Series Preface
Foreword by David Platt
Introduction: Missions at a Crossroad

1. A Biblical Foundation for Missions
2. First Things First
3. Sending and Supporting Well
4. Getting the House in Order
5. Healthy Missions Partnerships
6. Reforming Short-Term Missions
7. Engaging the Nations by Other Means

Conclusion: Stepping toward the Nations
Notes
General Index
Scripture Index

“What a helpful book! Andy Johnson has a clear eye on the gospel as he helps us think through the basic principles a sending church needs to have in place before anyone leaves for the field. Drawing on years of experience as a missions pastor, Andy skillfully and winsomely tackles what it means to have healthy mission partnerships. He then helps us think through a number of modern missionary issues: short terms, the international church, and more. I long for every church with a shred of missions interest to read and apply this book.”
J. Mack Stiles, Director, Messenger Ministries Inc.

“I am grateful for Johnson’s wise, sensitive, and practical insights for the local church committed to going global. While written by a North American, this book is neither culturally bound nor ethnocentrically blind. The issues addressed apply to any healthy local church anywhere in the world. In other words, Missions is thoroughly biblical. And for this reason, those like me who minister in another culture will find its lessons doable. I heartily recommend it, praying that God will grant it a wide readership, for his global glory.”
Doug Van Meter, Pastor-Teacher, Brackenhurst Baptist Church, Johannesburg, South Africa

“I love this book. I love the way it begins and ends with the glory of God in the gospel. I love the way it places the local church at the center of both sending missionaries and the task of mission. I love the way it’s driven by biblical principles yet full of practical advice. All the ingredients are here to transform the place of world missions in your congregation. World mission is our responsibility, your responsibility.”
Tim Chester, Senior Faculty Member, Crosslands Training

“Andy Johnson’s plain-spoken book is rooted in Scripture and informed by his wealth of experience both in pastoral ministry and in many forward-operating bases of gospel advance. This book answers a plea for help I often hear from churches that want their missions program to be more than a line item in the budget or a map filled with pins. This book helps churches to effectively and joyfully engage in God’s worldwide mission!”
Tim Keesee, Executive Director, Frontline Missions International; author, Dispatches from the Front: Stories of Gospel Advance in the World’s Difficult Places

“Johnson has given the church a gift in this practical guidebook for launching, sending, and sustaining missional endeavors in your local church. Every believer should read this book!”
Robby Gallaty, Lead Pastor, Long Hollow Baptist Church, Hendersonville, Tennessee

“In an increasingly post-Christian society, you may feel the mission pinch. How can we give our time, energy, attention, finances, and personnel to global missions when the needs are so great, and growing, here at home? If you feel buried in local needs, this short book may be exactly what you need to lift your head to God’s international work and glory, open your eyes to the global cause in which we minister, and expand your heart to be more like his. Perhaps what your busy and bruised church needs is precisely a vision and passion for what God is up to around the world and not just around the corner. Cultivating a heart for God’s global glory and sending our best people and resources into his cause will not detract from ministry at home. It will make it powerful and real.”
David Mathis, Senior Teacher and Executive Editor, Desiring God; Pastor, Cities Church, Saint Paul, Minnesota; author, Habits of Grace

“Andy Johnson has given us a doctrinally sound yet highly practical blueprint to guide the local church in going global in the twenty-first century. I pray that this volume will be widely circulated among pastors and lay leaders.”
Al Jackson, Pastor, Lakeview Baptist Church, Auburn, Alabama

“This book is biblical, thoughtful, challenging, encouraging, and gospel-centered. I really appreciate the way Andy Johnson emphasizes two main points: (1) the Great Commission continues to be the priority of the plan of redemption, and (2) pastors of local churches and their members must embrace this call because it is their primary responsibility rather than the role of missionary agencies. In addition, Johnson helps churches know how to make the missionary enterprise more Bible-based and therefore more God-honoring. The application of the teachings of this book should revolutionize the long- and short-term mission programs of most local churches.”
Miguel Núñez, Pastor-Teacher, Iglesia Bautista Internacional, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

“As a pastor, I could not be more thankful for this book by Andy Johnson. Although books on missions abound, this one fills a void felt by any local church trying to discern how best to be involved in taking the gospel to the nations. Not only does it lay a much-needed foundation and framework for missions; it also answers the practical questions that inevitably arise. Both challenging and helpful, particularly for local church leaders, it is the book I’ve been looking for since I first began my pastoral ministry. I will make it available and encourage every member to read it.”
J. Josh Smith, Lead Pastor, MacArthur Blvd. Baptist Church, Irving, Texas

“A seasoned missions pastor, Johnson hands out insightful, practical guidance to help churches reshape their missions strategies more biblically and faithfully. Especially valuable is his emphasis on the role of the local church, too often underplayed in missions circles today. I will eagerly hand this book out to all our church leaders and missionaries.”
John Folmar, Senior Pastor, The United Church of Dubai

“The church has been tasked with the mission of making disciples of all nations. Too often the local church is pulled in several directions without a clear guiding vision for its mission efforts. As a pastor, I am grateful for Andy Johnson’s book because it helps church leaders to develop a plan for their mission pursuits that is well-intentioned instead of ambiguous and proactive instead of reactionary. I highly recommend this book to all church leaders who desire a well-thought-out vision for engaging the nations with the gospel.”
Afshin Ziafat, Lead Pastor, Providence Church, Frisco, Texas

“In Missions, Andy Johnson argues that the church glorifies God not only in working to gather true worshipers from all peoples, but also in using the means he has outlined in Scriptures to fulfill those ends. Because there is much debate about what missions is, how to do missions, and who is a missionary, Johnson spends a great part of the book helping us find answers that are rooted in scriptural commands, examples, and principles. If you desire to do missions in a way that only God gets the glory, you’ll want to read this book and pass it around to others who love God and love to see unbelieving people become followers of Jesus Christ.”
Juan R. Sanchez, Senior Pastor, High Pointe Baptist Church, Austin, Texas; author, The Leadership Formula: Develop the Next Generation of Leaders in the Church