The Greatest Missionary Generation

In The Greatest Missionary Generation: Inspiring Stories from around the World, Larry Sharp establishes the characteristics, challenges, successes, and uniqueness of an incredible generation of missionaries. It is of no small significance that the missionaries of the second half of the twentieth century prepared the way for God’s people of the twenty-first century. Post-World War II purveyors of the gospel had incredible opportunities and open doors, and they used them for the glory of God. Through the retelling of personal stories of the missionaries in New Guinea, Brazil, Mexico, and more, lesser known details of missionary activity in the 1950s and 1960s are revealed, including the courage, personal calling, sacrifice, and excellence of these brave Christians. Their incredible journeys prove that their legacy is worth celebrating and remembering. It is of utmost importance for future generations to understand and appreciate the previous generation’s struggles and triumphs. The Greatest Missionary Generation will mobilize hearts to love and serve the Lord. Key points and features: • An in-depth look into the lives and work of missionaries who served in the decades after World War II • Includes photos

Most everything in the world has changed since the age of the “Greatest Missionary Generation,” which was an outpouring of missionaries following World War II that lasted until around 1985. Today, however, missionaries are no longer welcomed in most of the world, and Christian terms like evangelism, church planting, conversion, and missions are considered pejorative outside of the Western world. All this demands a reexamination of the theology of Missio Dei for today’s world and a theory for change that can be validated with credible research. Author and former missionary Larry Sharp believes that the era of “professional missions” as we’ve known it is coming to an end. But since God still seeks to redeem his world, the future lies now with “missional professionals,” with a new set of rules for how the gospel of Jesus Christ can be proclaimed. Near the end of his life, Billy Graham said, “The great work of God in the 21st century will be through everyday believers living out their faith in the workplace.” Since the first century AD, there have been historical events—such the persecution of the early church, the Edict of Milan, and the Protestant Reformation—where major disruption resulted in the radical advance of the gospel. We are on the cusp of another disruptive innovation. Through real-life narratives of international workplace professionals who have successfully integrated their faith with their work, Missions Disrupted describes how this new work of missions looks today. These inspiring stories come from the world of agriculture, manufacturing, medicine, information technology, education, engineering, music, and retail. It is up to the next generations to continue to share the Good News with the world, wherever and however that may be.

Religious colleges and universities in America are growing at a breakneck pace. In this startling new book, journalist Naomi Schaefer Riley explores these schools-interviewing administrators, professors, and students-to produce the first popular, accessible, and comprehensive investigation of this phenomenon. Call them the Missionary Generation. By the tens and hundreds of thousands, some of America's brightest and most dedicated teenagers are opting for a different kind of college education. It promises all the rigor of traditional liberal arts schools, but mixed with religious instruction from the Good Book and a mandate from above. Far removed from the medieval cloisters outsiders imagine, schools like Wheaton, Thomas Aquinas, and Brigham Young are churning out a new generation of smart, worldly, and ethical young professionals whose influence in business, medicine, law, journalism, academia, and government is only beginning to be felt. In God On The Quad, Riley takes readers to the halls of Brigham Young, where surprisingly with-it young Mormons compete in a raucous marriage market and prepare for careers in public service. To the infamous Bob Jones, post interracial dating ban, where zealous Christian fundamentalists are studying fine art and great literature to help them assimilate into the nation's cultural centers. To Thomas Aquinas College, where graduates homeschool large families and hope to return the American Catholic Church to its former glory. To Yeshiva, Wheaton, Notre Dame, and more than a dozen other schools, big and small, rich and poor, new and old, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Mormon, and even Buddhist, all training grounds for the new Missionary Generation. With a critical yet sympathetic eye, Riley, a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, the New York Times, the Weekly Standard, and the Chronicle of Higher Education, studies these campuses and the debates that shape them. In a post-9/11 world where the division between secular and religious has never been sharper, what distinguishes these colleges from their secular counterparts? What does the missionary generation think about political activism, feminism, academic freedom, dating, race relations, homosexuality, and religious tolerance-and what effect will these young men and women have on the United States and the world?

They Served God to the Ends of the EarthIn his fifth God’s Generals volume, Roberts Liardon chronicles some of the great evangelists who risked their lives to take the gospel message to strange and unknown cultures around the world, including… Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf—the Austrian nobleman whose passion for Christ ushered in the Moravian revival of the 1700s. David Brainerd—the young American colonist who sacrificially reached out to Native Americans. William Carey—the British shoemaker and Bible translator whose passion to reach India birthed a missionary revolution. David Livingstone—the explorer who crossed the “unknown continent” and opened the heart of Africa to the gospel. Adoniram Judson—the “Father of American Missions,” who endured tragedy to reach the people of Burma. Hudson Taylor—the first missionary to use the phrase “Great Commission,” who pioneered the China Inland Mission, transforming millions of lives along the way. Hiram Bingham—the first Protestant missionary, who spent twenty years serving Christ in what is now Hawaii. Amy Carmichael—the selfless Irish missionary who dedicated her life to the forsaken children of India. Jonathan Goforth—the passionate Canadian revivalist who brought salvation and healing to hundreds of thousands of Chinese people. The sacrifice and courage of these spiritual pioneers are sure to stoke the fires of your faith and revive within your heart a spirit of evangelism and compassion for the lost.