The China Inland Mission: A Biographical History

Book Introduction

In The China Inland Mission: A Biographical History, the former OMF missionary G. Wright Doyle presents inspiring stories of 17 key figures in the largest Protestant missionary society in China. Beautifully written and concisely presented, the book describes not only the dedicated lives of men and women of God, but also the historical trajectory of the CIM over more than one hundred years. What is additionally unique about this book is the first-hand experience of the author in OMF (the successor of the CIM) in the Epilogue. Readers will find an opportunity here to ‘remember, meditate and muse’, as an OMFer wisely puts it.

About the Author

Wright Doyle‘s father was a Naval officer, so he lived in different places when he was young, including one year in Taiwan. His love for Chinese people and culture started at that time. He graduated with Honors in Latin from the University of North Carolina, then entered Virginia Theological Seminary, from which he received an MDiv with Honors. He married Dori while in seminary. After pastoring three little churches for two years, he returned to the University of North Carolina, where he studied Classics. His PhD dissertation was on St. Augustine.

He and Dori went to Asia in 1975 with Overseas Missionary Fellowship (formerly called China Inland Mission). After Language study, he taught Greek and New Testament at China Evangelical Seminary until 1988, when they returned to America. They lived in Charlottesville, Virginia, where they shared the gospel with Chinese students 26 years. During that time, Wright traveled to Taiwan and mainland China more than thirty times to teach and to preach. He also started a small missions organization and wrote a number of books.