaf Books and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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Holly Berkley Fletcher’s Missionary Kids is a captivating narrative on evangelicalism, the notions of white saviourhood, and the twisty ways the Christian church’s mission work buried years of abuse.

Beyond the message of missionary kids, Fletcher’s storytelling is enlightening, aggravating and rich. Her open theology of “you do not have to be sure about who you are or who God is, or even if God is, to form community with others (p. 252).” Her story is a coming of age narrative that takes place in American Christianity - but it’s the American Christianity that is becoming more apparent. It’s loud, controlling and overzealous (former church kid, so I’ve been there). Through extensive research and interviews with former missionary kids, Fletcher weaves through challenging topics of racism, abuse, sexual violence, and neglect which many missionary kids may have experienced at homes or schools.

I appreciate Fletcher’s writing as she often recognizes her own background, identifying that she has biases (i.e., while citing corruption in world aid organizations, she highlights she has a World Vision sponsor child).

As an aside, as someone who remembers being referred to as a squeezed tube of toothpaste that cannot be reverted back to its original form I am pissed that purity culture flowers made its way to Africa. When the author is bold enough to suggest The Doctrine of Inerrancy is a “power hoarding device” I think that somehow this book needs to be a bigger deal, especially today.

Two points of feedback, which considering the publication date, I recognize I am late on: when it is indicated you have made your way to the school and “there was not even a phone” this is repeated a few times over pgs. 171-173 and may be a bit repetitive. The second point comes from pg. 125, when citing the Doctrine of Inerrency the text I have says “institutes writ large“ and I am wondering if that is meant to be “at large”.

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In The Missionary Kids, Fletcher gives us an eye-opening tour through the world of American evangelicalism. She touches on many of the issues that plague modern Christianity in an accessible way, backing it up with her own experiences as a missionary kid or providing insight from others with similar experiences.

Fletcher delves into the emotional and physical traumas that missionary kids often face, as well as the ways that these traumas can continue to affect them into adulthood. She also discusses concepts of nationalism, White privilege, misogyny, and racism and how they have tainted the image of American Christianity across the globe.

While analyzing and discussing some dark and emotional topics, Fletcher also paints a picture of hope for the future of Christianity and demonstrates what the religion can accomplish, if American evangelicals are able to do away with their prejudices and sense of entitlement.

As someone who is not religious, I found this to be a fair and analytical discussion of the controversial field of missionary work. This was an enjoyable read, and thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this title.

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At one point in my long evangelical life, I found myself fantasizing about the missionary world. While a paraplegic, I was convinced I had a place serving God in places most people could never imagined.

I never pursued this fantasy. Truthfully, I wasn't built for it. Beyond one brief trip to Haiti (and short-term missions are an entirely other discussion), my ministry life has been here in the United States.

With precision, insight, and sharp analysis, historian Holly Berkley Fletcher, herself a "missionary kid" or MK, explores this world evangelical missionary work specifically focusing on the experiences of the children of missionaries.

Fletcher unveils, over and over again, how the experiences of these MKs illuminate the broader currents present in American Christianity. This book is neither as dark as you might expect it to be, though it gets mighty dark at times, nor the celebration that those who nearly idolize evangelical missionaries might want it to be. Instead, it's, well, historical. It's constantly insightful, occasionally disturbing, frequently revealing, and fiercely thought-provoking from beginning to end. Written from a perspective of historical analysis, "The Missionary Kids" lacks the emotional resonance, at least for the most part, that might make it a more engaging read yet is also a book destined to be explored by clergy, theologians, and seminarians for years to come.

This is a world worthy of exploration and Fletcher explores it.

Fletcher doesn't hold back from diving deep into areas faced by MKs - God's calling, racism, privilege, faith, and most starkly abuse. Fletcher explores the mechanisms behind white evangelicalism by interviewing some of those most directly impacted by it. The end result is simultaneously compassionate and jarring.

A Southern Baptist MK in Kenya, Fletcher reveals how calling, multiculturalism, saints, and indispensability can allow for distraction from the weaknesses of the movement. Fletcher captures the weight carried by MKs, portraying family life amidst the "missionary industrial complex" and a world where one does not distract from the work of the Lord often at the cost of sexual abuse, relationships, and simple human connection.

In a movement that often raises up those who are called into the missionary world, the children often become sacrificed as if Isaac. Holly Berkley Fletcher powerfully unmasks the myths of white evangelicalism while also giving voice to MKs who've often been expected to remain silent.

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