10 Impactful Missionaries Every Christian Should Know (Part 1)

Last year, I had the privilege of reading Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot, where she shares how her husband, Jim, and four other missionaries, gave their lives for the gospel. Since learning about their story, I developed a growing interest in missionaries. So to discover more faithful servants of our Lord, I compiled a list of 10 (13 really) impactful missionaries all Christians should know.

Learning about these faithful men and women greatly encouraged and inspired me, and I hope their lives will also bless you.

I meant to have it as one post, but it quickly became lengthy, so I split it into three parts.

1. David Brainerd (1718 – 1747)

David Brainerd was an American minister and a missionary to Native American tribes in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He became widely known when his journals were published, and everyone could see his exemplary life of obedience and sacrifice to Christ.

Brainerd was born on April 20th to a large Christian family in Haddam, Connecticut. Though he was pious in his youth, Brainerd didn’t become a believer until he turned nineteen. He saw the glory of God’s salvation by grace through faith and repented from his legalistic religion.

Shortly after his conversion, Brainerd entered Yale College to prepare for work in ministry. But in his third year, he was overheard saying one of his college tutors “had no more grace than a chair.” As a result, Brainerd got expelled from the college. He apologized for his negative remarks and tried multiple times to re-enroll at Yale but failed. And as Brainerd began rethinking his future, he strongly desired to become a missionary to the Indians.

He said, “Here I am, Lord, send me; send me to the ends of the earth; send me to the rough, the savage pagans of the wilderness; send me from all that is called comfort on earth; send me even to death itself, if it be but in thy service, and to promote thy kingdom.”

God granted Brainerd’s request, and he became a missionary. But he served for only four years. Brainerd had feeble health, and his body couldn’t keep up with the rigorous work of missionary life. Furthermore, Brainerd also suffered from depression, loneliness, being faithful to his calling, and loving the Indians.

Nevertheless, he persevered in his work and faith until he died from tuberculosis on October 9th, 1747. He was only 29 years old.

Jonathan Edwards wrote Brainerd’s biography titled “The Life of David Brainerd,” and it had a massive influence on the body of Christ. It inspired and encouraged many other missionaries, such as William Carey, Henry Martyn, Adoniram Judson, and Jim Elliot, to live for Christ.

Brainerd’s life continues to be an inspiration today because it bears witness to the power of God and how he can use frail fallen men to accomplish His purposes.

Learn more about David Brainerd with these books:

• The Diary and Journal of David Brainerd: Preface and Reflections by Jonathan Edwards
• Sweetly Set on God: The Piety of David Brainerd
• David Brainerd: A Love for the Lost (Trailblazers)

2. William Carey (1761-1834)

William Carey, also known as the “Father of Modern Missions,” was an English Baptist preacher who became the first missionary to India. He is also known for translating the entire Bible into Bengali.

Carey was born in England to Anglican parents Edmund and Elisabeth Carey. He began a shoe-making apprenticeship at fourteen and later became a shoemaker. When Carey was 17, one of his fellow apprentices taught him Scripture, and he believed.

After his conversion, Carey started studying the Bible seriously. Though he never received a formal education, He was exceptionally talented with languages. He taught himself Greek, Hebrew, Dutch and French while working as a cobbler. And by age 31, Carey could read the Bible in seven languages.

Carey quickly became known for his biblical knowledge. And in 1783, he was invited to preach every other Sunday at a Baptist church. He continued working as a cobbler to support his family until 1789 when he became a full-time pastor of another Baptist church. One day during a ministers’ meeting, Carey suggested the local church send their missionaries overseas. He had read David Brainerd’s biography and felt burdened to preach Christ to unreached nations.

But he was shut down by another minister who said, “Sit down, young man, sit down and be still. When God wants to convert the heathen, He will do it without consulting either you or me.”

Carey did not give up. Shortly after that meeting, he wrote and published “An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens.” In this treatise, Carey argued it was every Christian’s duty to carry out the Great Commission and he chastised those who neglected it. He became the first Baptist preacher to apply the Great Commission to all Christians, not just the twelve disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).

That same year, Carey preached to his congregation a sermon titled “Deathless Sermon” from Isaiah 54:2-3. And he famously said, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”

Unfortunately, the congregation was unmoved by his message. Incredibly disheartened, Carey went to his friend Andrew Fuller. Together with a few others, they founded the Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen. It later became the English Baptist Missionary Society and now BMS World Mission.

And in the spring of 1973, Carey and a few others sailed to India as missionaries and began the missionary movement as we know it today.

Despite extensive hardships, hard labor, and considerable opposition from businesses and the Indian government, Carey remained in India for 41 years. During this time, he led hundreds of Indians to Christ and translated the Bible into several local languages. He also founded a college to train Indians for missionary work among their people.

Carey’s life and work did not only impact the Indians. It also inspired many others, such as David Livingstone and Adoniram Judson, to give up their lives for Christ through international missions.

Modern missions wouldn’t be what it is today if it wasn’t for Carey’s life. His life shows how God can use one person to affect many generations.

Learn more about William Carey with these books:

• William Carey: And the Missionary Vision
• William Carey: Expecting Great Things (Trail Blazers)
• The Missionary Fellowship of William Carey (Long Line of Godly Men Profile)

3. Adoniram and Ann Judson (1788-1850, 1789-1826)

Adoniram and Ann Judson were one of the first American missionaries to go overseas. They served in Burma, now Myanmar, and led thousands of Burmese to Christ. They translated the entire Bible into Burmese, established hundreds of churches in the area, and began the first-ever English-Burmese dictionary.

Adoniram was born to a Congregationalist pastor on August 9th, 1788, in Malden, Massachusetts. When he was 20, Adoniram befriended a skeptic who caused him to renounce his faith. But when this friend fell sick and died, Adoniram’s views were shaken. He returned to the faith and made a “solemn dedication of himself to God.”

Shortly after his conversion, during his final year at Andover-Theological Seminary, Adoniram felt called to the mission field. So he and a few other like-minded students presented themselves to the Congregationalist board and formed the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in 1810. The ABCFM commissioned Adoniram and his friends to missions in the far East.

That evening, Adoniram attended a dinner at the house of John Hasseltine, a church deacon where the ABCFM meeting took place. At that dinner, Adoniram met John’s daughter Ann who was also zealous for missions. They fell in love, married in January 1812, and sailed to India on February 5th, 1812. They stayed in India for only a few months before going to Burma in July 1813.

While in Burma, the Judsons faced significant hardship in ministry. They had a slow start due to the difficulty of learning the language and the people’s resistance. It took three years before a Burmese got converted to Christianity. And the Baptist church they founded only had 12 members after 12 years in Burma.

Personal trials also grieved Adoniram and Ann. They lost their second child to disease within their first two years in Burma. Then in 1822, Ann felt gravely ill and had to be evacuated to the US for treatment for two years, leaving Adoniram alone in Burma.

Upon Ann’s return in 1824, the Judsons relocated to Ava, the capital city of Burma. But shortly after their arrival, Adoniram was imprisoned by the Burmese government under suspicion of being a spy during the Burmese and British war. Adoniram was detained for 17 months while pregnant Ann relentlessly lobbied for her husband’s release. She also supported him with food, water, and total devotion.

Adoniram was eventually released, but he returned to a severely ill wife. And on October 24th, 1826, Ann died. Then six months later, their baby daughter also died.

Adoniram was profoundly grief-stricken and went through a dark time. But by God’s grace, he prevailed and continued his missionary work. His ministry finally became fruitful; he saw hundreds of Burmans become Christians and he finished the Burmese Bible translation. In 1834, he married Sarah Boardman and had eight children with her. But alas, tragedy stroke again. In 1845 on a journey back to the US for treatment, Adoniram lost his second wife to disease.

He remarried one more time while in the US and brought his bride to Burma in November 1846. Together they had one child and were happy for a while. Then Adoniram got ill. He sailed to Europe for medical treatment but died during the journey on April 12th, 1850.

His parting words were, “The Love of Christ, Boundless in its breadth, Infinite in its length, Fathomless in its depths, And measureless in its height. In these deserts let me labor, On these mountains let me tell, How he died, the blessed Savior, To redeem a world from hell.”

Besides pioneering American missions, Adoniram and Ann show how God can redeem our sufferings for His glory. Their lives were grains of wheat that fell into the ground of Myanmar and bore much fruit (John 12:24).

Learn more about the Judsons with these books:

• My Heart in His Hands: Ann Judson of Burma by Sharon James
• To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson by Courtney Anderson
• Adoniram Judson: A Bicentennial Appreciation of the Pioneer American Missionary by Jason G. Duesing
• The Life of Adoniram Judson by Edward Judson

4. David Livingstone (1813 – 1873)

David Livingstone was a Scottish physician, missionary, slave abolitionist, and explorer who spent decades exploring and evangelizing Africa. He is also famous for his contribution to abolishing the African slave trade and starting the “scramble for Africa” movement.

Livingstone was born on March 19th in Blantyre, a small town near Glasgow, Scotland. When he was 21, he became interested in missionary work after reading a pamphlet calling for missionaries to China with a medical background.

Consequently, he began studying medicine and theology in Glasgow to become a missionary doctor. In 1838, The London Missionary Society accepted Livingstone but could not send him to China due to the First Opium War. But in God’s providence, Livingstone met Robert Moffat, a Scottish missionary in southern Africa who told him about Africa, “the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary had been before.” Livingstone got excited by this prospect, and in March 1841, he arrived at Cape Town in South Africa.

He spent the next ten years moving through the interior of Africa to reach people with the gospel of Christ and free them from slavery. But it was only after his seventh year that Livingstone saw his first convert.

Livingstone’s work in Africa also exposed him to the immense evil of slavery throughout the continent. During his time in Africa, he fought relentlessly to see this practice abolished. He thought he could do it by exploring the entire continent and opening it to the whole world. This way, Africans would sell their resources instead of their people. He said, “I shall open up a path into the interior or perish.”

So in 1853, with his wife (Robert Moffat’s daughter Mary) and children in England due to illness, Livingstone embarked on a journey to explore the entire continent of Africa. His voyages and discoveries gave him international recognition. For instance, his sighting of Lake Ngami got him a gold medal and a monetary prize from the British Royal Geographical Society.

Livingstone’s journeys were also fraught with trials as he constantly faced slave traders, hostile tribals, and severe illnesses. Nevertheless, he persevered in his mission and traveled from the West coast of Africa to the East coast for over three years, exploring and sharing the gospel.

Afterward, he went to England for the first time since he left for Africa and arrived to hero’s welcome. He returned to Africa a few years later with his wife and youngest son. This time he was sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society, enabling Livingstone to discover new territories and establish new missionary bases. But four years after their return to Africa, Mary died of disease.

Livingstone was so heartbroken by her death that the Royal Geographical Society had to call him back to England. While in England, the British government urged him to return to Africa to find the source of the Nile, but Livingstone declined.

But in 1866, he eventually returned to Africa one last time without any societies or governments involved. He spent the remaining years going further into Africa in his quest to find the source of the Nile and abolish the slave trade. But his poor health hindered him, and in May 1873, Livingstone took his last breath while kneeling in prayer at his bedside in Chitambo.

The servants who found him removed his heart from his chest and buried it in Africa (for embalming). The remainder of his body was interred in Westminster Abbey on April 18th, 1874.

His tombstone says, “Missionary, Traveler, Philanthropist…For 30 years, his life was spent in an unwearied effort to evangelize the native races, to explore the undiscovered secrets, to abolish the desolating slave trade of Central Africa, where with his last words he wrote, ‘All I can add in my solitude is may heaven’s rich blessing come down on everyone, American, English, or Turk who will help to heal this open sore of the world.’”

Learn more about David Livingstone with these books:

• Livingstone: Trail Blazer for God by Leslie and Madge Morrill
• David Livingstone: Explorer and Missionary by Sam Wellman
• The Life and African Exploration of David Livingstone by Dr. David Livingstone

  Grace and peace to you!