Soul by Soul: The Evangelical Mission to Spread the Gospel to Muslims

EMQ » July – Aug 2025 » Volume 61 Issue 3

Reviewed by Dr. David Cashin, emeritus professor of intercultural studies and Islamics at Columbia International University in Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Cashin served nine years in Bangladesh and seven years in Europe amongst Muslims. He is the author of several books on Islam in several languages.

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This book by Adriana Carranca is a remarkable non-judgmental look at Christian missionary work amongst Muslims. It is remarkable because Carranca identifies herself as a “secular journalist” (22). I deeply appreciate that she follows the rules of ethnography in maintaining a non-judgmental attitude, quite in contrast to most secular journalists.[1] She gives voice to groups increasingly despised in the western world as neo-colonialists: Missionaries.

Carranca’s book is a helpful combination of a brief history of modern Protestant missions, a review of some concepts of missiology such as “unreached people groups” and an excellent ethnographic survey of the modern movement of missionaries from Latin America to the Muslim world. The first sections contain no new material for those familiar with the history and concepts but it is interesting to hear it described pretty accurately by a secular observer. Occasional errors do not detract.

The great strength of the book is its ethnographic interviews and relatively long term following of individuals from the global south engaged in missions to Muslims. The book captures well the challenges and suffering that both the missionaries and their converts face in places like Afghanistan and the Middle East. There are many poignant stories of Christians martyred for their faith, many that I am personally familiar with. These stories are accurately and compassionately told.

The significance of this book does not lie in its historical and missiological reflections.  These are well known to missionaries working in Muslim evangelism. Carranca’s work has two significant contributions to make. First, it provides a sympathetic look at what missionaries to Muslims actually do. Far from being the CIA agents or closet imperialists of popular culture, these are people who love Muslims and are prepared to make immense sacrifices in fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to the Muslim world.  Obedience to Christ demands this of us, whether we like it or not.

Further, and perhaps most significantly, she illustrates at the ground level how the cause of Muslim evangelism has been taken up by the churches of the global south, Africa, Asia and particularly Latin America. She takes us into their world, their thoughts, the immense challenges that they face, financial, spiritual and physical. A key point is that she illustrates the persecution of Christians which is endemic to the Muslim world. My hope is that this work will provide general and even secular readers with a more balanced view of Christian missionaries and the Muslims who make the dangerous decision to walk away from Islam.

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[1] A good contrast to this is the Time Magazine article entitled “Should Christians Convert Muslims” (June 30, 2003) which essentially faulted Christian missionaries for trying to convert Muslims since this leads to such violent persecution and even death.

For Further Reading

Kingdom Without Borders: The Untold Story of Global Christianity by Mirian Adeney (IVP, 2009)

Portraits of Global Christianity: Research and Reflections in Honor of Todd M. Johnson edited by Gina A. Zurlo (William Carey, 2023)

A Wind In The House Of Islam: How God Is Drawing Muslims Around The World To Faith In Jesus Christ by David Garrison (Wigtake, 2014)

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EMQ, Volume 61, Issue 3. Copyright © 2025 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.