Katharine Barnwell: How One Woman Revolutionized Bible Translation and Became the Mother of Modern Missions

What if Mother Teresa or Billy Graham lived and worked--and nobody knew their name? What if one of the most influential missionaries in all of church history went almost unnoticed?

Meet Katharine (Katy) Barnwell. Within Bible translation, she’s an absolute star. Outside of Bible translation, few have heard of her. But not even Billy Graham holds a candle to what God did through Katy.

Katy Barnwell is not only one of the greatest Bible translators to ever live. She’s one of the greatest missionaries in all of church history. Period.

All around the world, hundreds of millions of new believers read and hear Scripture in their own language because of her work, her books, and the countless translators she trained. By some estimates, about 3,000 completed or in-process Bible translations swim directly downstream of her work.

Since she rebuilt the Jesus Film Project’s methods, more than 300 million people around the world have become followers of Jesus after viewing. Her fingerprints are everywhere.

From hiding as a child from Nazi bombing raids, fleeing Civil wars, and remaining calm in the face of terrorist attacks and armed gunmen, to utterly revolutionizing every field she touched, there may be no missionary in history who matches her level of influence. And with all of this, you might be surprised just how warm, how endearing, how patient, and how feisty she is.

Her African colleagues call her Mama Katy, and for good reason. She truly is the mother of modern Bible translation. She’s the mother of modern missions.

Jordan Monson is the incoming professor of Missions and Old Testament at Huntington University. He currently serves as a senior pastor, church planter, and a PhD candidate at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Jordan is also an investigator writer at Christianity Today, regularly contributing some of their longest and most successful cover stories and print features. He and his wife Aubrey and their three sons live in Minneapolis/ St. Paul. With a bit of free time, they love to explore neighborhoods on foot or by bike, read by the fire, or spend time with their church community.