How have you seen missions and missionaries (both Christian and non-Christian) portrayed in fantasy and science fiction? How do you think they should be portrayed? Do you see any particular opportunities or pitfalls with such subject matter? And have you ever written about missions yourself in a story?

I know of two science fiction novels, actually, about Jesuit priests going to minister to aliens - The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell and The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber. I don't intend to read The Sparrow because from what I've heard the violence and sexual content would be too much for me, but I do have The Book of Strange New Things on my reading list.

As for fantasy, the only missionary characters I can think of are from the works of (predictably) Brandon Sanderson: Hrathen from Elantris and, to some extent, Sazed from the Mistborn books. (Brandon Sanderson was actually a missionary himself for a while in South Korea with the Mormon church, which I suspect is part of why he can write missionary characters that resonate with me.) Hrathen travels to a foreign country believing that if the people there don't convert to his religion soon, they'll be destroyed. As the book goes on, you see that his religion is quite...problematic, and that he's willing to do morally questionable things in order to win converts. But his sincere faith, his desire for truth, and his determination to save the people he's ministering to make him (at least for me) a very sympathetic character. Sazed, meanwhile, is an odd example - at the start of the Mistborn trilogy he says he believes in hundreds of religions, and he chooses which ones to preach to people based on what he thinks would "fit" with them. Later on, however, he starts to see the problems inherent in believing that mutually contradictory religions are all true, and he changes. In the end he's not so much a missionary as just someone dealing with personal issues of faith and belief.

But usually in my experience, missionaries in fiction are either portrayed as perfect paragons of virtue or deluded fanatics. This really bugs me. Having studied missions extensively, I think I can pretty safely say that missionaries are so much more complicated than that. The kinds of people that God uses, the kinds of people that are eager to be used this way by God, the way God uses them - there's so much interesting psychology and conflict there that remains to be explored by authors of speculative fiction. I hope to do some of that exploration myself in the future.

So! What do you guys think?

I think you bring up some very interesting points. In terms of Missions and Missionaries there is a lot they face on a daily basis. Listen to any testimony of a missionary family, and they have things they go through in which God brings them through it. Not only that think about a story based off a missionary family that hypothetically dies for preaching about the word of God. that in itself brings to light a compelling story...

I think this is one of the most compelling aspects of a missionary mindset - that keen sense of reliance on God. It's one of the things I would especially want to effectively portray if I wrote a missionary.

That being said, some missionaries have it a lot easier than others. Some really need to consciously get grace from God every day to make it through. Others can coast along pretty well on their own. But then, you see that dichotomy in all kinds of Christians, not just missionaries. I have a friend in America, for instance, who struggles with depression and some other issues. She is constantly aware of her reliance on God. I, meanwhile, have a naturally cheerful disposition...and I tend to forget that God's the one who gave me that disposition and the one who sustains it.

So yes. I guess my point is that while many missionaries are beautiful examples of dependance on God, in the end it's not an intrinsic part of being a missionary: any believer can have this mindset, and indeed many missionaries don't.

C.S. Lewis' Ministering Angels was an interesting look at evangelism.

Usually, it seems that the "missionary" style character is a hermit or a monk. They're more often the oasis characters in the spiritual or emotional seas and deserts than they are the ones actively spreading the word. Evangelistic missionaries don't really fit with our modern cultural values the way the hermits do. Missionaries actively seek to further their beliefs while the hermit quietly occupies his corner of the world, leaving others about their business unless they seek his advice.

If there are missionary type personalities, they probably show up as doctors.

There are so many different dynamics that can be played with a missionary too. Often times, we have a certain view of a twenty-first century missionary going to a stone age tribe of people, but it could also be played out in the way that early evangelism went, going into cities and preaching in the streets and staying in homes like Paul did in previously established civilizations. It could even go the other way where the missionary is from a stone age tribe and going to the city to preach. That may bring about a more Eastern flair to the character, but it could be very interesting.

Absolutely. There are so many ways you could go with a missionary. Where do they come from? (Not just their nationality, but also their social class, religious background, &c.) How'd they get interested in missions? What place are they going? What specific group there are they trying to reach? How are they trying to reach them? (Preaching? Bible translation? Bible studies in homes? Media ministry? Work with the poor?) How they do support themselves? (Do they get support from other Christians or do they work to support themselves? And if they get support how do they get it? Do they often visit other believers asking for support? Are they "faith" missionaries who don't believe in asking specifically for money?) Are they part of a missions organization? What sort of organization? Is it trying to dictate what they do? (Lots of potential for conflict here.) What the local government think about their activities? What do the local people think? What kind of religious beliefs does their people group hold? Oh, and did they bring their family? And do they have extended family or friends back in their passport country who are unhappy with their missions work...? So many interesting choices!

I've also joked with my father before that maybe the next big thing in Christian romance novels (after all those Amish romances) will be stories about young single missionaries falling in love on the field. I'm definitely not the one to write them, but it could be interesting...

There is also the pilgrim missionary. Whether they were exiled, persecuted, or just wanted to settle elsewhere, that sort of character would end up evangelizing to their new neighbors. They could very likely be of a different race (from a fantasy perspective) than the locals so those dynamics would be interesting too.