7 MISSIONARY BIOGRAPHIES TO FUEL THE MISSIONS FIRE

What is it that has shaped the way you think about the world around you? 

What is shaping your worldview right now?

I often say that we are all, always being discipled by something.   We don't have a choice.  The things we listen to, watch and read are shaping us. They are shaping how we think, forming our character and driving our interests. 

It is a reality.

If we go to church for an hour and a half each week and then spend two hours every day watching Oprah or listening to Rush Limbaugh, guess what?  Our thinking, character and interests will look a lot like Oprah or Rush.  We don't have a choice.  That's just what happens.

The choice we do have is in the content of what we listen to, watch or read.  We are in control of those choices.

Our Multiply team was reflecting today on the desires of our heart.  It was during this time that I began to think back over my life and the things that shaped some of my strongest desires.  One book in particular came to the forefront of my mind.  I read it first in college and it began to shape my thinking in powerful ways.  It was the missionary biography Through Gates of Splendor by Elizabeth Elliot.

There are others as well and with today's post I want to share with you 7 missionary biographies that I think will fuel your missions fire.  They certainly have for me!

You'll probably be able to find most of these in a church library near you, but if not, you can purchase them from Amazon at the links given.

​Through Gates of Splendor by Elizabeth Elliot is the story of five missionaries determined to share the gospel with a remote tribe in Ecuador with a history of violence.  This story has inspired generations of missionaries from across the world and was one of the most formative books in my young life.

Buy It Here 

Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor follows the life of Hudson Taylor, known as one of the founders of modern missions and the leader of the move to share the gospel with the people of China.  The book tells the story of his life but also the spiritual truths that Taylor discovered along the way.

Buy It Here

​Chasing the Dragon by Jackie Pullinger tells the story of Pullinger's work in Hong Kong's walled city.  I have not read this book but watched a documentary about her life and work and was challenged by her faith and how much her life reminded me of the life of Jesus.  I look forward to reading this book soon.

Buy It Here

​Jungle Pilot by Russell Hitt is the biography of Nate Saint, the Mission Aviation Fellowship pilot who, along with Jim Elliot and three others, gave his life as a martyr on a jungle river beach in Ecuador.  His life of commitment and service and faithfulness is inspiring and challenging.  

Buy It Here

Bruchko is the biography of Bruce Olson, who as a young man traveled alone into the jungles of South America to carry the gospel to tribes who had never heard the name of Jesus.  His suffering is intense: shot through the leg with an arrow, capture, disease, loneliness, torture and loss.  Despite overwhelming hardships, he is used by God to bring the love of Christ to those who did not know.

Buy It Here

Peace Child is the story of Don Richardson's engagement with a stone age child who upon hearing the gospel story for the first time, began cheering for Judas as he betrayed Jesus.  How do you share the good news of Jesus with a tribe who revere deception?  Through the story that God wove into their culture centuries earlier.  This is a fascinating story of discovering the fingerprints of God in the stories of a primitive tribe.

Buy It Here

A Chance to Die by Elizabeth Elliot is the intensely personal biography of Amy Carmichael.  This Irish missionary spent fifty three years in the south of India and never once came home.   There she founded a refuge for underprivileged children and gave her life to the service of her Lord.

Buy It Here

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I in no means intend to say that these are the seven best missionary biographies that are out there, but they are seven that get me excited and they are stories that will both inspire you and help to shape your heart for the nations.  I hope you will find time to read them all in the next year!

Perhaps you have a favorite missionary biography - if so, please share it in the comments below.

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