Missions
FIVE PIONEER MISSIONARIES Banner of Truth
I have just re-read this amazing book for the 5th time; it truly is one of the greatest missionary books ever written.
“There are few more thrilling periods of church history than the great missionary movement which stretched from the eighteen into the nineteenth century. Recognizing that Jesus Christ was the missionary sent by the Father, and that the Bible is the Magna Carta of missions, men like Henry Martyn, John G. Paton, John Eliot, David Brainerd and William Chalmer Burns left home, family and love for the sake of Christ and to spread his good news. The narratives of their monumental labours and sufferings and their strong longings to see Christ gloried in the salvation of the nations make awe-inspiring reading.
Five Pioneers Missionaries tells the story of each of these servants of God. In doing so it not only outlines some of the great biblical principles of missions, but also challenges Christians today to live lives completely dedicated to serving Jesus Christ wherever he calls us to go.”
This is a set book at my Bible College, so make sure you read it before any other book!
OUT OF THE DITCH Author A. Theron
(The story of the Mseleni Mission)
Paul Smith in his forward to this book wrote:
“Mseleni is one of the last ‘bush’ stations in South Africa. Anita Theron, the ‘Ouma’ in the story, has written a fascinating account primarily of the ministry of the Africa Evangelical Fellowship in this ‘brush’ area. She starts with the arrival of the first missionaries from overseas and then follows throughout the book with the arrival and work of other missionaries. Perhaps the most interesting part of this work is her stories about the Africans’ lives, their meetings with God, an occasional falling away and the general progress of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.”
This is a beautiful story. From the arrival of Norman Keyes, in 1908, this work knew the blessing of God. A school, hospital, and church were all built by these early missionaries and today, over 100 years later, it still a thriving work.
For all lovers of missions’ history, this will be a great read.
THE GROWTH OF AN EXPANDING MISSION (Studies in Acts 10-18) Author C. Swindoll
Like watching a beautiful water lily unfurl its petals until it comes into majestic bloom, so is studying the middle chapters of the book of Acts.
Here you will see the bud of the early church blossom into a world-wide outreach, with the good news of Jesus Christ reaching such cities as free-spirited Thessalonica, intellectual Athens, and voluptuous Corinth. But, like most lilies, you will also feel the assault of storm weather and natural enemies as time goes by.
Christ’s love will have to overcome prejudice, desertion, conflict, disappointment, abuse, legalism, and endless change – issues that know no generational bounds and still touch out lives today.
If you need the reassurance of God’s presence and power in the storms you must weather, or if you hunger for His life-giving touch to open up your life and let it blossom, this study in the book of Acts is for you.
A practical, brilliant, exposition on Acts 10-18 and it keeps the fires for Missions burning!!
PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS Author J. Murray
Here is a magnificent 300-page account of the history of one of the greatest missionary societies ever – the Church Missionary Society (CMS).
“Overseas work was still a new idea for British Christians when CMS was founded in 1799. Volunteers were few, money scare, and the pioneering work abroad fraught with setbacks. But the seeds of the Gospel were gradually sown.
The exciting development of missions in Africa, India, China and beyond is charted fully by Jocelyn Murray, with the understanding gained from her own years as a CMS missionary. She tells of the struggles and advances, the frustrations and the joys of almost two centuries. Today, a worldwide Church has been established, and a new concept of missionary endeavour is emerging.”
Donald Coggan wrote:
“A reading of this book will rebuke us for our insularity and help us to lift our eyes and look on wider fields”.
This is a must read for anyone wanting to learn more about missions’ history.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF MISSIONS Author JH Bavinck
This is an older book on Missions but certainly one of the very best. I have so enjoyed e-reading it and learnt a lot.
Missionary science can be divided into two main parts:
- The theory of missions. The science of missions here seeks to ascertain the scriptural basis of missions and its position in the life of the church, and
- The history of missions.
As a subdivision of the theory of missions we would include elenctics, the ascertainment of a view of non-Christian religions which is responsible from the biblical point of view. Such a study is so indispensable for a proper view of non-Christian religions that missionary science cannot possibly do without it. For a theory of missions is incomplete unless it can properly evaluate non-Christian religions.
Elenctics occupies a place between the two main divisions of the science of Missions. In summary then the three parts of missions science are:
- The Theory of Missions
- Elenctics
- The History of Missions
Certainly, a book worth reading, especially if you have a heart for missions.
PEACE CHILD Author Don Richardson
HOW DO YOU TELL A CANNIBAL ABOUT LOVE?
“Headhunting cannibals who used their victims’ skulls as pillows, the Sawi people of New Guinea seemed to still be living in the Stone Age.
Among the Sawi, treachery was more than a way of life; it was an ideal which unnumbered generation of their people had conceived, systematized and perfected. For them, to “fatten with friendship” a victim before the slaughter was the highest, most glorious form of treachery. The heroes of Sawi legend weren’t those who took the greatest number of heads in battle or ambush, but those who were the most deceitful in befriending their victims before they took their heads.
It was to these people that Don and Carol Richardson went in 1962, risking their lives to share the gospel and tell of the true Peace Child, a figure the Sawis knew vaguely from their own mythology.
This is a gripping account of the Richardson’s unforgettable, real-life adventure.”
This is one of the most incredible missionary stories ever written – truly a must-read… I loved it more the second time of reading it.
SPIRITUAL WARFARE AND MISSIONS Authors J. Rankin and E. Stetzer
“Go, therefore and make disciples of all Nations … Matthew 28:19”
God’s mandate to outreach is a major target of spiritual warfare today. Here International Mission Board president Jerry Rankin and noted missiologist Ed Stetzer expose Satan’s ongoing strategy to convince Christians that the Great Commission is optional.
Through deceit, the devil is eroding the authoritative mandate of Scripture, leading believers to tell themselves that international discipleship is a task better left to denomination and mission agencies—not the sort of kingdom work that every believer can do.
But for every evil success, Rankin and Stetzer point to where Satan is failing, thus encouraging readers to renew their passion to declare God’s glory among the nations. Indeed, by taking up the call to action here, we can be sure that the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of the Lord.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD MISSION Author E. Soper
Here is another very old classic on Missions covering the following subjects:
- Biblical background to missions
- World missions in history
- Christianity as a world religion
- The strategy of world mission
THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE Author E. Bliss
Here is a very old classic written on Missions. It really was excellent, giving us the history of the missionary movement, some of its great heroes and the principles for carrying out the command of Jesus to “GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS”
LIVINGSTONE’S TRIBE Author S. Taylor
Stephen Taylor travels from east to southern Africa uncovering vestiges of the continent’s colonial past through its landscape, people and their stories. His trail starts with the exotic splendour of Zanzibar and a whirlwind tour of the island on the back of the vicar of Zanzibar’s motorbike. Through Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Taylor talks to blacks and whites (the mzungu), on dirt tracks, in buses, at bars and on great latticed verandas overlooking the southern lands. He meets the last white landowner in Uganda and drinks beer with a man named Delicious, at the Great Lakes he walks in the footsteps of the early colonial explorers, Burton and Speke, and meets Victoria, a formidable female entrepreneur named after the lake and the queen. In this present-day journey Taylor examines the identity of Livingstone’s tribe (the whites who have stayed on in post-independence Africa), his own ambivalence towards the great continent in which he grew up and the future of Africa’s southern countries.
Livingstone’s Tribe combines evocative and philosophical travel-writing with a remarkable history of some of the most dramatic lands in the world.
GREAT MISSIONARY READING – 20 Great Books
Among the several traits that Reformed Christians have in common, book reading is usually one of them. However, missions books are more often than not missing from church book tables and discount book catalogues. The followings brief list is given in answer to many requests. Readers may find the suggestions useful for themselves or as gifts for family and friends, even church officers! But these books have transformed my life.
It a class by itself, no reading Christian interested in missions should be without Operation World by Patrick Johnstone. It is a compilation of the spiritual needs of virtually every country in the world. Some of the statistics must be taken ‘with a pinch of salt’, but on the whole they are fairly accurate. Missionaries have read his descriptions of their country and been amazed how well it portrays the conditions. Published by Worldwide Evangelization Crusade, it is distributed by Multnomah Press.
This best primer is A Vision for Missions, published by the Banner of Truth Trust. Pastor Tom Wells of the Reformed Baptist Church of Cincinnati is the author who clearly leads the reader to biblical thinking and involvement.
The best collection of missionary biographies is Five Pioneer Missionaries, published by the Banner of Truth Trust. The only disappointment is that none of the five are Baptists such as Carey and Judson, but the method of selection explains why. Photographs and maps enhance this paperback which devotes anywhere from 4 – 90 pages of each man – Eliot, Brainerd, Martyn, Burns and Paton.
Speaking of Baptists, no finer work exists on America’s first foreign missionary, Adoniram Judson, than To the Golden Shore, by Courtney Anderson, Published by Judson Press, it is a full-length biography that not only does justice to the subject matter, but it is also extremely well written.
If someone is looking for a manual on missionary methods, Pastor Eric Wright’s paperback Tell the World (Evangelical Press) is brief, understandable and valuable. A classic, for those wanting to study the subject from a broader perspective and to a much greater depth, is An Introduction to the Science of Missions, by Herman Bavinck, published by Presbyterian and Reformed.
For a fascinating study on the history of missions in different ages throughout various parts of the world, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya by Ruth Tucker (Zondervan) is exceptional. The author accomplishes this by means of short biographical sketches. Little attention is paid to doctrine, so many would criticize it for its inclusiveness. Let the informed reader filter that through his grid, but don’t miss the charm and challenge woven through the accounts of hundreds engaged in missions through the centuries.
One of the most influential biographies ever written is The Life and Diary of David Brainerd. Brainerd was a missionary long before Carey left for India. He was supported by Christians in Scotland, even though he never visited that country. His methods are still debated by missiologists, who, I is feared, miss the significance of his message. William Carey, Robert Morrison, Henry Martyn and others traced their service in missions to the influence of this book. It was written by Jonathan Edwards and is now published by Baker.
Scotland has given the world many choice servants of the gospel. Though far from the first, one of the foremost is David Livingstone. He is known today more as an explorer than a missionary. The classic nineteenth century biography by W.G. Blaikie has been inexpensively reprinted in hardback by Barbour and Co. in their ‘Heroes of the Faith’ series.
Another book from history which has had an influence on the spread of the gospel is Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. A modern-day version with similar design also makes for informative and challenging reading. James and Marti Hefley have written By their Blood: Christian Martyrs of the Twentieth Century (Mott). It will remind you of some modern-day martyrs whom you forgot and inform you of hundreds (thousands?) of whom you have never heard.
Other outstanding missions biographies are the following:
12 | Life of William Carey |
13 | Life of Hudson Taylor |
14 | Life of C.T. Studd |
15 | Life of James Fraser |
16 | Life of James Stewart of Lovedale |
17 | Life of John Paton |
18 | Through Gates of Splendour |
19 | Journal of Jim Eliot |
20 | Journal of Nate Saint |
CHRISTIAN MISSION IN THE MODERN WORLD Author John Stott and Chris Wright
JESUS SENDS US INTO THE WORLD AS THE FATHER SENT HIM
Some believe that the focus of Christian mission is evangelizing and “saving souls.” Others emphasize global justice issued or relief and development work. Is either view correct on its own?
John Stott’s classic book presents and enduring and holistic view of Christian mission. Newly updated and expanded by Christopher J.H. Wright, Christian Mission in the Modern World provides a biblically based approach to mission that addresses both spiritual and physical needs.
Another fantastic book by John Stott on the whole question of MISSION. Written way back in 1975, now updated by Christopher Wright, is a MUST read.
HEALING THE NATIONS Author David Burnett
He worked as a missionary in India and has traveled widely in Africa. He is the author of several books including Clash of Worlds, Unearthly Powers and Spirit of Hinduism. Married to Anne, they have two children.
This is a lucid and highly readable presentation of God’s progressive education of humankind from Genesis to Revelation. The author shows how the Church should understand and spread the Word across cultures, in the face of conflict and to those of other faiths.
He explains how mission should be right at the centre of the Church’s identity, calling the most able people and commanding the finest resources. Mission is a calling and a privilege which no Christian can ignore.
For me, one of the finest books on MISSION … this was a second read for me and I enjoyed it even more … worth selling your bed for.
SOME GAVE ALL Author Ellen Caughey
Meet four diverse missionaries: aristocratic Southerner Lottie Moon, who did the unthinkable in 1873 and traveled as a single woman to Shanghai, China; the Indian born son of missionaries, Captain John Birch, who also went to China-and changed the course of World War 11; Nate Saint, a popular pilot with Midwestern roots, who in 1956 blazed a path to the savage Auca tribe of Ecuador; and the Ivory Coast-born daughter of missionaries, Betty Olsen, who in 1965 landed with only her medical kit in the heart of war-torn Vietnam.
They were four ordinary people who did extraordinary things with the help of, and for the sake of, their Saviour. And in His name, they suffered-to the point of death-until they received their eternal rewards.
A wonderful, easy to read biography of four amazing missionaries who gave their all to bring the Gospel to the lost.
GOOD NEWS FOR THE WORLD Author Roger Steer
In 1800, a fifteen-year-old Welsh girl, Mary Jones, walked 56 kms barefoot, across a mountain to buy a Welsh Bible from Rev. Thomas Charles, for which she had saved for six years. As a result, Rev. Charles persuaded friends to set up a society in order to provide affordable Welsh Bibles. This then led to the formation of The Bible Society which then spread right across the world, printing Bibles at affordable prices.
This book is the story of the first 200 years of the Bible Society. It is a fantastic story of men and women of immense ability, imagination, creativity and courage. But above all, it is the story of a book – The Book and of the way it has broken through barriers of culture and language, to set ears on fire.
James Catford wrote:
“No other movement has so impacted the world with the Bible’s message and no other book tells its story so powerfully”.
NO GRAVEN IMAGE Author Elisabeth Elliot
Her other books about her husband, Jim’s story and her own is told in “Through Gates of Splendor”, “Shadow of the Almighty” and the “Savage my Kinsman”. They sold millions, but this book is her first novel.
It is a moving story of Margaret Sparhawk, a young single lady missionary who felt called to reach the Indians in South America. The book recalls the way she went about reaching these people, translation MARK into their own language, but also it recalls some of the doubts she had, the mistakes she made.
For anyone called into missionary work, this is a must; it really is very moving reading.
FROM JERUSALEM TO IRIAN JAYA Author Ruther Tucker
Ralph Winter says of this book:
“How does one write a history of Christian missions – a history that entails tens of thousand of noteworthy professionals sent out by hundreds of mission societies to every country in the world over a period of some two thousand years? It is an enormous subject that has unfortunately been almost destroyed by historians who have attempted to squeeze too many dates, events, organizations and names into one volume. But the history of missions is not a compilation of arid facts. It is a fascinating story of human struggles and emotions, intertwined with tragedy, adventure, romance, intrigue and sorrow.
It was only through the tireless efforts of its missionaries that Christianity became the world’s largest religion, a factory that has changed the face of the globe.
Here is the history of mission from the days of the Apostles until now, never dry historical facts but through the biographies of the missionaries.
This is the third time I have read this amazing book, the very best ever.
TRAVELS ACROSS MALAWI Author Douglas Willis
Two hundred years ago Dr. David Livingstone, most famous of all Scottish missionary explorers, was born. Douglas Willis traces part of the Scot’s missionary journeys in what is now Malawi, from the Shire Valley northwards to Livingstonia. As a geographer, Douglas’ descriptions of Malawi, the warm heart of Africa, sparkle with life. As a naturalist, he describes in details the wealth of exotic birds, plants and creatures he encounters, from baobab trees to a charging bull elephant. He contrasts the adventures and hardships of those early travelers with his own experiences in the Malawi of today. This delightful book is full of the smell and taste of Africa and the generosity and humour of its people, a love letter to Malawi, which makes me ache with longing for Africa, especially for our village in Nsangwe.
WINNING A PRIMITIVE PEOPLE Author Donald Fraser
“Deep in the bush of Malawi, Central Africa, on the edge of what is still the small village of Embangweni, stands a simple stone cross, inscribed with the words “In memory of Donald Fraser and Jonathan Chirwa.” Here, side by side, in what was the chief’s cattle kraal-the place of burial for those held in particular esteem among the cattle-herding Ngoni people-lie the Scottish missionary and his Malawian colleague. Fraser died in Scotland on August 20, 1933, following an operation for the removal of his gall bladder. He was cremated, and his ashes were brought back to Malawi by his wife for burial at the place of his missionary service. The positioning of the graves bears witness both to the respect with which the Ngoni people regarded Fraser and to the affection that he himself had for those among whom he worked.
Today Donald Fraser is not widely known outside Malawi and Scotland. Yet in his day he was both active missionary and internationally known mission strategist, friend and colleague of men like John R. Mott and Joseph H. Oldham, and many of his insights into both the theory and practice of mission remain valid, and valuable, for us today.
In January 1897, following his South African tour, Fraser arrived in northern Malawi, where he was to work with the Livingstonia Mission. This mission had been set up in 1874 in memory of David Livingstone, and though associated primarily with the Free (from 1900 United Free) Church of Scotland, it was technically an independent organization. It had begun its work in Malawi in 1875 at Cape Maclear, at the southern end of Lake Malawi, but, by the time Fraser arrived the Livingstonia Mission was working predominantly in the north of the country, among the Tumbuka, Tonga, and Ngoni peoples.”
DISCOVERING THE MISSION OF GOD Author Mike Barnett
What is God’s mission in the world? For anyone passionate about discovering God’s heart for the nations, Discovering the Mission of God will reveal his plans for you. Written by twenty-first-century field workers, scholars and church leaders, this book weaves together the basic components of God’s global mission and challenges readers to identify where they fit in the mission of God.
Discovering the Mission of God explores the mission of God as expressed in the Bible, throughout church history and in cutting-edge best practices being used around the world today. Drawing from a new generation of scholar practitioners, this comprehensive reader provides global perspective, recent missiological research, case studies, recommended further readings and relevant discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Contributors include Jerry Rankin, Ed Stetzer, Christopher Wright, John Piper, William J. Larkan, Clyde Meador, Scott Moreau and many others.
Dr. Kostenberger said of this book:
“In this contemporary missions reader, a stellar cast of contributors leaves no stone unturned in helping the missions-minded reader discover the mission of God in the Bible, in history and for today. This impressive volume promises to be an indispensable resource for missionary practitioners and a required course text for missions classes for years to come.”
If you want to know anything about missions – this is the book. I would suggest it will soon become the number one textbook on missions around the world.
Truly magnificent – sell your bed and buy it!
JAMES CHALMERS Author Richard Lowett
This is one of the greatest missionary stories ever and this book one of the most moving I have ever read.
While Paton, Geddie, and others were evangelizing the small islands of the South Pacific, other missionaries were looking even further west, eyeing the unpenetrated mountainous rain forests of New Guinea. One of the greatest nineteenth-century missionaries to New Guinea was James Chalmers, another Scottish-born Presbyterian missionary, who, like so many other missionary pioneers in the South Seas, was martyred in his quest to bring Christianity to that region.
The son of a stonemason, Chalmers was awakened to the needs of South Seas missions as a teenager one Sunday afternoon in Sabbath school when his pastor read a moving letter from a missionary serving in Fiji. With tears in his eyes, the minister pleaded with the young people: “I wonder if there is a boy here who will by and by bring the Gospel to the cannibals.” Chalmers vowed to be that one, but the vow was quickly forgotten until some three years later at the time of his conversion.
In 1866, a decade after he made his initial vow to be a missionary, Chalmers and his young bride, Jane, sailed for the South Pacific under the auspices of the LMS. For ten years, they worked on the island of Rarotonga, where John Williams had served for a time, but Chalmers was dissatisfied. He was a pioneer at heart, and he wanted to evangelize where the Gospel had never been preached.
Eventually after 33 years, he was clubbed to death, chopped into pieces, cooked and eaten before the search party even arrived. It was a shocking incident that stunned the Christian world, but one that Chalmers himself had always been prepared to endure.
ON THE EDGE OF THE PRIMEVAL FOREST Author Albert Schweitzer
“I gave up my position in the University of Strasbourg, my literary work and my organ-playing, in order to go as a doctor to Equatorial Africa”.
In this fantastic book, he gives the reasons for renouncing a brilliant academic future in Europe to qualify as a doctor and go to Africa, and he describes the building and growth of his hospital, which he built on the edge of the primeval forest. It has become a classic of its kind because of its burning sincerity, its understanding of the African people, its humour, the triumphs and tragedies of the enterprise, and above all because the personality of one of the most remarkable figures of modern times is reflected so vividly in his writing.
What a read ……
FIRE ON THE MOUNTAINS Author R. Davis
This story had to be written. It is the story of some incredible missionaries, their trials, their sorrows, their joys and their triumphs. But it is more than that. It is the story of God at work, even when the missionaries are removed. True, they were used of God to lay a foundation, they were used of God to pray.
After the early missionaries went to WANDANO and started a vibrant new Church, the Italians invaded Ethiopia in 1937 and removed all the missionaries. BUT … who can account for the revival fires that saw 48 converts become 10,000 in five years – and these, years of foreign occupation of their land God had raised up Spirit anointed and dedicated leaders for the Church.
It is an amazing story that will touch your heart. The author has chosen to tell this story by introducing incident after incident, personality after personality. It is simplicity itself.
TREKKING IN SOUTH CENTRAL AFRICA (1913-1919) Author Dr. C.M. Doke
When we were on the Midlands Meander some time ago, I found this interesting book in the Africana section in one of the bookshops, TREKKING IN SOUTH CENTRAL AFRICA.
Dr. Clement Martyn Doke, a direct descendent of William Cary’s sister, is a member of a family which has made an outstanding contribution to the life of the African sub-continent.
Dr. Doke blazed a missionary trail in LAMBALAND, in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) during the years 1913-1919.
He later became Head of African Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. In 1971, Rhodes University conferred on him the degree D.LITT and the following year, the University of Witwatersrand conferred on him the degree D.LLB.
This book deals with events which proved to be the source of Dr. Doke’s motivation for his life’s’ work and is itself written from primary sources – his own diary and that of his illustrious father, the Rev. J.J. Doke who laid down his life at the end of the first trek described.
Dr. Doke gives the account of many first time hearings of the Gospel by hundreds of Lambas and at the same time portrays a fascinating picture of the life of the tribes.
Like his famous relatives, the Hobson brothers, Dr. Doke has the ability to also describe the animal life. In the preface, he writes:
“I feel I must take this opportunity of stating how privileged I was to accompany my beloved father during the last trek of his life, a life dedicated in service to the Master.”
CHRIST’S MESSENGERS Author Bishop C.F.D. Moule
Its span is short: it concerns only the first generation of Christianity, from A.D. 30 – 60. But it is a momentous story. Luke would rank high among the great storytellers of the world, even if his story were not itself the best in the world, next after the Gospel. As it is, what Luke has given us is the only thing of its sort, and priceless beyond words.
Bishop Moule has given us a short, only 100 pages, overview of the book of ACTS, it was a brilliant read.
THE MISSIONS ON TRIAL (Addis Ababa 1980) Author W. Bahlmann
With this volume Buhlmann provides a most informative and ecumenical documentary on the African mission. For years this mission has been attacked and criticized by African nationalists, racial Christians and atheists.
Are the missionaries really the paid servant of colonialism who cooperate in political exploitation and in the destruction of the very being of Africa?
Walbert Buhlmann knows the development and the work of the missionaries and the difficulties of the situation as scarcely anybody else does.
In the exciting framework of a simulated legal court, case in 1980 is reflected real history, illustrated from documents of today: the powerful drama of Christianity in Africa today. Hard accusations are made against mission and missionaries as they were and are pronounced. But the defence too is expressed from all points of view: in the testimonies of the Catholic and Protestant missionaries who without exaggeration, soberly, self-critically and for that very reason convincingly, report on their active work and their life.
The reader will follow this ecumenical documentation with excitement, interest and ever-growing sympathy. It succeeds in imparting a just and comprehensive picture of the reality of the African mission today.
It is old, goes back to 1980, but a very thought-provoking book on different views on missionaries in Africa today.
DARK STAR SAFARI Author Paul Theroux
For anyone who has a love for Africa this will be a great read. In this book, Theroux’s itinerary is African, from Cairo to Cape Town – down the Nile, through Sudan and Ethiopia, to Kenya, Uganda and beyond to South Africa. Journeying by train, boat, and cattle truck, he passes through some of the most beautiful – and often life-threatening landscapes on earth. Seeing first hand what has happened in African in these four decades of independence, Theroux is as obsessively curious and wittily observant as always, and his readers will find themselves on an epic journey. Having been to many of the places he visits, I loved this book, it was brilliant.
INSIDE AFRICA Author John Gunther
In his preface, the author says:
“I have tried, whether successfully or not, to cover the entire immense and explosive continent.”
He covers every country in Africa and is a mine of information about Africa up to the year 1951. He makes his way down from Morocco and North Africa down to the Mau Mau’s in Kenya, passing by Algeria Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia into Uganda, Malawi and Kenya. He visits every other country on the West Coast winding his way down to Rhodesia and Zambia, finally into South Africa.
George Kimble once wrote: “the darkest thing about Africa has always been our ignorance of it”.
Once you finish this book, you will know everything about Africa up to 1951 – it was a brilliant read, old but captivating.
YOU’VE GOT LIBYA – Author Dr. Greg Livingstone
Born out of wedlock, unwanted at birth, how did Greg Livingstone become a pioneer in missions to unreached Muslim peoples? This delightful book, full of compelling humour, strong experiences, is a page-turning tour de force. Greg’s burden for the millions of Muslims who had no opportunity to hear the Gospel led to the founding of FRONTIERS, a mission agency focusing exclusively on church planting among Luslim communities.
George Verwer wrote of this book – “get more than once copy so you can pass it on”
PUBLISHING SALVATION Author A. Baker
The story of the Scripture Gift Mission
This is the amazing history of the SCRIPTURE GIFT MISSION. It is the story of a seed planted in the heart of one man, William Walters, and now bearing fruit in every continent. It is the record of God’s guidance and God’s provision and it demonstrates the sufficiency of God’s Word to accomplish His purpose in the hearts of men.
It is a story that will strengthen faith, stimulate prayer, and call forth thanksgiving.
MISSIONARY METHODS Author Roland Allen
This challenging book will both disturb missionary readers and provoke thought. He asks certain pertinent questions – e.g. Is our progress commensurate with all the money and effort expended? Are we planting new churches or merely perpetuating a mission? Are our church plants truly indigenous and self-supporting?
Then he examines the methods of Paul, the greatest missionary and church planter of all time.
He examines:
- Paul’s presentation of the Gospel
- Paul’s training of new converts
- Paul’s methods of dealing with organized churches
This book will challenge so many of the methods used today and urges us to rather follow Paul.
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS TOMORROW Edited by Wade Coggins
Peter Stan says these papers given at a missionary conference are MUST reading for every pastor, missionary and committed layman. These papers are highly readable and focus on major issues and needs confronting Biblical missions moving forward into tomorrow. Together these papers provide a unique resource for projecting training programmes for future missionary personnel. This book will make you excited about what God is excited about.
DAVID BOSCH edited by W. Saayman and J. Kritzinger
David Bosch’s book TRANSFORMING MISSION has been read by 1000’s of people around the world. This makes it one of the most influential missiology textbooks ever written. Yet most of its readers are not aware how David Bosch’s missiological ideas developed out of his South African experience.
In this book a number of people, family, friends and colleagues, all who were clearly acquainted with him reveal the inside story of WHO he was and HOW he lived. Drawing also on his published works as well as unpublished talks and sermons, this book give unique insight into the life and witness of one of the world’s most influential missiologist and one of South Africa’s greatest sons.
It was a brilliant read … just so sad to read of his tragic death when he has so much still to do.
EMPANDENI INTERLUDE (1899-1903)
Journal of a women missionary JOSEPHINE BULLEN at the turn of the century in Rhodesia.
Filled with love and intensity, Josephine Bullen’s journal provided its readers with cameos of life on the missions in Zimbabwe in the early years of the 20th century. Never intended for the general reading public, this journal reveals a charming simplicity, a sharp eye for detail, finely drawn sketches, a zest for the joy of daily event and a rugged pioneering spirit.
I found this diary of early mission life in present day Zimbabwe absolutely fascinating, carried out at the time of the Boer War.
SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION Author Dr. Ian Randall
This book tells the compelling story of 50 years of OPERATION MOBILIZATION (OM), today more than 5000 workers in over 100 countries. Beginning with George Verwer’s conversion as a teenager in New York, the story traces God’s faithfulness from the first outreach in Mexico City to OM becoming one of the world’s largest mission agencies. Stretching from India to Latin America, OM has pioneered short-term missions, ships for world evangelism and has been at the cutting edge of the explosive growth of missions from the global church. This is ground-breaking history.
Dr. Luis Palau wrote:
“The story of OM, as told so vividly by Dr. Ian Randall, is one of the most thrilling, visionary, motivating stories in the history of Christian missions. This book is a must read.”
THE JUBILEE STORY OF THE CHINA INLAND MISSION Author M. Broomhall
What a brilliant mission’s book, one of the old classics. It gives us the amazing story of the first 50 years of the China Inland Mission, the missionary society started by Hudson Taylor.
Rev. J. Stevenson, in the forward wrote:
“no devout and thoughtful Christian can read these chapters, setting forth the main facts relating to the progress of the evangelization of China by the C.I.M., without being impressed by the unmistakable evidence of the presence and guidance of God. This records of what has been accomplished by faith and prayer is calculated to stimulate and encourage Christians everywhere more fully to trust God in all circumstances.
These early pioneers were incredible missionaries and I was deeply challenged by their lives and what they accomplished.
DROPS FROM A LEAKING TAP Author George Verwer
Life in an amazing mixture of victory and defeat, success and failure, joy and pain, peace and battles, happiness and brokenness. But life in Jesus assures the ultimate victory over everything.
The content of this book reveals what George Verwer has learned over 52 years of ministry and all who read it will be exposed to the most revolutionary message of God for the present days.
He will also relate the amazing story of OPERATION MOBILIZATION which he founded and how it developed into a powerful, world-wide ministry of evangelism, discipleship training and Church planting. He led their work from its inception in 1956 through to August 2003.
This wonderful collection of messages is vintage George Verwer.
LOVEDALE, SOUTH AFRICA Author Robert Shepherd
Lovedale Missionary Institution reached its centenary in July 1941. It was founded as a mission station in 1824 but began its career as a place of higher education in July 1841. There are of course two sides to Lovedale’s work. There is its internal growth from a small missionary seminary to a large Christian education centre. But also there is Lovedale as an interpreter and mouthpiece of the Non-White peoples of South Africa.
This brilliant book takes us back to the very first missionaries to come to S.A., men like George Schmidt, Jan Van Der Kemp, Joseph Williams and the amazing work they did in bringing the Gospel to S.A. But then the author takes us through the ministries of the early principals of Lovedale – Rev. W. Govan, Dr. James Stewart, Dr. James Henderson and others.
It is a brilliant book, one which I benefited from greatly – definitely one selling your bed for!!!
MODERN MISSIONS Author Robert Young
This is one of the old classics which made for fantastic reading. It was published in 1881 and covers the history of the early missionaries who went out to India, Burma, China, Japan, South Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, Madagascar and the Pacific Islands.
It was brilliant and if ever you find it … sell your bed to buy it!!
ARCHIBALD THE ARCTIC Author Archibald Fleming
This is an amazing missionary autobiography by Archibald Fleming, the first bishop of the Arctic. His account of the world of the Eskimo is detailed and intimate and his adventurous life as a Scot who dared the desolate wastes of Baffin Land and beyond, going where no while man had ever been is fascinating reading. But in spite of all the hardships, Fleming was amazing, showing an incredible dedication to bring Christ to the Eskimo.
PIONEER DAYS IN DARKEST AFRICA Author Arthur Inglesby
Charles Albert Swan left England for Africa in 1886 and entered into rest in 1934. This is about his life and ministry both in Africa and in Portugal. The Author writes in his preface:
“to recount the history of even a very ordinary individual would demand a much more extensive volume than this, and Charles Albert Swan was no ordinary individual. He was one of the first of that large company of men and women, who imbued with a spirit of individual dependence upon God, have gone preach the Gospel throughout Africa, without any definite guarantee of financial support.”
It was a lovely story but sadly you may battle to get this book, it has been out of date for years.
KISSES FROM KATIE Author Katie Davis
What would cause an 18 year old senior class president and home coming queen from Nashville, Tennessee, to disobey and disappoint her parents, by fore going College, break her little brother’s heart, lose all but a handful of friends, break up with the love of her life, all this so that she would move to Uganda where she only knew one person and did not even speak the language.
A passion to follow Jesus …
Now Katie in her 22nd year is in the process of adopting 13 children in Uganda and has established a ministry ‘AMAZIMA” that feeds and sends 100’s more to school while all the time teaching them the Word of Jesus Christ.
Kisses from Katie invites readers on a journey of radical love down the red dirt roads of Uganda.
HOPE HAS WINGS Author Stuart King
Every 4 minutes a MISSIONARY AVIATION FELLOWSHIP plane takes off somewhere in the world supplying life-saving medicines, food and equipment to remote and otherwise inaccessible communities.
This gripping book by founder member, Stuart King traces MAF’s lowly beginnings in post-war London, as a one-plane mission of love into unchartered territory, right up to today where MAF now has over 200 planes around the globe, serving the Church and assisting in bringing the Gospel to those who are lost.
A great read on a wonderful organization.
CHRISTIANITY AND AFRICAN CULTURE Author K. Fiedler
(Conservative German Protestant Missionaries in Tanzania) 1900 – 1940
Klaus Fielder wrote his PHD thesis, on which this book is based, for the University of Dar es Salaam while working as a missionary in Southern Tanzania. Missionaries have often been accused on destroying African culture either wilfully or because they did not understand it.
This book deals with those German Lutheran and Moravian missionaries in Tanzania who professed to have a high estimation of African culture. Read of the work of BRUNO GUTMANN, TRAVGOTT BACHMANN, and others who gave up everything at home to come across to Africa and bring people to Christ.
POLITICS AND CHRISTIANITY IN MALAWI (1875-1940) Author John McCracken
(The impact of the Livingstonia Mission in the Northern Province)
Since its publication in 1977 this book has been recognized as one of the most successful studies to be made of the impact of a Christian mission in Africa. Starting with a survey of the economy and society of Malawi in the mid 19th Century, the book goes on to examine the home background to the Livingstonia Mission and the influence of David Livingstone upon it. It then describes the failure of commerce and Christianity around the south end of Lake Malawi and the subsequent positive response which the mission evoked among the people of Northern Malawi.
A very interesting book especially for the passionate about missions in Central Africa.
The Story of Malindi Mission, Near Mangochi in Malawi, Nyasaland, 1898-1998
The history of MALINDI is closely tied to DAVID LIVINGSTONE’S missionary travels and work in Central Africa. After his renowned Trans Africa expedition in 1856 he became famous in Britain. However, his sponsors, the London Missionary Society were less impressed saying that in the future they were “restricted in their power of aiding plans connected only remotely with the spread of the Gospel”, and they withdrew his funding. As a result, he made an impassioned appeal for further funds for work in Africa at Cambridge in 1957:
“do not let it be shut again; I go back to Africa to try to make an open path for commerce and Christianity.”
As a result, the Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) was established and some 40 years later it was the UMCA who founded Malindi Mission.
MISSIONARIES Author J. Pettifer and R. Bradley
For over 2000 years missionaries have pursued the Great Commission to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. MISSIONARIES is based on the 6-part BBC 2 television series and is an exciting account of the story of mission. The authors cover the roles of the early pioneers like Livingstone, the work of General Booth and the Salvation Army right up to the work of Billy Graham and Luis Pilau. They even look at the less conventional work of Paula Shields working with the prostitution in Amsterdam and the work of Bob Hennel of the New Tribes Mission working among the remote people in Papua New Guinea. Better equipped, better financed than ever.
A whole new missionary army is on the move. An excellent book on the story of mission … I could not put it down.
JAMES CHALMERS OF NEW GUINEA Author C. Lennox
Livingstone, Moffat, Mackay of Uganda and Paton of the New Hebrides are widely recognized as pioneer missionaries of the 19th Century but very little attention is given to James Chalmers, a missionary, pioneer and martyr. He tells us how his heart was stirred after listening to Livingstone tell of his journeys through Africa and he offered himself for mission work. This amazing book tells his story from when the London Missionary Society sent him to RAROTONGA in the South Sea Islands, from there on to New Guinea up to his tragic martyrdom.
A book which will stir your very being.
THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT Author Henry M. Stanley
The legendary Henry Morton Stanley writes this incredible story of his exploration across Africa. He begins by telling us the effect that the death of David Livingstone had on him, and says:
“The effect which this news had upon me, after the first shock had passed away, was to fire me with a resolution to complete his work, to be, if God willed it, the next martyr to geographical science, or if my life was to be spared, to clear up not only the secrets of the Great River throughout its course, but also all that remained still problematic and incomplete of the discoveries of Burton, Speke and Grant.”
It makes for riveting reading as he travelled from Zanzibar, through Uganda, Kenya, the Congo on to Luanda. An unbelievable story.
WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOD DOING Author Ted Engstrom
Once you pick up this fascinating book you cannot put it down, it is a trumpet blast calling Christians of all nations to world evangelization and service. This fast-paced volume will hold the attention of pastors, laymen and all Christians who hear Christ’s command to disciple the nation – the 3 billion people who have yet to believe.
Dr. Peter Wagner wrote “no recent book I know can match” this book as a stimulating introduction and update to world missions for all Christian people. This book beats in cadence with the heart throb of God, that by all means His lost sheep be found and brought into the fold …”
Read this book to fire up your missionary heart …. and buy it for your minister.
REFLECTING ON MISSION Author H. L. Pretorius
In spite of what the Gospel teaches, mission is nowadays in many circles not a popular theme. This to a large extent may be due to a lack of understanding of what mission is all about. This therefore makes it necessary to reflect once more on mission.
But the AFRICAN context is one which is continually in transition. When the spirit of the times changes, it is essential to consider the role of mission in the current situation. Also the reader interested in mission in the African context searches in vain for a systematic treatment of how missiology addresses our time. Most books of missions are also written from a western point of view.
So the importance of this book – a relevant handbook for missiology, written not only in but also for the African context. Of particular interest was the section which dealt on how to witness to those in the African Independent Churches.
An excellent book.
ISBN 186 804 0461
GOLD CORD Author Amy Carmichael
THE DOHNAVUR FELLOWSHIP is a group of Indian and European Christians who work together in the south of India. Its friends wanted to know how it all began and they asked for something that would link up the stories already written. Others asked for another kind of cord … “what holds you all together” they asked … we answered “a gold cord”.
This old book tells the amazing story of DOHNAVUR FELLOWSHIP and the work of Amy Carmichael
LAWS OF LIVINGSTONIA Author W.P. Livingstone
Here is a book which I doubt you will ever find!!! One day in Cape Town I visited all the old second-hand bookshops in Long Street and came across it, it cost me a lot of money … but what a book! It is the story of Dr. Robert Laws, the man, who inspired by David Livingstone, went back to northern Malawi and established the Livingstonia Mission.
“love of the service he had entered seized him like a passion. The spell of Africa gripped him never to let him go.”
For all his life he had one goal:
“my scheme is an earnest endeavour to bring all my past study, observation, experience and travel to bear on the question how best to bring the Gospel of Christ to the people of Central Africa and to their children … saturate the people with the Word of God and you will stop Islam and Roman Catholicism.”
It was brilliant … 378 pages of riveting reading of the pioneer missionaries like Robert Laws who came to Africa and established Livingstonia as a memorial to David Livingstone.
THE CAPTIVITY AND TRIUMPH OF WINNIE DAVIES Author D. Davies
Len Moules in the introduction to this book wrote:
“don’t read this book unless you really want to … this book is dynamite.”
Winnifred Davies, constrained by the compassion of Christ, gave herself for 21 years without restraint for the good of the CONGOLESE people. On her lonely mission station, at the end of a desperately treacherous road, in one of the densest spots of the great Iturie Forests, she built her hospital, the only maternity unit within 250 kms.
Then … the savage SIMBA rebels took her captive and held her for 33 months. The Congo Christians loved her. They willingly suffered to protect her. Alieni Paul was trussed and hung in a tree, released, beaten and again hung up and left hanging for hours.
Reports of Winnie’s Christian testimony among the Simbas are incredible. After 33 months the Simbas killed her. Hers was not the tragedy of a premature death but the triumph of a fulfilled ministry.
Wow … what a woman … what a book … it is dynamite.
THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSITIES’ MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA Author Henry Rowley
This book was phenomenal, a real classic and for a missionary enthusiast a real find. This mission was the first to respond to the call from David Livingstone to leave England and start a work in Central Africa. So they came to Malawi in 1857. They established their station at MAGOMERO in CHIRADZULU. But sadly their leader Bishop McKenzie died soon after arriving, then later Scudamore, Dickinson and Thornton. As a result of these deaths, together with the hostility they were facing from the surrounding tribes forced them to lose down the station at Magomero and move to Zanzibar. Some may feel that the mission was a tragedy … but … the work of Bishop McKenzie laid the foundation of what was to become the Anglican Church in Malawi. In 1885 the UMCA mission returned with Will Johnson and Chauncy Maples who established the new headquarters on LIKOMO ISLAND.
I laughed, cried and was hugely moved by this book which described the unbelievable cost paid by these pioneer missionaries who brought the Gospel to Central Africa.
LIFE OUT OF DEATH Author P. Thompson
MOZAMBIQUE: a country in the past torn by Marxist revolution, civil war and in more recent years by natural disasters: – scene now of a miracle of Church Growth. After the expulsion of pioneer British missionary Gordon Legg, Martinho Campos emerged as a leader of the young and growing Church in Mozambique, the small, poor country bordering Zimbabwe and South Africa. Miraculously healed after 3 years of illness, this amazing man becomes a faithful pastor to scattered groups of new believers. Captured by rebel guerillas and reported dead, he is eventually released to continue his ministry.
This inspiring story has many parallels with the growth of the early Church. Opposition came first in the form of witchcraft and demonic activity and later through political pressure. But … at every point of seeming death, the closing down of the mission, the banning of all Christian work, leaders falling into error – God brings life.
The story enfolded in this book spans more than 50 years (from 1935-1987) during which time many political changes occurred in Africa.
This was a brilliant book, a must read for all who love the history of missions in Southern Africa.
THE ZANZIBAR CHEST Author A. Hartley
The Zanzibar Chest is a necessary book … you will struggle to find a more authentic, urgent or brilliant account of the underbelly of contemporary Africa … It is a truly impressive and haunting book, a beautifully written account of Harley’s journey to the heart of darkness and then his slow, painful voyage back. Underpinning the grisly details of wars in Somalia, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi, Hartley tells of his experiences there as a journalist but then weaves into this quagmire the story of his childhood in Colonial Africa. You therefore have a powerful blend of family history and a war correspondent’s memoir.
For those who have a love for Africa you will not be able to put this book down … it is brilliant. It was in fact short listed for the BBC 4 Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction in 2006.
THE GREAT COMMISSION Author T.O. Jenkins
In the great commission the supreme business of the Church is all ages was clearly and authoritatively spelt out in unmistakable terms by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the Church. The work of redemption was all accomplished, complete and perfect; what now remained was that the good news concerning it, the Gospel, had to be carried and proclaimed to the ends of the earth.
This book is a challenge to all Christians to heed once again His last words and to pray and to work as never before, with their confidence solely in Him who promised to be “with you always even to the ends of the age.”
This book shows Omri Jenkins giving a clear and robust exposition of the Saviour’s comprehensive plan for making disciples of all nations.
REACHING BEYOND BARRIERS Author F. Rittenhouse
This is an amazing story of how faith and persistence prevailed to get the Word of God to West Africa through Trans World Radio. You will be amazed how God works through intriguing stories of His faithful followers. What happened in LIBERIA and BENIN demonstrated the way Africans and expatriates are working together to meet the unique challenges of using radio to reach oral cultures.
A SHORT HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONS Author Frank Patterson
This is a brilliant history of the history of the missionary movement from Pentecost until the present. It would not be feasible to attempt to record in one volume all that every mission organization has done. This book merely records the more notable attempts of individuals, churches, and mission organizations to evangelize all nations.
For anyone wanting an overview of the history of missions, this is a brilliant book, well worth reading.
A HISTORY OF INANDA SEMINARY Author A. Wood
This book, written by Agnes Wood, tells the story of the first 100 years of the life of Inanda Seminary, a boarding school established in 1869 by the American Board Mission in Natal. From the amazing pioneer work of “Mother” Edwards in the early days, up to today it is an incredible story of faith and perseverance. How one admires these pioneers like Edwards who left her home in England and came out to Africa to give her last drop of blood for Africa.