When one of these relationships became an escape hatch, Scorah's loss of faith culminated in her own personal apocalypse, the only kind of ending possible for a Jehovah's Witness.

Now with a creative outlet, getting to know worldly people for the first time, she began to understand that there were other ways of seeing the world and living a fulfilling life. To support herself, she found work at a Chinese language learning podcast, hiding her real purpose from her coworkers. Immersion in a foreign language and culture-and a whole new way of thinking-turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true.Īs a proselytizer in Shanghai, using fake names and secret codes to evade the authorities' notice, Scorah discreetly looked for targets in public parks and stores. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. NylonĪ riveting memoir of losing faith and finding freedom while a covert missionary in one of the world's most restrictive countries.Ī third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God's warning of impending Armageddon. A fascinating glimpse into the consciousness of being an outsider in every possible way, and what it takes to find your path into the life you'd like to lead.

Leaving the witness