Articles and Books about Mission Agencies
Articles
Do I Really Need to Join a Mission Organisation? (Syzygy Mission Network). Considerations on a question many are asking.
How Do I Choose the Right Mission Organization? (Syzygy Mission Network). Top tips on finding the right organization, a choice crucial to the fruitfulness of your ministry.
Choosing the Right Mission Agency: Five Things to Consider (BAM360.org). Key areas to explore in finding a fit for yourself.
Going It Alone (Syzygy Mission Network). Advice for those who are going without significant support from a sending agency.
Is This the Team for Me? by Ellen Livingood (Catalyst Services). Prospective missionaries often invest considerable time and effort in choosing the right mission agency. But joining the right team may be even more important.
Choosing Sending Partners: Agency Services, by Ellen Livingood (Catalyst Services). What services should an agency provide? Article describes ten areas where agencies should provide added value.
Books – Finding a Fit
North American Mission Handbook (William Carey Library). Lists more than 900 Protestant mission agencies based in the U.S. and Canada and includes analysis of trends in U.S. and Canadian based ministries serving overseas.
The Church Is Bigger Than You Think: The Unfinished Work of World Evangelism, by Patrick Johnstone. Provides an overarching analysis of the diversity of the Church in the world today, and a call to continue its mission. Several chapters relate to selecting a mission agency.
Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation, edited by Jason Mandryk (IVP Books). Data about every nation of the world: geography, population, ethnicities, languages economics, politics, religion, status of evangelization, prayer needs, and more.
Western Christians in Global Mission: What’s the Role of the North American Church? by Paul Borthwick (IVP Books). Discover how Western churches and agencies can contribute to a new era of mission marked by mutuality, reciprocity, and humility.
Books – About Specific Agencies
You can get a feel for the “DNA” of a mission agency by reading books about their ministry or the life of the ministry’s founder. A few good examples:
Is That Really You, God? Hearing the Voice of God, by Loren Cunningham (YWAM Publishing). Follows the life of Loren Cunningham from his youth through the pioneering and establishment of Youth With A Mission, one of the world’s largest mission organizations.
Planting Churches in Muslim Cities: A Team Approach, by Gregory Livingstone (Baker Academic). Livingstone, founder of Frontiers, provides a biblically and culturally appropriate blueprint for church planting in Muslim cities anywhere in the world. Based on the experiences of one hundred missionaries.
Spiritual Revolution: The Story of Operation Mobilization, by Ian Randall (Authentic). Tells the story of 50 years of OM, beginning with an account of George Verwer’s conversion and OM’s early outreach in Mexico, to becoming a movement with more than 4,000 workers serving in over 100 countries.
When God Comes Calling, by Ted Fletcher (BottomLine Media). Drawing on Ted’s experience as a Marine and as a corporate executive, Ted and Peggy Fletcher, founders of Pioneers, stepped out in faith to send others to places in the world where missionaries were not welcome.
For additional mission resources including blogs, podcasts, events, courses and videos that relate to this topic see our complete mission resources page.
