Silver & Bold: Age As an Asset in Global Missions, by Steve Richardson with Maxine McDonald. Pioneers, 2026, 158 pages.
Serving in global missions isn’t only for the young. It’s for people like Betty Wilson, who began serving in Central Asia when she was 66 and is still at it than 20 years later, and Mike and Rosemary Harris, who joined their kids and grandkids in a multi-generational ministry in West Africa.
Silver & Bold explores the opportunities and concerns of those who begin new cross-cultural careers in their 60s, 70s, and beyond and provides case studies and insights from those who have done it.
All the quotes and stories in this book are from people serving with Pioneers, but I think you could use it for general mobilization efforts as well. Recently Pioneers launched Encore, a new program tailored to sending older workers, but other agencies send the silver-haired, too, and many have been doing it for years. May God use this book to inspire more to recognize the opportunity and join them.
Learn more or buy the book, or read an excerpt, Rethinking Retirement Dreams. Note that Pioneers will also let you read the whole book online for free (registration required), but they’re selling the Kindle edition for $2.99 so that may be the most convenient option for many.
Read about and learn about other books from Pioneers.
I was happy to hear that Steve Richardson’s other recent book, Perfect Peace Child, made it through multiple couriers to a Sawi teacher in Southeast Asia near where the events it describes took place. She’s thrilled. And 150 copies of a Ukrainian edition of Is the Commission Still Great? were given to participants at a recent mission conference in Kyiv.
More interested in mobilizing young adults? Great! Be sure to check out Tithe Your Career, by Paul Van Der Werf and Katy White—a great book challenging new college grads to start their careers with a season of cross-cultural service (GoCorps). We wrote a review of it last July.