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Good Missions Reading

Here's some books we've enjoyed that we'd recommend. You can often find copies cheaply on line through Internet services that sell used books. It's a good idea to share these books with friends and your church library.

Idea: Print out this list and use it as a checklist for some good reading!

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__ Bruchko by Bruce Olsen

__ From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions by Ruth A. Tucker

__ Let the Nations be Glad By John Piper

__ Lords of the earth by Don Richardson

__ Operation World: When We Pray God Works by Patrick Johnstone

__ Peace Child by Don Richardson

__ Perspectives on the World Christian Movement : A Reader by Ralph D. Winter (Editor)

__ Unveiled at Last by Bob Sjogren

__ What if the Bible Had Never Been Written? by D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe

More details on each book and some of the comments are below.

Bruchko

by Bruce Olson

This is one of the first mission books I read. When I finished it (which didn't take too long -- it will keep you up at night) I went out and bought 10 copies to give away. I was thrilled with.

Internet Review: This is a riveting story of a young man who was so passionate about winning lost tribes for Jesus Christ that he plunges himself into the work and immerses himself into the culture. You have to pinch yourself to remember that this is a true story. It's so outstanding and so unbelievable that one man endured so much for Christ. I kept thinking of the words of God in Acts 9: "I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions

by Ruth A. Tucker

Internet Description:
A long-awaited revised edition of a highly acclaimed textbook on the history of Christian missions by one of the most respected missiologists of our day.

From the Back Cover: This is history at its best. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya is readable, informative, gripping, and above all honest.

From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya helps readers understand the life and role of a missionary through real life examples of missionaries throughout history. We see these men and women as fallible and human in their failures as well as their successes. These great leaders of missions are presented as real people, and not super-saints. This second edition covers all 2,000 years of mission history with a special emphasis on the modern era, including chapters focused on the Muslim world, Third World missions, and a comparison of missions in Korea and Japan. It also contains both a general and an “illustration” index where readers can easily locate particular missionaries, stories, or incidents. New design graphics, photographs, and maps help make this a compelling book.

From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya is as informative and intriguing as it is inspiring—an invaluable resource for missionaries, mission agencies, students, and all who are concerned about the spreading of the gospel throughout the world.

Let the Nations be Glad

By John Piper

Internet Description: Since its publication a decade ago, Let the Nations Be Glad! has provided thousands of seminary students, missionaries, and pastors with a sound theological foundation for missions. Piper now offers a revised and expanded edition of this theological and biblical defense of God's supremacy in all things.

Drawing on texts from the Old and New Testaments, Piper demonstrates that worship is the ultimate goal of the church and that proper worship drives missionary outreach. He describes prayer as the fuel of missions work because of its focus on a relationship with God rather than the needs of the world. He goes on to illustrate that while suffering is the price of missions, God is worthy of any sacrifice. He examines whether Jesus is the only way to salvation and discusses the extent of the missionary enterprise, seeking to define the scope of the task and the means to reaching "all nations."

Let the Nations Be Glad! is essential reading for all those involved in or preparing for missions work and provides inspiring theological reflection for college and seminary students. This book also offers enlightenment for pastors, youth workers, those involved in campus ministries, and all who want to connect their labors to God's global purposes.

Lords of the earth

by Don Richardson

Don Richardson's previous book, Peace Child is described below. Botha re great but I think I enjoyed this one even more.

Operation World: When We Pray God Works

by Patrick Johnstone

Internet Review:I love how this prayer book is set up. Each calendar day of the year, you pray for the physical and spiritual needs of each country. The countries are listed in alphabetical order. Some of the larger countries get more than one day allocated to them for prayer because of the greater number of people and needs.

The author has done a fantastic job at researching what the needs are in each country, and it makes prayer for the nations a more personalized experience. Before this book came out, I would just say, "God, bless America. Bless China." Well, now with this book, I can pray more precisely.

Peace Child

by Don Richardson

This is a missions classic that everyone in your family can enjoy:

Internet Description: In 1962, Don and Carol Richardson risked their lives to share the gospel with the Sawi people of New Guinea. Peace Child tells their unforgettable story of living among these headhunters and cannibals who valued treachery through "fattening" victims with friendship before the slaughter. God gave Don and Carol the key to the Sawi hearts via a redemptive analogy from their own mythology. The "peace child" became the secret to unlocking a value system that existed through generations over centuries, possibly millenniums, of time. This analogy became a stepping-stone by which the gospel came into the Sawi culture and started both a spiritual and a social revolution from within. With an epilogue updating how the gospel has impacted the Sawi people, Peace Child will inspire a new generation of readers who need to hear this unforgettable story and the lessons it teaches us about communicating Christ in a meaningful way to those around us.

Perspectives on the World Christian Movement : A Reader

by Ralph D. Winter (Editor)

This is a book for the serious world Christian.

Internet Description: Perspectives on the World Christian Movement is a collection of readings exploring the biblical, historical, cultural, and strategic dimensions of world evangelization. Writings from more than 90 mission scholars and practitioners introduce lay people and students to the astounding potential of the global Christian movement. Each of the 125 articles offers practical wisdom enabling Christians to labor together in bold, biblical hope to finish the task of seeing Christ named and followed among all the peoples of the earth.

What if the Bible Had Never Been Written?
by D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe

Internet Description: Whether the Bible is looked at as a historical book or words to live by, there's no denying the dramatic difference it has made in people's lives.

But the Bible, more than any other book, is also the most maligned on the market. Many of the cities of our culture dismiss the Word of God. In What If the Bible Had Never Been Written?, D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe show that this collection of books was indeed the inspiration for almost all of the great explorers, scientists, writers, artists, politicians, and educators the world has ever known. That such a book, which has influenced so many and stood the test of time for so long, is dismissed as folklore or myth, just goes to show what extremes non-believers will go to rationalize their behavior.

From the Ten Commandments, which many of our laws and government are based upon, to the Golden Rule, a verse taken straight out of the New Testament, to many of today's most common phrases and expressions...there is no doubt as to the influence the Bible has on everyone, in some degree, every day. What If the Bible Had Never Been Written? provides a well-documented and in-depth look at the impact the Book of Books has had on humanity, pointing to specific areas in today's society that would not be as they are now, if it were not for the Bible.

Unveiled at Last

by Bob Sjogren

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