[Sidenote: Purpose of the Book.] It is the object of this book to give a general survey of the missionary labors of the Lutheran Church in all lands. A knowledge of the work of our own Church is of first importance, both that we may be well informed concerning those enterprises which we support and that we may through them become interested in the achievements of other churches. This account of Lutheran missions cannot be exhaustive. Volumes have been written upon the history of many Lutheran missions. Many names which deserve record must be omitted and those heroes who have been selected for mention are no more devoted, no more noble than many others whose names are lost to human recollection. [Sidenote: The Missionary Impulse.] Even if the specific commands of our Lord were lacking, we believe that every good Christian would find in his own heart a missionary impulse which could not be denied. There is no good news which we do not hasten to tell; the man who would withhold from his neighbors that which would benefit them is rightly condemned. Would it not be strange if we told all good news but the greatest? The Christian has found peace and life and hope in the Gospel, surely it is his duty and it should be his chief joy to tell the good news to others. [Sidenote: The Benefits of Missionary Study.] The study of missions is a fascinating pursuit. Its subject matter is the noblest in the world--the history of the evangelizing and Christianizing of mankind. The characters are heroes and heroines. The effect of such study is not only inspiring but improving. The student will gain through diligent attention to the courses offered by mission boards a mass of general information which could be gained so easily in no other way. He will visit all the countries of the world; he will hear something of their history, their geography, their flora and fauna. He will see Eliot and Campanius preaching to the American Indians, he will see Hans Egede laboring among the Greenlanders, he will hear of the wise colonial policy of England, of the amazing devotion and great learning of the Germans, he will observe the daily life of the mission stations where the sick are healed, where lepers are cared for, where to everyone the Gospel is preached. The opening of windows into the wide world is not the least of the rewards for a study of missions. Before beginning the actual history of Lutheran missions we will review briefly Christian missions before the establishment of the Protestant Church, so that the student may connect the present with the past.