This book should be in the hands of every Christian across all denominations. Knowledge of Christian missions is not an option but a necessity. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya will instill in both young and old a love for missions and an appreciation for labors past and present, something often missing in our cozy North American churches.
My first exposure to From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya (1983) was in 1994 in Portland, Oregon, when I was a student at Multnomah Bible College. Fresh out of high school, I was eager to relish all the good literature I could find, and the RA of the men’s dorm was advocating this history of missions. The missions atmosphere on campus was heightened by the fact that only a few miles away Jim Elliot was born. I knew students who visited the house he grew up in and once, while fundraising for the school I talked to a man who had known him.
Now in its second edition, and in hardcover, Tucker’s classic work will endure for a new generation of readers. Not just for students, this is a history for anyone who has high regard for the past. Tucker’s compelling prose complements her expertise. I am grateful for her vision to produce a book on missions that is readable. Far too many have been dreary or cursory. In contrast, this single-volume history is both comprehensive and delightful. The typesetting is now better and more appealing.
From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya has justly won the Gold Medallion Book Award and will continue to fascinate, inform, and challenge readers. It will push you from your pew as you learn of those who abandoned all for the gospel’s advance. Your heart will move as you read the stories of Patrick, the first missionary to Ireland; Boniface, missionary to Germany; John Eliot, first American missionary to the Indians; David Brainerd, pioneer of Indian missions in New York, New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania; William Carey, perhaps the most influential missionary of the nineteenth century; David Livingstone, who travelled to the heart of Africa; John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides; Gladys Alyward, missionary to China whose story is told in the film Inn of the Sixth Happiness; Jim Elliot, missionary to the Auca Indians of Ecuador and martyr; and many, many, more.
This fascinating history has already become a standard textbook in missions classes across the United States and I would be thrilled to see its use in Christian homes, reading groups, student societies, and Sunday-school classes.
Whenever I see Tucker’s book I am reminded of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s chilling statement: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” This is not just a book for serious believers, nor is it simply another book on missions—it is essential for Christians who need to be awakened to the call of the gospel and the true meaning of the Great Commission, and to that end it deserves a wide and lengthy readership. - Randall J. Pederson, Ph.D. candidate at Westminster Theological Seminary, and author of Day by Day with the English Puritans and Day by Day with Jonathan Edwards
