Hearts for the Harvest

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Hearts for the Harvest

Inviting Global Missions to Our Table

Jayn Parenti

Now Available for Pre-order!

Publication Date: November 10, 2026

Let these recipes and stories warm your heart and fuel your passion

Hearts for the Harvest isn’t an ordinary cookbook. It’s an inspiring collection of recipes and stories that bring faith and food together around your table. Travel around the world with 38 missionary families—from South Africa to Brazil, from Albania to Thailand—and invite the beauty of different cultures and foods into your home. Each chapter follows a simple rhythm. Readers will travel to new countries, learn about the regions, meet missionaries who are planting seeds of faith, and taste local dishes from their kitchens.

Filled with easy recipes and meaningful ways to connect with and pray for global workers, Hearts for the Harvest is perfect for families and small groups. Along the way, expect teachable moments and a growing appetite for God’s heart for the nations. Bring the world to your table and let your heart grow for the world God loves.

Endorsements

If you travel the world, it won’t take long to discover that food is a rich part of a country’s culture and heritage. Gathering around a meal opens opportunities for hospitality and allows one to learn the history and heart of their hosts. Even more importantly, as Christians, these times of feasting provide opportunities for honest conversations about the gospel as we point others to the Bread of Life. In her book Hearts for the Harvest, Jayn Parenti has woven together the strands of missionary biography, cultural travelogue, and delicious recipes, providing readers with a volume through which they can travel the world, pray for the work of missionaries serving in various corners of the globe, and taste the nations!

Ryan MartinDirector of Missions and Operations, Lightbearers MinistriesAuthor of Holding the Rope: How the Local Church Can Care for Its Sent Ones
Written by the daughter of gifted missionary parents who served in the Philippines, Hearts for the Harvest: Inviting Global Missions to Our Table, by Jayn Parenti, is truly a one-of-a-kind publication! Her idea of blending missionaries’ testimonies and details of the countries in which they serve with recipes for meals enjoyed in their respective culinary cultures is not only unique but unprecedented! As a culinary specialist herself, with a passion to see people reached for the Lord Jesus Christ worldwide, she has researched and meticulously described these international recipes that are enjoyed by both the missionaries described and the people who reside in the various countries to which God has called them. This book will nourish both body and soul as you enjoy its delicious recipes and rejoice over what God is doing through faithful missionaries, whom he has called to proclaim and explain the gospel, edify new believers, and fulfill their responsibility to implement Christ's final command (Matt 28:19–20).

David R. Nicholas, ThDPresident, Shasta Bible College & Graduate School
Knowing Jayn Parenti and her husband since 2007, we have seen her heart for the nations, as well as her desire to feed and host people well! Growing up as a missionary kid herself, she loves and “holds the rope” well for those on the front lines who are daily living their lives so others around them can meet Jesus and grow in him. I have been on the receiving end of her delicious meals dozens of times, from recipes all over the world, and can always taste the love that she throws into each dish! This book will be a great tool for families, homeschool groups, community groups, and schools to use as they learn about different cultures, pray for the people, and taste the food from those countries! What an amazing gift this is to the body of Christ! As Matthew 9:38 says, “Lord of the harvest, we pray that you send out laborers into your harvest field.” Praying that this book is a tool for heaven to be even more crowded.

Pastor Lee and Ruth EpsteinNew Heights Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas