Now Available in Missions, Intercultural Studies, and Global Christianity
A practical resource for those preparing for missions or recovering from disorientation from cross-cultural experience.
Fueled by idealism, a youth spent reading missionary biographies, and a desire to please God, Amy Peterson boarded a plane to teach English in a closed country in Southeast Asia.
Despite being told by her sending organization that she was going to a “hard place” and should not expect any spiritual interest, she felt her prayers were answered with immediate evangelistic success. When the spreading gospel attracted police attention, the success turned to crisis with lasting repercussions.
In Dangerous Territory, Amy complicates the missionary narrative by reflecting on the pain of failure and what it truly means to be loved by God. She examines the many questions that arose from the collision of her expectations with her cross-cultural experience and offers a thoughtful, vulnerable critique of missionary motivation and impact.
Interspersed throughout the book are short interludes that position her experience in the historical context of modern American missions. She shares brief, accessible histories of the missionary narrative, short-term missions, and women in missions. She also examines the language of missions.
The updated edition of this compelling and beloved memoir includes an afterword and a language guide for churches.
Reviews
“Amy Peterson’s wise and provocative words should be required reading for any Christian about to immerse herself in another culture or community.” —Lauren F. Winner, Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality, Duke Divinity School
“In this book Amy Peterson opens up her messy, ordinary, and beautiful life to let us see what it meant for her to go from a young woman wrapped in the mythology of missionary heroes, through dark days of disillusionment, into a deeper, more grounded understanding of faith and calling.” —Brian M. Howell, Professor of Anthropology, Wheaton College
“Amy Peterson's Dangerous Territory is too honest to indulge the hero façade and too authentic to avoid the unresolved questions. But real stories are like that. If you want to read a real story, a well-told story, a story where shallow Christian missionary triumphalism is replaced by the messy, unresolved, and sometimes tragic life of faith, then read this story. In Dangerous Territory we set aside our adolescent faith with its tidy answers and clean endings, and we take up an adult faith; a faith with real risk, real loss, real questions, and God's presence on the other side of pain.” —Scott Bessenecker, author and Director of Global Engagement and Justice, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
“Peterson is a thoughtful writer whose honest prose will appeal to any readers wanting to align themselves with God’s will, whether in a foreign land or at home.” —Publishers Weekly starred review
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Over 500 online reader reviews and a 4.5 average rating on Amazon
“Engaging, beautifully told, and a thoughtful critique that avoids sentimentality and cynicism. Highly recommend.” —Aleah
“This slim book is brave and important. We need voices like Amy Peterson's to help us faithfully navigate the fraught terrain of global Christian service.” —Laura
“New favorite book! As an aspiring missionary myself, I delighted in and related to so much of Amy Peterson's words. She writes with wit and honesty, and she was not afraid to address the difficult questions of during and post-overseas life. Absolutely wonderful, and I will be reading this again.” —Emily
“I wish I had read this book as a teenager or a young adult. I found myself thinking back over my idealism, my romantic ideas of cross-cultural living, and my desperation to please God at any cost. At the time, I didn't have any resources or stories of people who thought they had failed in ministry or failed God. When it happened to me, I thought I was the only one and I would never recover—my self, my faith, my sense of God’s love. I recommend this book for anyone who is in, entering, or recovering from ministry.” —Oren
“I work in a church department that receives a lot of people coming back from these two- to three-year experiences and a common malady is the feeling of failure or regret. … If you have a responsibility to care for such people then you simply must buy this book” —World on a Page
“I loved every bit of this thoughtful, honest and challenging book. Such a relatable account of how we perceive ourselves in our efforts to ‘do something for God’ and how our understanding of God and of self can change in the process. Highly recommend for anyone interested in or recovering from God-inspired adventure.” —Mollie“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.” —Shanna
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Prelude
Part One: Sent
1. I Can’t Tell You This Country’s Name
Interlude: A Brief History of the Missionary Narrative
2. Backpackers and Wanderlust
3. Expats Will Change the World
4. Do Not Easily Leave
Interlude: A Brief History of Short-Term Missions
5. The Strictest American
6. Locusts and Miracles
7. Long Walks on the Beach
8. The Backstreet Boys and Salvation
9. Christmas Parties
10. Solos at Karaoke
11. Headless in Thailand
Interlude: A Brief History of Women in Missions
12. Further Out
13. Deeper In
14. The Impossibility of Self-Care
15. High Places (Mistakes Were Made)Part Two: Stripped
16. Home
17. “The Police Were Following Him”
18. Instant Messages
19. Saying Thank You in the Dark
20. Due to Curriculum Changes
21. Choosing Cambodia
22. Why Are We Here?
Interlude: Imagining Other Ways of Doing Missions
23. The Spirit of Christmas Past, and Other Ghosts
24. The Killing FieldsPart Three: Surrendered
25. A Whittled Arrow, Hidden
26. Falling in Love
27. Being the Beloved
28. Fireflies and Honey
29. Gethsemane
Interlude: The Missionary
30. Speaking Faith as a Second Language
Epilogue: No Longer at Ease
Afterword
Postlude: A Language Guide for Churches
Further Reading -
Available Now
Updated edition released October 21, 2023 (original edition, 2017)
Paperback (978-1-7338665-1-4)
5.5 x 8.5
268 pages$16.99
Rights: WorldwideOrder from INGRAM or wherever books are sold
Also available in ebook and audiobook formats
Amy Peterson (MA, MFA, MDiv) is a writer, teacher, and priest in the Episcopal church. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and children.
In her writing, Peterson explores the intersections of faith, language, and culture. She believes that research is a form of love and that fiction can tell the truth. Find her work in Image, The Millions, Washington Post, The Other Journal, Cresset, Christianity Today, River Teeth, Relief, Christian Century, and elsewhere.
As a teacher, Peterson worked in cross-cultural and honors-level academics and student development, teaching ESL for two years in Southeast Asia before returning stateside to teach in California, Arkansas, Washington, and Indiana. Most recently, she taught creative writing, intercultural communication, and interdisciplinary honors courses at a Christian college in the Midwest.
Amy has spoken in a variety of settings: literary festivals, college and high school chapels, undergraduate and graduate classrooms, churches, and spiritual retreats. Visit her website at amypeterson.net.
Amy sharing her story at a Taylor University chapel. Amy’s talk starts at 5:18.