Starting 2025, the Office of Global Partnerships of The Episcopal Church is providing a yearly reading list released on World Mission Sunday to accompany you in your journey of learning and discovery about global mission.

Below, you will find the 2025 Reading List:

• Friendship at the Margins (Discovering Mutuality in Service and Mission), by Christopher l. Heuertz & Chrstine D. Pohl – Published by IVP 2010.
  • A great start! It is not new, published in 2010, but contains much wisdom for those looking to engage in global mission activities, and may not be on the reading list for many people who are already reading about global mission. It is also easy to read.
• Decolonization, development and knowledge in Africa (turning over a new leaf), by Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni – Published by Routledge in 2020.
  • This academic book challenges readers to examine colonial legacies in Africa’s politics, economy, and knowledge systems. It encourages a decolonial approach to mission work, fostering awareness of historical injustices and true partnership.
• The Vanishing (Faith, Loss, And The Twilight Of Christianity In The Land Of The Prophets), By Janine Di Giovanni – Published by PublicAffairs in 2021.
  • The book sets out to describe “a way of understanding how Christians in the Middle East, the birthplace of Christianity, have survived in the most turbulent of times.” She focuses on Christian communities in Iraq, Gaza, Syria, and Egypt where numbers of Christians have dramatically dwindled.
• Grace at the Garbage Dump, by Jesse A. Zink – Published by Cascade Books in 2012.
  • This is the first book written by Jesse Zink based on his experience as a Young Adult Service Corps member. The book takes you along his years in South Africa: struggling with AIDS patients to get life-saving drugs, coaching women through a micro-credit program, and teaching preschool students to sing (and dance) to “Johnny B. Goode”. This is a great read for those wanting to hear a first-hand account about mission work at ground level.
• Faithful, Creative, Hopeful (Fifteen Theses for Christians in a Crisis-Shaped World), by Jesse A. Zink – Published by Church Publishing in 2024.
  • This is The Rev. Dr. Jesse Zink latest book, now principal of Montreal Diocesan Theological College and canon theologian in the Diocese of Montreal. It is a nurturing call for Christians to face a changing world in the context of the global crises such as climate change, economics, and migration.