Great For God

 "Great for God", by David Shibley shares short biographies of 23 missionaries who faithfully served on the mission field, both abroad and through media. The individual stories demonstrate the way an individual can make a profound impact on the lives of others when they make themselves available to God's service. Many had spouses and children working along side them, but others chose to step out alone. Some are names that are well-known through-out the Christian community, and others are unfamiliar...but their ministries have reached the world for Christ.

This is a fairly short (144 pages), and easily read book and would be perfect for anyone wanting to do a brief study on missionaries. Included are the names of the missionaries, date and places of their births and deaths, country/place of service, their legacy, a quote by them, a Scripture that illustrates their ministry or viewpoint, and ends with a short bio of their life and ministry.

I hate to highlight just a few of of the ones who stood out to me (but you need to get a copy of this book anyway.), but I did want to make special mention of the following quotes:
1. William Carey ~ "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God."
2. Jim Elliot ~ "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
3. Lottie Moon ~ "How many there are . . . who imagine that because Jesus paid it all, they need pay nothing, forgetting that the prime objective of their salvation was that they should follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ in bringing back a lost world to God."
4. Dawson Trotman ~ "We’ve got the truth to dispel this darkness. We’ve got to get it out, out, out."
5. Bob Pierce ~ "Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God."


Personally, I have to admit that Bob Pierce is a particular favorite inspiration of mine, but he was behind the roots of 2 areas near and dear to me: World Vision, and Samaritan's Purse. He was also a pioneer in making Christian films.

While this was not one of the missionary's quotes, one from the book that really stood out to me is, “The object of reading biography…is not imitation but inspiration.” - Phillips Brooks. The people I read about in this book are an inspiration, and even more importantly, the God whom they devoted their lives to is the One I want to imitate.  "Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with Him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of Himself to us. Love like that." ~ Ephesians 5:1-2 (The Message)

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 New Leaf Publishing  graciously provide me with a download of this book, and I do want to thank them for that. I was not required to give a positive review.