History of the missions

the long version

This is the story of those courageous men and women whose tenacity and faith allowed them to bring "the good news" to every part of the globe, on the perilous journeys that began with the travels of St. Paul and the Apostles. This volume is the history of the most exciting and dangerous Church vocation over the last two thousand years. It was the missionaries who spread the word of Christ to the ends of the Roman Empire and finally converted the Emperors themselves. The author carries their story through the evangelization of Northern and Western Europe as the faith spread in the wake of Charlemagne's empire. He then goes on to the story of the conversion of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. An exciting portion of this volume is devoted to the heroic efforts of the missionaries who converted the natives in the Western Hemisphere, fighting both the pagan hostility of the indigenous population and the unchristian motives of the European invaders. That they succeeded at all was a miracle. The later part of the book is concerned with the efforts in Africa and the Far East, and the incredible obstacles of tremendous distances and, in Africa, the almost unlivable environment.