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Bryan: For an aspiring missionary, the question of what their story will be is one that can weigh heavily. Will I be faithful or will I be a failure? These questions all add up to what does God have in store for me out there on the field? What's it going to be like? While every missionary's story will be different, there are common themes. And the best way to get acclimated is to look to the past and learn from those who have prepared themselves to be sent and to go. This week we shared a question with Brooks from Levi who asked, "For someone that's had no idea where to start, what are some missionary biographies that you would recommend?"
Brooks: Well, first off, I'm really excited that someone asked this question. This is one of the things that is near and dear to my heart— being missionary biographies. And oftentimes I actually just got off a Zoom call with 35 pastors and they asked me what are the key things we could do to raise up missionaries that would go to the ends of the earth, to places where there is no gospel, there is no church. What are the key things? And I always say there's three. One, go to good conferences. Two, go on a good short-term trip. And number three, read missionary biographies. They have this incredibly powerful effect that they transport you to another time, another place. They help you think well. These are men and women who love the Lord Jesus Christ. They knew their Bibles. They suffered much. And they saw heaven clearly. And so good biographies to me are like these sleeper agents that just help Christians so well. They help them all through their life.
So kind of in order of what I would say are the best ones, and then I'll work my way down, though I know there's going to be some contention about this, but the bottom two are really good as well. I'm going to give you 12 that I think are the best biographies out there.
Number one, head and shoulders— I say this every time I'm on a panel or a podcast or something like that— is To the Golden Shore by Courtney Anderson. This is the story of Adoniram Judson. How he was raised, how he got his missionary calling, or I should say he aspired to be a missionary. How he went out, his good education, how he proposed to his wife, what he talked to his father-in-law about — just an amazing part where he lays out to his father-in-law what the expectation for his daughter should be. And then going to India, he meets up with William Carey, and then he makes it to Burma. It's just an incredible biography. And part of the reason that it's so incredible is that many people think Courtney Anderson, the guy who wrote it, was an unbeliever. He was so captivated by the story, so taken with what happened with Judson, how Judson's life was so impactful, that he just had to put it down on paper. And that to me makes it just an unbelievable story multiplied times five. So To the Golden Shore, Courtney Anderson.
A very close second— I have to say, I mean it's right up there— is the autobiography of John G. Paton. Not Patton: Patton's the general, Paton's the missionary. So John G. Paton, his autobiography is remarkable in that it goes into his home life. The parting from his father is one of the most moving pieces of literature I think there is. When they leave each other and they're praying for each other and they're crying and they depart. I don't want to spoil it for you. It's just a wonderful synopsis. And then him making it to the island of Tana, what today is Vanuatu. And what happens to him as he goes through that grueling period of life and he stays. He eventually loses his family. He's chased. He nearly gets killed. And then he makes it to Aniwa. And just the fruit that God bore through this man's life, how he speaks so clearly of God being near to him during the trying times of life. So the autobiography of John G. Paton.
Close to that would be the biography of John G. Paton by Paul Schlehlein. It's called The Biography of John G. Paton, Missionary to the Cannibals. And that's a great book if you don't want to read the big one, this one's a lot skinnier. It's an excellent volume. I know Paul. There's something about missionaries on the field, of which Paul Schlehlein is one, who write about previous missionaries. And I think he gets so many things right. He presses into language, why and how John Paton and his children saw language as so important.
Another one, just in the Paton universe so to speak, is the Margaret Paton book. It's called Letters from the South Seas. It's basically all of her correspondence. It's a really good one. My wife hands that out a lot. It reminds us a lot of when we were in Yembi Yembi and just some of the things that happened there. There's some real similarities between Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. So anyways, Margaret Paton, Letters from the South Seas.
Close to Judson, back to Judson a little bit, is The Three Mrs. Judsons by Cecil Hartley. This is a remarkable book and I would recommend it to every young Christian lady. If I could get unbelievers to read it as well, I'd have them read it. But these women were extraordinary. One of them, if they had the Rhodes Scholar award, she would have likely been awarded it. His third wife, Emily Sarah, was a linguist. She was incredible in the way that she translated so many resources. And Ann–– there is no Adoniram Judson without Ann Judson. She keeps him alive, and the Lord providentially has her pass away right after Adoniram comes out of prison.
William Carey by Daniel Webber. I think it's going to be the thinnest of all the volumes, but it is such a remarkable in-depth look at William Carey's upbringing and then how he wrote that incredible document— the Enquiry into the means for Christians to evangelize the heathen. That document has changed the world. We are heirs of William Carey. And so how did that guy who had so little education come up with such an astounding book? Daniel Webber gets into that.
A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot. Again, I will come back to missionaries that have been on the mission field, are on the mission field — they tend to write really good biographies. And so this is her biography of Amy Carmichael. It's just an incredible book, A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot.
Beauty for Ashes— again about Amy Carmichael, that legendary missionary to India who saved so many kids from temple prostitution. That's by Iain Murray. So that's number eight.
Five Pioneer Missionaries— that's a book by Banner of Truth. It's kind of like these five individuals. You're going to get into Paton, you're going to get into David Brainerd, you'll get into a handful of other guys that are really impactful. But that's a really well-written kind of overview biography.
David Livingstone by Vance Christie— that's a thicker volume. I remember when we were shooting the David Livingstone episode and how useful that volume, that biography was. Vance Christie just does remarkable research. And so if you want to know about the history of Christianity, in particular what David Livingstone was thinking as he was front and center in the abolitionist movement, how that tied to how he saw missions— it's a really good volume, very helpful.
Book number eleven would be The Diary of David Brainerd. I would be remiss if I didn't bring up this volume. This was the well from which so many missionaries — Judson, Carey, Paton, Hudson Taylor— drank from David Brainerd. David Brainerd's diaries were put together by Jonathan Edwards. And Edwards had the foresight to understand what this young man lived. And he died very young. How he died and how he thought of his God was so transformative. He was a missionary to the American Indians in the early days of the country of the United States. But that diary is remarkable.
And then the final one, which is lesser known, is God's Polished Arrow. It's the story of William Chalmers Burns by Michael McMullen. Chalmers Burns should be known more. He goes to China, he learns Chinese, he becomes friends with Hudson Taylor, and he is one of the most remarkable preachers in his homeland in Scotland and in China. He's just an incredible individual that the Lord uses his life mightily among the Chinese, and so few people know about him. So God's Polished Arrow, William Chalmers Burns by Michael McMullen.
I hope you find these helpful, Levi. I'm just elated that you're contemplating reading good missionary biographies. They will change your life. So I hope you enjoy them and I hope they impact you greatly.
Bryan: To brush up on missionary biographies, visit missionary.com/biographies where you'll find short introductions to the lives of some of the most influential missionaries in the history of the church. If you have a question you would like to hear answered on Ask Missionary, drop a comment on this episode, get in touch with us on social media, or send us an email through missionary.com and your question may be featured on this show. And don't forget to subscribe to the show to get notified when the next episode airs next week. Thanks for listening.