Welcome to our collection of powerful quotes on missionaries, individuals who dedicate their lives to spreading faith, compassion, and goodwill across the globe. Missionaries are driven by a profound sense of purpose, venturing into diverse communities to offer spiritual guidance, humanitarian aid, and support to those in need. Their journeys often lead them to unfamiliar territories, where they embrace the challenges of cultural differences and language barriers, all in the pursuit of serving others and spreading their message of hope.
Throughout history, missionaries have played pivotal roles in shaping societies and fostering understanding among different cultures. Their unwavering commitment to their beliefs and their selfless acts of kindness inspire countless individuals around the world. From the remote corners of Africa to bustling cities in Asia, missionaries continue to make an indelible impact, leaving behind a legacy of compassion and faith.
Below, you’ll find a curated selection of quotes that capture the essence of the missionary spirit, offering insight, inspiration, and reflection. Feel free to use these quotes to create images, share on social media, or simply draw inspiration from the words of these remarkable individuals.
In this world filled with challenges, we do need help from time to time. Religion, eternal truth, and our missionaries are vital parts of that help. Russell M. Nelson
The key to successful missionary work is a close relationship between the missionaries and the members. Creating an environment in working with members that will bring more into the Church. Richard G. Scott
The Talented Tenth of the Negro race must be made leaders of thought and missionaries of culture among their people. W. E. B. Du Bois
It is unfortunate that so much of the history of Africa has been written by conquerors, foreigners, missionaries and adventurers. The Egyptians left the best record of their history written by local writers. John Henrik Clarke
Utah may well be the most cosmopolitan state in America. Vast numbers of young Mormons – increasingly women as well as men – spend a couple of years abroad as missionaries and return jabbering in Thai or Portuguese and bearing a wealth of international experience. Nicholas Kristof
Missionaries labor diligently to teach and baptize those who accept the gospel. In the process, their own testimonies become deeply rooted. Joseph B. Wirthlin
Missionary work essentially is a priesthood responsibility, and all of us who hold the priesthood are the Lord’s authorized servants on the earth and are missionaries at all times and in all places – and we always will be. David A. Bednar
Missionaries serve to make life better for God’s children. Russell M. Nelson
The people on my mum’s side of the family are atheist intellectuals who are ueber-proper. My dad’s side of the family are missionaries who are more comfortable sitting around in sweatpants than they are in a five-star restaurant. But those two influences converged in my life. Evangeline Lilly
I just followed my parents’ example and advice on living, which was to leave the world a better place than you found it. They were professional do-gooders, ministers of the church, social workers, teachers, and missionaries, that sort of thing. Ian Mckellen
Tempura-style batters were originally brought to Japan by Portuguese missionaries in the 16th century. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
The first Western attempt to save Africa from itself was in the late 19th century. It was led by Christian missionaries who claimed to be seeking to end poverty, disease and the slave trade. Andrew Mwenda
Missionaries must not calculate on the least comfort but what they find in one another and their work. Adoniram Judson
I’m a Catholic by background. I was raised in Goa, a part of India that was visited by Portuguese missionaries a few hundred years ago, which explains my last name. Dinesh D’Souza
You really want a company full of missionaries, not mercenaries. Sam Altman
After ‘The Poisonwood Bible’ was published, several people believed that my parents were missionaries, which could not be further from the truth. Barbara Kingsolver
Whether full-time missionaries or members, we should all be good examples of the believers in Jesus Christ. Russell M. Nelson
If it is true that the great missionaries of the 16th century were convinced that one who was not baptized was lost – and that explains their missionary commitment – in the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council, that conviction was definitely abandoned. Pope Benedict XVI
A religious commitment coupled with theological awareness gives Jews a much better way to answer the claims made upon us by missionaries representing other religions than do the rather weak political and cultural arguments of the secularists. David Novak
I counseled many returning missionaries. I interviewed 1,700 missionaries all over the world. My advice to them is that you should study and prepare for your life’s work in a field that you enjoy. Thomas S. Monson
I would submit to you that our greatest need is to rediscover the gospel of Jesus Christ and to proclaim it. I have always said this, especially to the young missionaries that I have dealt with. Paul Washer
The first two lessons, which we learned early in our efforts to be good member missionaries, have made sharing the Gospel much easier: We simply can’t predict who will or won’t be interested in the Gospel, and building a friendship is not a prerequisite to inviting people to learn about the Gospel. Clayton M. Christensen
Mission presidents hold keys of responsibility for the welfare, safety, and success of their missionaries. Russell M. Nelson
When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land. Desmond Tutu
‘God Loves Uganda’ is a powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to change African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting ‘sexual immorality’ and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow Biblical law. Roger Ross Williams
You don’t need missionaries in Colorado; you got Colorado. Trey Parker
People have the idea of missionaries as going out with the Bible and hitting natives with it. It’s not really what they were doing. They were all doing something rather different. Colin Firth
I was heartily sorry to leave Leh, with its dazzling skies and abounding colour and movement, its stirring topics of talk, and the culture and exceeding kindness of the Moravian missionaries. Helpfulness was the rule. Isabella Bird
The Anti-Slavery public have generously responded to our appeal, and sent the means to enable us to fit them out well, to pay their passages, supply them with many useful articles and give the Missionaries money to sustain themselves for a while. Lewis Tappan
What is so attractive about Uganda for missionaries is that they have free rein. They can go anywhere they please – schools, hospitals, the parliament. Roger Ross Williams
I grew up taking it for granted that missionaries were what American boys grew up to be. Huston Smith
My parents were missionaries – I was born in the States but I grew up in Brazil. Arto Lindsay
I was born and raised in China, and my parents were missionaries. Jayne Meadows
All my books are very spiritual. I started out writing what was most natural to me, many years ago, which is religious, because I grew up in the jungle, the son of missionaries. I want to know, is God real? What’s a priest’s role? Ted Dekker
It is true that the Chinese are not so religious as the Hindus, or even as the Japanese; and they are certainly not so religious as the Christian missionaries desire them to be. Hu Shih
Most of the great books on prayer are written by ‘experts’ – monks, missionaries, mystics, saints. I’ve read scores of them, and mainly they make me feel guilty. Philip Yancey
We send missionaries to China so the Chinese can get to heaven, but we won’t let them into our country. Pearl S. Buck
Monica Besra, a Bengali woman from a remote Indian village, was reportedly suffering from a malignant ovarian tumor when she went, in 1998, to a hospice founded by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. Nuns at the mission reportedly placed a medallion with Teresa’s image on Besra’s abdomen, and the tumor disappeared. Charles Duhigg
Missionaries learn to manage situations and to rely on the Lord. Taysom Hill
A difference of opinion is what makes horse racing and missionaries. Will Rogers
You could say I was born into entrepreneurship. My grandmother, who was from Sierra Leone, was left to raise four children in the 1940s in a rural village in West Africa after becoming a young widow. To support her family, she made natural skin and hair care preparations and sold them primarily to missionaries and villagers. Richelieu Dennis
For many years, the work advanced but slowly. One denomination after another embarked in the undertaking; and now, American missionaries are seen in almost every land and every clime. Adoniram Judson
All missionaries, younger and older, serve with the sole hope of making life better for other people. Russell M. Nelson
I strongly believe that missionaries make better products. They care more. For a missionary, it’s not just about the business. There has to be a business, and the business has to make sense, but that’s not why you do it. You do it because you have something meaningful that motivates you. Jeff Bezos
The first 13 years of my life, I lived in China. My parents were missionaries there, and I was an only child. Often I felt lonely and out of place. Writing for me became my private place, where no one could come. Jean Fritz
Is it not a grotesque civilization which sends missionaries across the sea to save the souls of the heathen, and yet permits conditions at home that debauch the children at our very doors? Edwin Markham
I began filming ‘God Loves Uganda’ by first meeting some of the Ugandan and American missionaries who have helped create Uganda’s evangelical movement. They were often large-hearted. They were passionate and committed. Roger Ross Williams
Missionaries are very human folks, just doing what they are asked. Simply a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt Somebody. Jim Elliot
Because of the long, long history of British shipping, immigration, trade, empire, missionaries, you can have a better shot at telling a worldwide story in the British Museum’s collection than any other. Britain has been more connected with the rest of the world than any other country, for longer. Neil MacGregor
My heart reaches out to you missionaries. You simply cannot do it alone and do it well. You must have the help of others. That power to help lies within each of us. Gordon B. Hinckley
In the past, missionaries have traveled to far countries with the message of the gospel – with great hardship and often with the loss of life. In contrast, we can reach millions instantly from the comfort of our homes by merely hitting the ‘send’ button on our computers, or with iPads, or phones. Ray Comfort
Actually, my cd was released in 1985, in return for two German missionaries and a Dutch urologist. Emo Philips
Most of my fundamentalist brothers and sisters – and I am an evangelical, so I can say most of my fundamentalist brothers and sisters – are quite willing to pack women off and send them as missionaries to dangerous places where they might get killed. Tony Campolo
Sometimes it’s hard for us to believe, really believe, that God cares and wants good things for us and doesn’t just want us to go off and give everything up and become missionaries in Burundi. Bear Grylls
Missions is not about sending missionaries, and missions is not about doing missions. Missions is about the communication of truth to men. Paul Washer
Preparation for a mission is important. A mission is a voluntary act of service to God and humankind. Missionaries support that privilege with their personal savings. Parents, families, friends, and donors to the General Missionary Fund may also assist. Russell M. Nelson
Some missionaries are giants in the Spirit and pygmies in skills in the Spirit. Work hard to develop a balance. Your leaders, and you, should teach the skills to each other. Richard G. Scott
We need more missionaries – more worthy missionaries. Russell M. Nelson
In my town, I had only one adult American male role model: my father. I grew up taking it for granted that missionaries were what American boys grew up to be. Huston Smith
Many institutions of higher learning will grant an 18- to 30-month deferral to prospective missionaries. This will enable you elders and sisters to serve without worrying about where you will begin your advanced education. We are very grateful to leaders of educational institutions who are making such planning possible! Russell M. Nelson
If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner. H. L. Mencken
We are a pluralist civilisation because we allow mosques to be built in our countries, and we are not going to stop simply because Christian missionaries are thrown into prison in Kabul. If we did so, we, too, would become Taliban. Umberto Eco
The missionaries go forth to Christianize the savages – as if the savages weren’t dangerous enough already. Edward Abbey
Even missionaries get discouraged at times. Mack Wilberg