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Awake, O Church: A Serious Look at Christian Outreach
People are often content with what they have until they see something better. Is that what North American missionaries are doing on the mission field—thoughtlessly displaying our money and possessions, making the poor want what we have? If so, should we be there?
Drawing from his observations and experiences as a missionary in Haiti, the author emphasizes that mankind’s greatest need is not humanitarian help, but Jesus. Humanitarian aid has a place in Christian outreach, but not at the expense of Jesus.
The purpose of the book is to wake us up, to help us realize how missions can inadvertently harm rather than help, and to stir us to follow Jesus more faithfully. Awake, O Church! provides an opportunity to learn from others’ experiences and reevaluate the way we do missions.
Prayerfully reading and reflecting on this book’s message can help us set priorities that will make our mission efforts, whether across the street or across the ocean, more effective in meeting spiritual needs.
Drawing from his observations and experiences as a missionary in Haiti, the author emphasizes that mankind’s greatest need is not humanitarian help, but Jesus. Humanitarian aid has a place in Christian outreach, but not at the expense of Jesus.
The purpose of the book is to wake us up, to help us realize how missions can inadvertently harm rather than help, and to stir us to follow Jesus more faithfully. Awake, O Church! provides an opportunity to learn from others’ experiences and reevaluate the way we do missions.
Prayerfully reading and reflecting on this book’s message can help us set priorities that will make our mission efforts, whether across the street or across the ocean, more effective in meeting spiritual needs.
188 pages, Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 2021
1 person is currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Barry Grant
14 books11 followersBarry Grant is a pen name.
Barry Grant at age eleven boarded the North Coast Limited in Chicago and traveled to his uncles' farm in North Dakota to spend the summer . . . and there he spent every summer thereafter until he graduated from high school. None of the later journeys of his life - by boat up the Amazon, by Volkswagen Beetle over the Atlas Mountains to Zagora, and so on - ever matched those early journeys to North Dakota where he learned to love prairies, loneliness, big skies, and agriculture.
From the other side of his family he learned to love higher culture. On holiday visits to his grandmother's house in Moline, Illinois, he found his deceased grandfather's library in barrister bookcases that lined the walls and reached to the ceilings of the living room and every bedroom. In those cases he discovered travel of a different kind - books of every sort, among them the complete works of Mark Twain, Victor Hugo, Poe, Shakespeare, Dickens, Kipling, Burns, and Conan Doyle.
He is co-author of a translation from the Chinese, A Woman Soldier's Own Story: the Autobiography of Xie Bingying, published by Columbia University Press in 2001 and by Berkley Books in 2003. He has lived in England, Spain, eleven of the United States, and now lives in Wisconsin. Among his hobbies are cycling, bread baking, piano improvisation, and tennis.
Barry Grant at age eleven boarded the North Coast Limited in Chicago and traveled to his uncles' farm in North Dakota to spend the summer . . . and there he spent every summer thereafter until he graduated from high school. None of the later journeys of his life - by boat up the Amazon, by Volkswagen Beetle over the Atlas Mountains to Zagora, and so on - ever matched those early journeys to North Dakota where he learned to love prairies, loneliness, big skies, and agriculture.
From the other side of his family he learned to love higher culture. On holiday visits to his grandmother's house in Moline, Illinois, he found his deceased grandfather's library in barrister bookcases that lined the walls and reached to the ceilings of the living room and every bedroom. In those cases he discovered travel of a different kind - books of every sort, among them the complete works of Mark Twain, Victor Hugo, Poe, Shakespeare, Dickens, Kipling, Burns, and Conan Doyle.
He is co-author of a translation from the Chinese, A Woman Soldier's Own Story: the Autobiography of Xie Bingying, published by Columbia University Press in 2001 and by Berkley Books in 2003. He has lived in England, Spain, eleven of the United States, and now lives in Wisconsin. Among his hobbies are cycling, bread baking, piano improvisation, and tennis.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 30, 2024
This book is easily five stars for me. I was expecting a harder read and surprisingly it's not but that’s not to say it’s not well written or doesn’t have depth. Barry is not afraid to say what he believes, which is refreshing.
I one hundred percent agree with the fact that the American church needs to change the way they do missions. So many go with the idea that their main goal is to help and provide aid to the people they are serving and then Jesus and the gospel come later. I'm not saying that it's wrong to help people by providing humanitarian aid. One way to show people the light and truth is by our actions and not just words. Even Jesus helped people with their physical needs. But ultimately Jesus alone is the answer to humanity.
I definitely would recommend this book if you are considering missions or are already involved in missions.
I one hundred percent agree with the fact that the American church needs to change the way they do missions. So many go with the idea that their main goal is to help and provide aid to the people they are serving and then Jesus and the gospel come later. I'm not saying that it's wrong to help people by providing humanitarian aid. One way to show people the light and truth is by our actions and not just words. Even Jesus helped people with their physical needs. But ultimately Jesus alone is the answer to humanity.
I definitely would recommend this book if you are considering missions or are already involved in missions.
March 25, 2024
A profitable read for anyone who wants to live more than just a complacent, feel good, easy Christianity. Even more so if you wonder how to really love our fellow men like Jesus did.
Even though I did not always come to the author’s conclusion in his response to what he saw in the people around him I agree wholeheartedly that only the Gospel of Jesus can truly heal the brokenness of our whole world.
I highly recommend this as a honest look at our own hearts and the “why” behind our mission efforts. I have much to ponder and I know that I’ll be even more conscious of offering Jesus to those who I meet.
Even though I did not always come to the author’s conclusion in his response to what he saw in the people around him I agree wholeheartedly that only the Gospel of Jesus can truly heal the brokenness of our whole world.
I highly recommend this as a honest look at our own hearts and the “why” behind our mission efforts. I have much to ponder and I know that I’ll be even more conscious of offering Jesus to those who I meet.
August 22, 2024
Definitely worth the time to read. A very straightforward and enjoyable read. Mr Barry Grant makes it very clear what our main focus should be in missions but also in our entire lives.
September 30, 2024
A worthwhile read. Straightforward writing. A good reminder of why we as believers are here to serve the Lord.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews