Beginning with her birth in Africa, the author tells the fascinating story of her childhood on the mission field. Ironically, the same belief system requiring missionaries to abandon their children to boarding schools also harms the very natives they seek to reach, exploiting children and nations alike. The Missionary Myth opens the door to finding real solutions: challenging the missionary concept, questioning current policies, and reaching out to victims. Boarding school abuse is one branch of a much broader problem, and today’s church begs for constructive critique if it is to maintain an important role for people of faith.
Vivian Palmer Harvey is a missionary kid and boarding school survivor. From age five and a half, she attended Mamou Alliance Academy nine months a year, where, like her siblings and peers, she experienced severe abuse of all kinds. Years later, as she began facing buried memories, she discovered that Native Americans were also forced into missionary schools and suffered similar abuse. She and her husband have since developed close relationships with many Native people, traveling extensively to support tribal efforts at language revitalization. Today she serves on the board of MK Safety Net, an organization supporting former missionary kids.