35 Missionary quotes to help strengthen your faith as the trials of life arise.
Many of the most influential Christians in church history were faithful missionaries. These men and women adopted a wholehearted pursuit of Jesus and stopped at nothing to share the good news of His amazing grace with the world around them.
Their humility, perseverance, devotion, and dependence on their Savior enabled them to trust in God’s goodness and rest in His grace even amidst the most dire circ*mstances. They each had a story to tell… and it all began with Jesus.
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Missionary Quotes
Below I’d like to share some of my favorite missionary quotes to redirect our thoughts and point us back to our Savior as the trials arise. Each of these missionaries had one thing in common- they were simply overwhelmed by the depth of love their Creator held for them. When a heart is genuinely transformed by the love of Christ there is a sweet peace, love, and joy that naturally flows as a result.
These men and women knew that their life held purpose and ultimately that purpose was to glorify the Lord and share the beautiful news of the gospel with anyone willing to lend an ear. At times this meant sacrifices must be made and at times it meant persecution must be endured, but it was all more than worth it in the end.
Missionary Quotes – Prayer and Faith
“Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends.” – George Muller
“We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.” – Oswald Chambers
“I realized that my life was to be one of simple, childlike faith, and that my part was to trust, not to do. I was to trust in Him and He would work in me to do His good pleasure. From that time my life was different.” – Charles Studd
“Lord, let me make a difference for you that is utterly disproportionate to who I am.” – David Brainerd
“God delights to increase the faith of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God’s hands as a means. Trials, obstacles, difficulties and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith.” – George Muller
“How can you expect to dwell with God forever, if you so neglect and forsake him here?” – Jonathan Edwards
“Many Christians estimate difficulties in the light of their own resources, and thus attempt little and often fail in the little they attempt. All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His power and presence with them.” – Hudson Taylor
RELATED: 64 POWERFUL CHRISTIAN QUOTES
Missionary Quotes – Trials and Difficult Seasons
“All the more beautiful will be God’s triumph when it comes. The highest music is not the music where all goes on simple and straight and sweet, but where discord suddenly resolves tensions with harmony.” – Lilias Trotter
“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
“All our difficulties are only platforms for the manifestations of His grace, power and love.”
– Hudson Taylor
“Circ*mstances may appear to wreck our lives and God’s plans, but God is not helpless among the ruins.” – Eric Liddell
“Our heavenly Father never takes anything from his children unless he means to give them something better.” – Charles Studd
“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 always, even unto the end of the world.” – David Livingstone
“Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.” – Jonathan Edwards
“There is no success without sacrifice. If you succeed without sacrifice it is because someone has suffered before you. If you sacrifice without success it is because someone will succeed after.” – Adoniram Judson
“I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize that He is able to carry out His will for me. It does not matter where He places me, or how. That is for Him to consider, not me, for in the easiest positions He will give me grace, and in the most difficult ones His grace is sufficient.” – Hudson Taylor
“The place where we wash His Feet with our tears has a great nearness to His Holy Place above.” – Lilias Trotter
“All along, let us remember we are not asked to understand, but simply to obey…” – Amy Carmichael
“It does not matter how great the pressure is. What really matters is where the pressure lies — whether it comes between you and God, or whether it presses you nearer His heart.”– Hudson Taylor
“Believe in the darkness what you have seen in the light.” – Lilias Trotter
Missionary Quotes – Christian Living
“Let us not glide through this world and then slip quietly into heaven, without having blown the trumpet loud and long for our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Let us see to it that the devil will hold a thanksgiving service in hell, when he gets the news of our departure from the field of battle.” – Charles Studd
“The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil, and rush here to seek for sunshine, and there to find rain. No; it rests in union and communion with the vine…Let us so abide in the Lord Jesus.” – Hudson Taylor
“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
“The greatest test of Christianity is the wear and tear of daily life; it is like the shining of silver: the more it is rubbed the brighter it grows.” – Oswald Chambers
“We are all missionaries. Wherever we go we either bring people nearer to Christ or we repel them from Christ.” – Eric Liddell
“And 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
“When you cease from labour, fill up your time in reading, meditation, and prayer: and while your hands are labouring, let your heart be employed, as much as possible, in divine thoughts.” – David Brainerd
“If, in the quiet of your heart, you feel something should be done, stop and consider whether it is in line with the character and teaching of Jesus. If so, obey that impulse to do it, and in doing so you will find it was God guiding you.” – Eric Liddell
“When the heart submits, then Jesus reigns. When Jesus reigns, there is rest.” – Hudson Taylor
“If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to him and ask him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.” – Elisabeth Elliot
“It has been a wonderful experience to compete in the Olympic Games and to bring home a gold medal. But since I have been a young lad, I have had my eyes on a different prize. You see, each one of us is in a greater race than any I have run in Paris, and this race ends when God gives out the medals.” – Eric Liddell
“I’m not afraid of failure; I’m afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.” – William Carey
Missionary Quotes – Joy and Praise
“Restlessness and impatience change nothing except our peace and joy. Peace does not dwell in outward things, but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully and quietly on him who has all things safely in his hands.” – Elisabeth Elliot
“Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace. If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is.” – Amy Carmichael
“You are loved with an everlasting love. And underneath are the everlasting arms.” – Elisabeth Elliot
Missionary Biographies
If you enjoyed reading through these missionary quotes and are looking for further reading about the life of these missionaries I’d encourage you to check out some their biographies and written works. We can learn so many rich truths from these faithful men and women who’ve gone on before us.
Shadow of the Almighty – Jim Elliot
Devotedly – The love story of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot
For The Glory– Eric Liddell
A Chance To Die – Amy Carmichael
The Life and Diary of David Brainerd
My Utmost for His Highest – Oswald Chambers
A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter
Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret
God is Good
We are broken people living in a broken world and were never promised smooth sailing, but we serve a good and gracious God who desires to use our struggles for our good and His glory. May we fix our gaze upon our Savior and reach for His outstretched hand as we walk through the trials.
My hope is for these missionary quotes to point you directly towards the unconditional love of Christ. If you are in need of some encouragement in your faith I’d encourage you to dig into God’s Word, seek Him in prayer, and read the true stories of devoted believers who grasped the precious worth of a soul.
