Sources: Various
Living in a world with many distractions, do you find it’s getting harder to read whole books from cover to cover? Even so, the publishing industry doesn’t seem to have waned in its production. Here are some I loved, and you might too—plus a list of books we’ve mentioned in 2024.
People Vision: Reimagining Mission to Least Reached Peoples, by Leonard N. Bartlotti. William Carey Publishing, 2024. 324 pages.
A few months ago I wrote about my struggle to call people to take the gospel to the places and populations with the greatest need and least opportunity, given all I know about the debates and divisions surrounding how we think and talk about people groups now. This book helped. It’s a compendium reflecting a wide variety of perspectives, expanded from a core first published in Evangelical Missions Quarterly (Fall 2020). It’s helped me and those I work with as we seek to harmonize theory, message and practice. The most significant work on this topic today.
Learn more or get the book from the publisher or elsewhere.
Not on Board: Jonah’s Plunge Into God’s Plan, by Steve Richardson. Pioneers, 2024. 104 pages.
Most Christians know the story of “Jonah and the whale,” but have we thought deeply about its global implications? Steve Richardson’s new book shows there’s a lot more going on under the surface than most people realize, as a surprising God sent an unlikely conscript on an unthinkable mission and got an extraordinary response—and what it means for us today.
Learn more or get the book. You can read it online for free or get the ebook for US$.99 if you don’t want to spring for a paperback.
Lead with Prayer: The Spiritual Habits of World-Changing Leaders, by Ryan Skoog, Peter Greer and Cameron Doolittle. FaithWords, 2024. 256 pages.
Is this a mission book? Not exactly. But take a look. The authors spent three years interviewing Christian leaders on six continents who collectively serve in more than 100 countries. In a winsome and inspiring way, they share what they learned from these leaders (and others) about the crucial role of prayer in their lives and work.
If you or a ministry you serve with has gotten to the point where you tend to rely on competence rather than desperately seeking God, you may need this book.
Learn more. The website also has practical tools to download.
And More Books About Mission
I won’t load you up with all the links, but here are other new or new-ish mission books I read this year. You might want to look up a few to put on your TBR (to be read) list.
Reviewed or excerpted in Missions Catalyst:
- Cabbages in the Desert: How God Transformed a Devout Muslim and Catalyzed Disciple Making Movements Among Unreached Peoples, by Aila Tasse with Dave Coles
- Chasing Faith Among Yaks and Nomads: A Memoir, by Ann Wyse
- Crossing Cultures with the Gospel: Anthropological Wisdom for Effective Christian Witness, by Darrell L. Whiteman
- The Faith Road: The True Story of Peril and Mission in Southeast Asia, by Eliot Branch
- Hainan: Pearl of the South China Sea, by Paul Hatthaway
- Propelled by Hope: The Story of the Perspectives Movement, by Yvonne Huneycutt
- Shaped by the Spirit: Being Formed into an Outward-Focused People, by Kate Pocklington
Read but not reviewed:
- Clothed with Strength: Single Women Serving Christ in the Arab World, by Christine Ford McLaren
- Digging in the Dirt: Musings on Missions, Emotions, and Life in the Mud, by Jonathan Trotter
And here are a few I want to read but haven’t yet:
- From Banned Book to Bestseller: Bible Mission in Contemporary China, by Cynthia Oh
- The Mission of God and the Witness of the Church, by Justin A. Schell
- When Serving Gets Tough: A Thirty-Day Devotional for Missionaries, by Carol Ghattas
What books are on your list?
As a social media post reminded me, this could be your last week to buy books as Christmas gifts if you plan to read them before you wrap them!