I’m always on the search for a great missions book.
Unfortunately—and incredibly surprising to a guy like me who is absolutely passionate about missions stories—A good missionary book is tough to find.
Go into your local Christian bookstore and look for books on missions. First of all, there is no missions section! What? It’s only Jesus’ final command, the Great Commission, the charge he left us with before returning to heaven. When you finally do stumble upon a missions book tucked away in the far corner of the Christian bookstore, you’re left with a great story, but told in a poorly articulated fashion.
That makes me sad. Maybe I’ll do something about it…
Missions work in cross cultural scenarios are some of the most exciting stories you will ever read. But Christian “self help” books are much more in fashion than the missionary story.
Remember this: it’s the Great Commission, not the Great Suggestion.
One of my personal favorites, and strangely missing from this list, is the story of James O. Fraser, Mountain Rain by Eileen Crossman.
Have you read any of these books? Which one is next on your list? What’s your favorite missions book?
Note: Stay tuned for my book, coming out hopefully sooner than later! I’m in the process of writing it now.
Before you check out the list, make sure you visit The Most Epic Monster List Of Missionary Quotes On The Internet.
Here’s the list in no particular order…
1. Finish the Mission: Bringing the Gospel to the Unreached and Unengaged
By: John Piper, David Mathis, David Platt and Ed Stetzer
2. Let the Nations Be Glad: the Supremacy of God in Missions
By: John Piper
3. Missions: Biblical Foundations and Contemporary Strategies
By: Gailyn Van Rheenen
4. Mission Drift: The Unspoken Crisis Facing Leaders, Charities and Churches
By: Peter Greer, Chris Horst, Anna Haggard
5. Introducing World Missions: A Biblical, Historical, and Practical Survey (Encountering Mission)
By: A. Scott Moreau, Gary R. Corwin, Gary B. McGee
6. The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative
By: Christopher J. H. Wright
7. Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence
By: David A. Livermore
8. Short Term Missions Workbook: From Mission Tourists to Global Citizens
By: Tim Dearborn
9. The Book of Missionary Heroes
By: Basil Mathews
10. Introduction to Global Missions
By: Zane Pratt, M. David Sills, Jeff K. Walters
11. Mission in the Old Testament: Israel as a Light to the Nations
By: Walter C. Kaiser Jr.
12. The New Parish: How Neighborhood Churches are Transforming Mission, Discipleship and Community
By: Paul Sparks, Tim Soerens, Dwight J. Friesen
13. The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission
By: Christopher J. H. Wright
14. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions
By: Ruth A. Tucker
15. Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation
By: Jason Mandryk
16. The Missionary Call: Find Your Place in God’s Plan for the World
By: M. David Sills
17. Christian Mission: How Christianity Became a World Religion
By: Dana L. Robert
18. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity
By: Philip Jenkins
19. Cross-Cultural Connections: Stepping Out and Fitting in Around the World
By: Duane Elmer
20. Cross-Cultural Conflict: Building Relationships for Effective Ministry
By: Duane Elmer
21. Contextualization in World Missions: Mapping and Assessing Evangelical Models
By: A. Scott Moreau
22. Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally
By: David J. Hesselgrave
23. Bible and Mission: Christian Mission in a Postmodern World
By: Richard Bauckham
24. Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader
Ralph D. Winter (Editor), Steven C. Hawthorne (Editor)
25. A Martyr’s Grace: Stories of Those Who Gave All for Christ and His Cause
By: Marvin Newell
26. When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself
By: Steve Corbett, Brian Tikkert, John Perkins (Forward), David Platt (Forward)
27. Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot – and Cold – Climate Cultures
By: Sarah A. Lanier
28. Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility
By: Duane Elmer
29. Western Christians in Global Mission: What’s the Role of the North American Church?
By: Paul Borthwick
30. Live Dead Journal: 30 Days of Prayer for Unreached Peoples, 30 Days of Challenge
By: Dick Brogden (Compiler)
31. When Missions Shapes the Mission: You and Your Church Can Reach the World
By: David Horner (Author), David Platt (Forward)
32. Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours?
By: Roland Allen
33. The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected
By: Nik Ripken
34. The Insanity of Obedience: Walking with Jesus in Tough Places
By: Nik Ripken
35. Follow Me: A Call to Die. A Call to Live
By: David Platt and Francis Chan
36. Dispatches from the Front: Stories of the Gospel Advance in the World’s Most Difficult Places
By: Tim Keesee
37. In the Land of Blue Burquas
By: Kate McCord
38. Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream
By: David Platt
39. Risk is Right: Better to Lose Your Life than to Waste It
By: John Piper
40. Don’t Waste Your Life
By: John Piper
41. Peace Child: an Unforgettable Story of Primitive Jungle Treachery in the 20th Century
By: Don Richardson
42. Bruchko: The Astounding True Story of a 19-Year-Old American, His Capture by the Motilone Indians and His Adventures in Christianizing the Stone Age Tribe
By: Bruce Olson
43. The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer that Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World
By: Richard Stearns
44. Reaching and Teaching: A Call to Great Commission Obedience
By: David Sills
45. Jim Elliot
By: Jane Benge and George Benge
46. Ministering Cross-Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships
By: Sherwood G. Lingenfelter, Marvin K. Mayers
47. Christian Mission in the Modern World
By: John Stott (1974)
48. Invitation to World Missions: A Trinitarian Missiology for the Twenty-first Century
By: Dr. Timothy Tennent
49. Share Jesus Without Fear
By: William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd
50. Encountering Theology of Mission (Encountering Mission): Biblical Foundations, Historical Developments and Contemporary Issues
By: Craig Ott
51. God’s Global Mosaic: What We Can Learn from Christians Around the World
By: Paul-Gordon Chandler, John Stott (Forward)
52. Cross-Cultural Partnership: Navigating the Complexities of Money and Mission
By: Mary T. Lederleitner
53. African Friends and Money Matters: Observations from Africa (Publications on Ethnology Vol. 37)
By: David E. Maranz
54. Western Christians in Global Mission: What’s the Role of the North American Church?
By: Paul Borthwick
55. Leading Across Cultures: Effective Ministry and Mission in the Global Church
By: James Plueddemann
56. Paradigms in Conflict: 10 Key Questions on Christian Missions Today
By: David Hesselgrave
57. Introducing Christian Mission Today: Scripture, History and Issues
By: Michael W. Goheen
58. 7 Classic Missionary Biographies: Raymond Lull, David Brainerd, Henry Martin, William Carey, Hudson Taylor, John Paton, Amy Carmichael
By: Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, John Paton
59. Understanding Christian Missions: Participation in Suffering and Glory
By: Scott W. Sunquist
60. I Dare to Call Him Father: The Miraculous Story of a Muslim Women’s Encounter with God
By: Bilquis Sheikh
61. God’s Smuggler
By: Brother Andrew, John Sherrill and Elizabeth Sherrill
62. The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun
By: Brother Yun
63. Eternity in Their Hearts: Startling Evidence of Belief in the One True God in Hundreds of Cultures Throughout the World
By: Don Richardson
64. Through Gates of Splendor
By: Elizabeth Elliot
65. Anthropological Insights for Missionaries
By: Paul Hiebert
66. Woman to Woman: Sharing Jesus with a Muslim Friend
By: Joy Loewen
67. Miniskirts, Mothers, and Muslims: A Christian Woman in a Muslim land
By: Christine Mallouhi
68. Honor and Shame: Unlocking the Door
By: Roland Muller
69. Miraculous Movements: How Hundreds of Thousands of Muslims Are Falling in Love with Jesus
By: Jerry Trousdale
70. A Muslim’s Heart (Pilgrimage Growth Guide)
By: Edward Huskins
71. The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross; Insights from an Arab Christian (The Navigators Reference Library)
By: Nabeel Jabbour
72. John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides
By: James Paton
73. A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael
By: Elisabeth Elliot
74. Becoming a Courageous Christian
By: Bill Hybels & Mark Mittelberg
75. Funding Your Ministry
By: Scott Morton
76. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (American Society of Missiology)
By: David L. Bosch
77. Reclaiming Mission as Constructive Theology: Missional Church and World Christianity
By: Paul S. Chung
78. The New Global Mission: The Gospel from Everywhere to Everyone (Christian Doctrine in Global Perspective)
By: Samuel Escobar
79. The Great Commission & Evangelism and the History of World Missions
By: Martin Klauber (Editor), Scott M. Manetsch (Editor), D.A. Carson (Contributor), & 7 More
80. Contextualization in World Missions: Mapping and Assessing Evangelical Models
By: A. Scott Moreau
81. Short Term Missions Workbook: from Mission Tourists to Global Citizens
By: Tim Dearborn
82. Life on Mission: Joining the Everyday Mission of God
By: Dustin Willis, Aaron Coe and David Platt
83. Mission Possible: The Wonderful Story of God and a Wycliffe Translator in the Jungles of Papua New Guinea
By: Marilyn Laszlo, Franklin Graham (Forward), Luci Tumas (Contributor)
84. A Beginner’s Guide to Crossing Cultures, Making Friends in a Multicultural World
By: Patty Lane
85. Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World?
By: Tom Doyle (Author), Greg Webster (Contributor)
86. Planting Missional Churches
By: Ed Stetzer
87. Global Mission Handbook: A Guide for Cross cultural Service
By: Steve Hoke & Bill Taylor
88. The Changing Face of Missions: Engaging Contemporary Issues and Trends (Encountering Mission)
By: Michael Pocock, Gailyn Van Rheenen, Douglas McConnell
89. Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church
By: Soong-Chan Rah
90. Kingdom Without Borders: The Untold Story of Global Christianity
By: Miriam Adeney
91. Discovering the Mission of God: Best Missional Practices for the 21st Century
By: Mike Barnett (Editor), Robin Martin (Editor)
92. Pressure Points: Twelve Global Issues Shaping the Face of the Church
By: J.D. Payne
93. Crossing Cultures with Ruth: Lessons on Thriving in Mission
By: James Nelson
94. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
By: J.I. Packer, Mark Dever (Forward)
95. Evangelism: How to Share the Gospel Faithfully
By: John MacArthur (Author), Grace Community Church Staff (Contributor)
96. On Being A Missionary
By: Thomas Hale
97. Ask a Missionary: Time Tested Answers From Those Who’ve Been There Before
By: John McVay
98. Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity
By: Nabeel Qureshi and Lee Strobel
99. A Wind in the House of Islam: How God is Drawing Muslims Around the World to Faith in Jesus Christ
By: David Garrison
100. Joining Jesus on His Mission: How to Be an Everyday Missionary
By: Greg Finke
101. End of the SpearBy: Steve Saint
List compiled by bamedu.com
