The Mind of a Missionary

What Global Kingdom Workers Tell Us About Thriving on Mission Today

By: David Joannes

Narrated by: Geoffrey Breedwell

Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

You are an integral part of God's global plan. He created you for greatness; He designed you to display the glories of His Kingdom on the earth.

In The Mind of a Missionary, David Joannes challenges you to find your role in God's glorious Kingdom narrative. He draws upon history, psychology, life experience, and powerful storytelling to reshape your perception of God's unique plan for your life.

You will learn about the motivations, expectations, risks, and rewards in the missionary venture. In each chapter, a missionary "guide" shows you how to thrive on mission today. The lives of Jim & Elisabeth Elliot, C. T. Studd, Nikolaus Zinzendorf, Robert Moffat, Jackie Pullinger, David Eubank, Nik & Ruth Ripken, William Carey, Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, Don Richardson, and Heidi Baker merge with modern-day global Kingdom workers serving around the world.

In The Mind of a Missionary, you will learn about the

• Intrinsic and external motivations of cross-cultural missionaries
• Cultural and social expectations of the missions call
• Numerous complex risks that a missionary faces
• Glorious rewards that come from missional service

You will find out how to:

• Thrive on mission with altruistic motivations
• Overcome the obstacles that seek to defeat you
• Dare the impossible to advance the Kingdom of God
• Maximize your role in the Great Commission

God thinks highly of you, esteems your uniqueness, and values your individuality. The Mind of a Missionary will inspire you to thrive in your Heavenly calling and transform the world with a missionary mindset.

©2018 David Joannes (P)2022 David Joannes

Critic reviews

"The Mind of a Missionary is filled with the truth and grace of the Great Commission command. Joannes reminds us that the rolled-away stone—the power of the resurrection—can become all peoples' eternal possession and reality." (Nik Ripken, author of The Insanity of God & The Insanity of Obedience)

"It's been said that when it comes to missions, followers of Christ have three options: Go, send or disobey. If you are a goer, read this book. If you are a sender, read this book. If you are disobedient, read this book. I believe The Mind of a Missionary by David Joannes will help you find your place in the greatest movement in history." (Matthew Ellison, president of Sixteen:Fifteen and co-author of When Everything Is Missions)

"In The Mind of a Missionary, David Joannes takes us on a virtual adventure spanning centuries and continents with his latest book. His story-telling is a feast of verbal delights as he transports you into the minds and hearts of some of the most profound risk-takers for the sake of spreading the Gospel message!" (Ron Luce, founder of Teen Mania Ministries & Jesus Global Youth Day)

Mind Set

As my wife and I head to the field this book has gotten me ready to serve the people we are going too.

I am reminded that my focus is first my relationship with Jesus, the Father in Heaven, and Holy Spirit. So when things get hard I can know I am loved and the people I am reaching are loved too.

I recommend this book to all followers of Jesus.

Great Book, Terrible Narration

This is one that's worth reading, for sure. Joannes does an excellent job stripping romantic ideas away from the prospect of missionary work while still supporting the biblical call. The stories he tells are both inspiring and heart-wrenching, and the way he ties it all together with biblical principles and emotional health is very well articulated. Anyone thinking of becoming actively engaged in mission work should read this book...twice.

That said, I can't recommend the audio book. The narration is just awful. Many quotes (and there are many!) are laid in like old radio broadcasts, and they are so hard to understand at times that the message is lost due to its incoherence. Oddly, many of the quotes include tags that say "he writes/wrote," suggesting that the canned, tinny audio clips are merely performances. Ultimately, they are a distraction, making the substance of the quotes hard to even hear or appreciate. Get the book. Skip the audio. That's my recommendation.

Distracting narration didn’t do the stories justice.

The narration ruined the stories. The narrator’s intonation was completely off. It was casual and off the cuff and did not at all reflect the intensity and seriousness that the material warrants. There should be a reverence and sobriety when telling a story of these heroes of the faith, and instead the reading was curt and arrogant. The voice impersonations didn’t make me inspired at all and were a poor representation of the individual being quoted. Great book, but I am switching to kindle.

Was pleasantly surprised

I expected the book to be good, because I had already read the chapter summaries, which is a brilliant addition to the book. But it was the animation and the extras and the performance and presentation was very impressed. I’ve given away over 20 copies of this book. Worthy.

Makes You Think

Too many of we Christian’s are more concerned about our daily, personal lives than for others. We in the western world are self-focused individuals. It’s time we face the call of Christ not to only tell our friends and neighbors of Jesus, but to go farther and become mission minded and other peoples and cultures. This book helps us focus outside ourselves as Jesus taught.

Inspired

A great book to learn about the struggles and the wonder hard work they do.