Before You Go

Christianity Today 2024 Book Awards, Missions/Global Church category, Finalist

Are you preparing to take the gospel to the nations?

You’ve said “yes” to God’s call to go, and now you will pack up your things and step into the unknown of a new location, people, and culture. The following years will likely include great joy, frustration, homesickness, difficulty, and excitement. In this book, ten women who have served on the mission field share what they wish they had known before they began.

This book is a handbook for entering the mission field, including essays on:

• Discerning your calling  
• Leaving what you love  
• Serving well on a team   
• Engaging in prayer and evangelism  
• Fellowshipping through suffering  
• Going as a married or single woman  
• Taking kids overseas  
• Dealing with fear and anxiety  
• Spiritual habits of a missionary

These essays are from Emily Bennett (general editor), Ruth Ripken, Cyndi Logsdon, Hilary Alan, CJ Olivia, Lydia Pettus, Emily Watkins, Sydney Dixon, Amy Bowman, and Nina Buser.

Emily Bennett grew up in Clinton, Wisconsin. She attended Winona State University and completed her bachelor’s degree in education. She met her husband Matt in college, and they worked on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for two years together. It was through the ministry of InterVarsity and the Urbana Missions Conference that both Emily & Matt felt a growing desire to both be trained and sent as missionaries. Before moving overseas, she completed a Master of Divinity & a Master of Arts in intercultural studies from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Emily and Matt served in North Africa for seven years with their three children, Anabelle, Elliot, and Oliver. She is currently living in Ohio working with an organization that helps internationals learn English and transition to life in the U.S. Matt (her husband) is a professor at Cedarville University and both she and her husband love encouraging future missionaries both from the University as well as in their local church.