You’ll notice that 8 of the 12 best books on missions are biographies. Books only on missions theory are like a one-wheel bike. They only inform. Good missionary biographies are like a two-wheel bike. They inform and inspire.
1. Father of Faith Missions: The Life and Times of Anthony Norris Groves (Robert Dann, Autentic Media, 2004, 606 pp)
This book inspires as a good biography should. It also teaches like good missiology should. It touches on parenting, child rearing, support raising, Muslim apologetics, friendship, team ministry, church planting, language learning and much more. The book is out of print and difficult to find, but not impossible. Sometimes you must sell all you have to obtain a great treasure.
2. William Carey (S. Pearce Carey, Wakeman Trust, 2008, 437 pp)
William Carey may be the greatest missionary since the Apostle Paul. Ironically, he wasn’t a church planter. He didn’t even arrive on the field until his early 30’s. I’ve read this volume from cover to cover twice. His teammates were just as great of missionaries as he was.
3. Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies, and Methods (Eckhard Schnabel, IVP, 2010, 519 pages)
This is my go-to book for a biblical perspective on missions. Schnabel argues for the right missionary methods by ransacking the relevant New Testament texts. Churches should used this volume when crafting their missions philosophy. I wrote a review of it here and a summary here.
4. John G. Paton Autobiography (Banner of Truth, 2013, 538 pages)
This could be the most thrilling, fast-paced and adventurous book on missions ever written. Paton was a missionary to the cannibals of the South Seas in the 19th century. He lost his wife, child and many friends, but he never quit. It is a missionary classic. I wrote a review of it here.
5. Hudson Taylor, Two Volume (Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, OMF, 1996)
If you want a shorter version than the two volume, read Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret. But the two volumes of Growth of a Soul and Growth of the Work of God are far superior. I’m shocked at how cheap both hardback volumes are. A missionary to Ghana and close friend gifted this biography to me in my early twenties. The Lord used it to strengthen my calling to missions. Continue reading
Every Christian interested in missions should read William Carey’s An Enquiry. The word “enquiry” means investigation. In this book, Carey examines missions in a way never done before. The full name of the book is An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. 
I’d much rather eat a cheesecake baked by a great cook than a Black Forest gateau baked by PhD-holder in cuisine. And I’d much rather read a missions book by a missionary than a missions book by a missiologist. Missiologists are often armchair missionaries. They write from a comfortable desk in their homeland.
Summary: a satirical novel mocking the worst of evangelicalism to show all things rest beneath Christ’s feet
Summary: forty-eight brief chapters of warning and encouragement for new pastors
Summary
Summary: Malachi 2:10-16 teaches conclusively that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman.
Summary: Twenty-four biographical sketches of Calvin’s closest friendships
Summary: an autobiography of Benny Hinn’s nephew and how he finally left the prosperity gospel and found Christ.
Summary: a simplified and abridged theology covering the major themes of systematics and applied to African life today
Summary: poetic journal entries of known and unknown missionaries and their stories
Summary: Because all education is religious and incapable of being morally neutral, classical Christian education is the solution.
Summary: it’s not enough to protect your time. You must protect your focus.
Summary: a list and explanation of fifty-two key passages every Christian should memorize
Summary: a lucid, concise and superbly researched historical account of the prosperity gospel—the best in print.
Summary: an interactive storyline designed to help the reader identify and clarify their worldview and its implications.
Jane Austin wrote that surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable.
As the car of American culture hurls off the cliff of biblical morality, it’s good to know there are still faithful men that can see through the fog of today’s sexual revolution.
What happened to the prayer meeting? First we changed the name to “mid-week service.” Now it’s gone altogether.
This is a book about the darkness of the human heart. And while the book explores the depravity of specific social evils like colonialism and the African slave trade, this is really a work about man’s soul—the heart of darkness.
The Bible is without error, transmitted perfectly with the exact message God gave to mankind.
As one author put it: the Prosperity Gospel is Christianity’s version of professional wrestling–you know it’s fake but it nonetheless has entertainment value.
This is the story of an island of cannibals, their journey out of darkness, and the man who led them to the light.
What is the most unforgivable notion in today’s world? Slavery is good.
Between Two Cultures 