The Modern Missionary Movement
Trace the story of Christianity's global expansion from William Carey to the Majority World church. Meet the pioneers, confront the failures, and discover how the gospel reached the ends of the earth — often in ways no one expected.
For most of Christian history, the Great Commission was treated as a job already completed. The apostles had preached to the nations; the nations had made their choice. Then, in the late eighteenth century, a cobbler in England looked at a map of the world and asked a question that changed everything: What about the people who have never heard?
This 10-day plan traces the modern missionary movement from its origins in the age of Carey and Edwards to the explosive growth of the Majority World church in the twenty-first century. It is a story of extraordinary courage, costly sacrifice, devastating failures, and astonishing surprises.
What to Expect
- Days 1–3 — The launch: the Great Commission rediscovered, William Carey, and the Haystack Prayer Meeting
- Days 4–5 — The pioneers: Hudson Taylor in China and David Livingstone in Africa
- Days 6–7 — The gospel takes root: Africa's own voice, Korea, Latin America, and the Pacific
- Days 8–9 — The reckoning: colonialism, paternalism, and the rise of the Majority World church
- Day 10 — The promise: Revelation 7 and the unfinished task
A Note on Honesty
This plan does not romanticize the missionary movement. Missionaries carried the gospel — and they often carried cultural arrogance, colonial ambition, and racial prejudice along with it. Both realities must be acknowledged. The good news is that the gospel proved more powerful than the flaws of its messengers. The faith that was planted in foreign soil took root, grew, and often surpassed what the planters had imagined.
Each day includes historical narrative, two Scripture passages, quotes from missionaries and scholars, and discussion questions designed for honest reflection and group conversation.