Mission Quotes

The best remedy for a sick church is to put it on a missionary diet. — David Livingston

Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us. — Keith Wright

If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him. — C.T. Studd

If I had 1,000 lives, I’d give them all for China. — Hudson Taylor

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose — Jim Elliot

We have our marching orders, and because our Commander-in-Chief is not absent, but with us, the impossible becomes not only practical but imperative. — A. Wesley

The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed — Hudson Taylor

In the vast plain to the north I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been — Robert Moffat

God isn’t looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him — Hudson Taylor

No reserves. No retreats. No regrets — William Borden

If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big; they are too small. — P. Morley

Brother, if you would enter that Province, you must go forward on your knees. — Hudson Taylor

World missions was on God’s mind from the beginning. — Dave Davidson

The reason some folks don’t believe in missions is that the brand of religion they have isn’t worth propagating. — unknown

Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible. — C.T. Studd

Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell. — C.T. Studd

If God calls you to be a missionary, don’t stoop to be a king — J. Grooms

The will of God is always bigger than we bargained for. — Jim Elliot

Only as the church fulfills her missionary obligation does she justify her existence. — Unknown

Pessimism in missions has kept men home, left money in wallets, and stranded souls. Choose Optimism. – John O’Malley

If you take missions out of the Bible, you won’t have anything left but the covers — N. Gunter

Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist. — Oswald J. Smith

The will of God — nothing less, nothing more, nothing else. — F. E. Marsh (also attributed to Bobby Richardson)

The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity. — Mike Stachura

Not, how much of my money will I give to God, but how much of God’s money will I keep for myself.  —  John Wesley

Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love — Roland Allen

Go ye is as much a part of Christ’s Gospel as ‘Come unto Me.’ You are not even a Christian until you have honestly faced your responsibility in regard to the carrying of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. — J. Stuart Holden

We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God. — John Stott

The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ. — Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf

I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth. It is not God who does not call. It is man who will not respond! — Isobel Kuhn

God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply — Hudson Taylor

People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives … and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted. — Nate Saint

Would that God would make hell so real to us that we cannot rest; heaven so real that we must have men there, Christ so real that our supreme motive and aim shall be to make the Man of Sorrows the Man of Joy by the conversion to him of many. — Hudson Taylor

I must learn before I leave England to move men through God by prayer alone. — Hudson Taylor

It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China. With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home. — Hudson Taylor

No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once. — Oswald J. Smith

When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back, saying, “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages.” To that, Calvert replied, “We died before we came here.”

Believers who have the Gospel keep mumbling it over and over to themselves. Meanwhile, millions who have never heard it once fall into the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story. — K.P. Yohannan

The command has been to ‘go,’ but we have stayed in body, gifts, prayer and influence. He has asked us to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth…but 99% of Christians have kept puttering around in the homeland. — R. Savage

You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving. — Amy Carmichael, missionary to India

Missions is not the ‘ministry of choice’ for a few hyperactive Christians in the church. Missions is the purpose of the church. — Unknown

I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light  —  John Keith Falconer

This passion to call that country their home which was most in need of the Gospel.  In this passion, all other passions died; before this vision, all other passions faded; this call drowned all other voices.  –Samuel Zwemer

The Christian is not obedient unless he is doing all in his power to send the Gospel to the heathen world. — A. B. Simpson

If missions languish, it is because the whole life of godliness is feeble. The command to go everywhere and preach to everybody is not obeyed until the will is lost by self-surrender in the will of God. —A. T. Pierson

The church that does not evangelize will fossilize.  —  Oswald J. Smith

You can’t take it [money] with you but you can send it on ahead.  —  Oswald J. Smith

Covet usefulness.  Make your plans big, because God is your partner! — D.L. Moody

The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become. — Henry Martyn

Prayer is the mighty engine that is to move the missionary work. — A.B. Simpson

If God wills the evangelization of the world, and you refuse to support missions, then you are opposed to the will of God. — Oswald Smith

It is possible for the most obscure person in a church, with a heart right toward God, to exercise as much power for the evangelization of the world, as it is for those who stand in the most prominent positions. — John R. Mott

I am more proud that the blood of martyrs is in my veins, and their truths in my heart, than other men can be of noble pedigree or royal names. — John Patton

I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help Him. I ended up by asking Him to do His work through me.  — J. Hudson Taylor

People who don’t believe in missions have not read the New Testament. Right from the beginning Jesus said the field is the world. The early church took Him at His word and went East, West, North and South. — J. Howard Edington

If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them.  I want men who will come it there is no road at all. —  David Livingstone

I cared not where or how I lived, or what hardships I went through, so that I could gain souls for Christ. While I was asleep, I dreamed of these things, and when I awoke, the first thing I thought of was this great work. David Brainerd

You have one business on Earth – to save souls. — John Wesley

The concern for world evangelization is not something tacked on to a man’s personal Christianity, which he may take or leave as he chooses. It is rooted in the character of the God who has come to us in Christ Jesus. Thus, it can never be the province of a few enthusiasts, a sideline or a specialty of those who happen to have a bent that way. It is the distinctive mark of being a Christian. — James S. Stewart

Prayer is the greatest power God has put into our hands for service — praying is harder than doing, at least I find it so, but the dynamic lies that way to advance the Kingdom. – Mary Slessor

If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice? — David Livingstone

If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for. — Charles Spurgeon

Love is the root of missions; sacrifice is the fruit of missions — Roderick Davis

We did not come to China because missionary work here was either safe or easy, but because He has called us. We did not enter upon our present positions under a guarantee of human protection, but relying on the promise of His presence. — Hudson Taylor

Shall I tell you what supported me through all those years of exile among a people whose language I could not understand and whose attitude towards me we always uncertain and often hostile? It was this: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” — David Livingstone

The accidents of ease or difficulty, of apparent safety or danger, of man’s approval or disapproval, in no wise affect our duty. — Hudson Taylor

If you found a cure for cancer, wouldn’t it be inconceivable to hide it from the rest of mankind? How much more inconceivable to keep silent the cure from the eternal wages of death? — Dave Davidson

Men of an amiable, yielding temper, willing to take the lowest place; to be least of all; and the servants to all…who live near God, and who are willing to suffer all things for Christ’s sake without being proud of it – these are the men we need. -Ann Judson

Christians at home can do as much for foreign missions as those actually on  the field.  It will only be known on the Last Day how much has been accomplished in missionary work by the prayers of earnest believers at home.  J.O. Fraser

In our lifetime, wouldn’t it be sad if we spent more time washing dishes or swatting flies or mowing the yard or watching television than praying for world missions? — D. Davidson

We talk of the second coming; half the world has never heard of the first.  David Livingstone

If you do not do your God-assigned task, throughout eternity there will be a job that has never been done.  — Dr. Bob Jones Sr.

Let me be as the bullock which stands between the plough and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be, “Ready for either.” — Charles Spurgeon

When God calls to a ministry, all of the power and authority of God the Creator stands behind that call. — Gene Gurganus

Not called!” did you say? “‘Not heard the call,” I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible and hear Him bid you go a pull sinners out of the fire of sin. — William Booth

It’s not a matter of world missions or home missions but submission to His will. — Dr. David Cummins

There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things. — D.L. Moody

Our Lord was 30 years preparing for 3 years of service. The modern stamp is to spend 3 hours preparing for 30 years of service. — Oswald Chambers

Never pity missionaries; envy them. They are where the real action is — where life and death, sin and grace, Heaven and Hell converge. — Robert C. Shannon

“We often get so busy working that we forget to worship the one for whom we are working.

— Tom Farrell”

Should circumstances arise involving us in what may seem special danger, we shall have grace, I trust, to manifest the depth and reality of our confidence in Him, and by faithfulness to our charge to prove that we are followers of the Good Shepherd who did not flee from death itself. — Hudson Taylor

I never made a sacrifice. We ought not to talk of ‘sacrifice’ when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father’s throne on high to give Himself up for us. — David Livingstone

We need to stop talking about souls and start talking to souls. —Morris Gleiser

To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map. — William Carey,

You can only do two things with your life: give it away or throw it away. — Ron White

Sympathy is no substitute for action. — David Livingstone

Don’t ask God to guide your footsteps if you’re not willing to move your feet. — Unknown

God is God when the dollar is strong, and He is God when the dollar is weak. We don’t go to the mission field because the dollar is strong. — P Schwanke

To stay here and disobey God — I can’t afford to take the consequence. I would rather go and obey God than to stay here and know that I disobeyed. — A. Smith

The call of God to piece of work is the guarantee that He will be the resource of all the power, provision, and personnel that it will require. — G Gurganus

What are you willing for God to do with your life? — Ernest Childs

Is not the commission of our Lord still binding upon us? Can we not do more than now we are doing? — William Carey

Look well to the fire of your souls, for the tendency of fire is to go out. — William Booth

Don’t ask God to give you a light burden. Ask Him to give you strong shoulders to carry a heavy burden. — Dr. Bob Jones Sr.

A Christian minister is a person who in a peculiar sense is not his own; he is the servant of God, and therefore ought to be wholly devoted to Him. — William Carey

A man is a fool who leans on the arm of flesh when he can be supported by the arm of omnipotence. — Dr. Bob Jones Sr.

We have a God who delights in impossibilities and who asks, “Is anything too hard for me?” — Andrew Murray

But he is unworthy the name of a minister of the gospel of peace, who is unwilling, not only to have his name cast out as evil, but also to die for the truths of the Lord Jesus. — George Whitefield

I will do as much as I can, says one. Any fool can do that. He that believes in Christ does what he cannot do, attempts the impossible, and performs it. — Charles Spurgeon

In religion, men seek God; in Christianity, Christ seeks men. — Gene Gurganus

I resolved never to stop until I had come to the goal and achieved my purpose. — Motto of David Livingston

I read nowhere in the Bible “Well done, talented servant.” — Paul Crow

The light that shines farthest shines brightest at home.  —  C.T. Studd

When God places a burden upon you, He places His arms underneath you. — Charles Spurgeon

One breath after death you’ll wish you had given Him more. — Unknown

When he landed in 1848 there were no Christians here; when he left in 1872 there were no heathen. — Said of John Geddie

God had only one Son, and He made Him a missionary. — Unknown

Had I cared for the comments of people, I should never have been a missionary. — CT Studd

Do not think me mad. It is not to make money that I believe a Christian should live. The noblest thing a man can do is, just humbly to receive, and then go amongst others and give. — David Livingstone

All my friends are but One, but He is all sufficient. — William Carey

Prayer needs no passport, visa, or work permit. There is no such thing as a closed country as far as prayer is concerned. — Unknown

The more obstacles you have, the more opportunities there are for God to do something. – Clarence Jones

It is the whole business of the whole local church to preach the whole Gospel to the whole world. — Charles Spurgeon

The man…looking at him with a smile that only half concealed his contempt, inquired, “Now Mr. Morrison do you really expect that you will make an impression on the idolatry of the Chinese Empire?” “No sir,” said Morrison, “But I expect that God will.” — Robert Morrison

We should not ask “What is wrong with the world?” for that diagnosis has already been given. Rather, we should ask, “What has happened to the salt and light?” — John Stott

Even if I should never see a native converted, God may design by my patience and continuance in the Word to encourage future missionaries. — Henry Martyn

Our eyes must be on the entire world, but never off the individual. — Unknown

Oh, that I had a thousand lives, and a thousand bodies! All of them should be devoted to no other employment but to preach Christ to these degraded,  despised, yet beloved mortals. — Robert Moffat

The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue. It needs no furlough and is never considered a foreigner. — William Townsend

It’s amazing what can be accomplished if you don’t worry about who gets the credit. — Clarence Jones

I will lay my bones by the Ganges [River] that India might know there is one who cares. — Alexander Duff

I wasn’t God’s first choice for what I’ve done for China. I don’t know who it was. It must have been a man, a well-educated man. I don’t know what  happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn’t willing, and God looked down and saw Gladys Aylward. And God said, “Well, she’s willing. — Gladys Aylward

Much of the history of missions could be written in terms of God moving in response to persistent prayer. — Unknown

You will see from what I am saying that I am not asking you just to give ‘help’ in prayer as a sort of sideline, but I am trying to roll the main responsibility of this prayer warfare on you.  I want you to take the burden of these people upon your shoulders.  I want you to wrestle with God for them.” James Fraser

The good news is only good news if it arrives in time. — Unknown

World missions is not an elective for the local church, it is a required course. — Anonymous

I tell you, brethren, if mercies and if judgments do not convert you, God has no other arrows in His quiver. — Robert Murray M’Cheyne

If you are sick, fast and pray; if the language is hard to learn, fast and pray; if the people will not hear you, fast and  pray, if you have nothing to eat, fast and pray. — Frederick Franson

Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God — William Carey

God is a God of missions. He wills missions. He commands missions. He demands missions. He made missions possible through His Son. He made missions actual in sending the Holy Spirit. — George W. Peters

Essentially, the church has many responsibilities but only one mission, and that is the evangelization and discipling of all nations. — David Bacon

If miracles are not required to maintain our work for Christ, we are not doing enough. — Unknown

God’s part is to put forth power; our part is to put forth faith. — Andrew Bonar

As long as there are millions destitute of the Word of God and knowledge of Jesus Christ, it will be impossible for me to devote time and energy to those who have both. — J. L. Ewen

You can never truly enjoy Christmas until you can look up into the Father’s face and tell Him you have received His Christmas gift. — John R. Rice

Christmas began in the heart of God.  It is complete only when it reaches the heart of man.

Why wait for a call when you have a command? — Bob Hughes

When God’s finger points, God’s hand will open the door. — Clarence Jones

Far away is only far away if you don’t go there. — Unknown

Living, praying, giving and going will always be found together. — A. Pierson

The unoccupied fields of the world must have their Calvary before they have their Pentecost. – Samuel Zwemer

At the moment I put the bread and wine into those dark hands, once stained with the blood of cannibalism, now stretched out to receive and partake the emblems and seals of the Redeemer’s love, I had a foretaste of the joy of glory that well nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall never taste a deeper bliss, till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus himself. — John Paton

I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone. — Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf

I used to think that prayer should have the first place and teaching the second. I now feel it would be truer to give prayer  the first, second and third places and teaching the fourth. — James Fraser

If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated suffering. — Adoniram Judson

Our only concern should be to keep the fight [for souls] aggressive and to win victory regardless of cost or sacrifice. – Samuel Zwemer

The greatest gift you will ever receive will never be found under a Christmas tree. It is far too valuable to be stored in any other place but in the depths of your heart.

The mission of the church is missions — Unknown

When I get to China, I will have no claim on any one for anything. My claim will be alone in God. — Hudson Taylor

While vast continents are shrouded in darkness…the burden of proof lies upon you to show that the circumstances in which God has placed you were meant by God to keep you out of the foreign mission field. — Ion Keith-Falconer

In missions, a love, statistics, and emotions are not sufficient. It takes a confirmed call from the Word of God to sustain a ministry.

God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus. -Jim Elliot

I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize the Lord is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult, His grace is sufficient. —Hudson Taylor

It is bad enough to be lost, but to be lost and no one is looking for you is tragic. —Evangelist John Mitchell

Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there. — Spurgeon

I know He tries me only to increase my faith and that is all in love. Well, if He is glorified, I am content. —Hudson Taylor

Some of the greatest sermons you can ever preach are the ones in which you never utter a word.

I would never have thought of going out to China had I not believed that the Chinese were lost and needed Christ! — Hudson Taylor

2 Replies to “Mission Quotes”

  1. Thank you so much for sharing! I love to collect quotes, and you have some great quotes here that I didn’t have.

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