Paul Esbenshade Hostetter was born in 1927 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1950, Paul received his B.A. from Wheaton College. Paul received additional training at the Missionary Training Institute in Nyack, New York, as well as a year of linguistics courses at the University of North Dakota. Paul is a graduate of Western Theological Seminary.

Paul married Winifred Hager Hostetter in 1951. A year later, their first daughter, Mary, was born. In 1953, they were appointed missionaries for the Reformed Church. Two years later, in 1955, they moved to Africa, where their second daughter, Martha, was born. From 1955-1958 they worked as missionaries in Sudan. In 1959, their third daughter, Rachel, was born. From 1960-1965, Paul and Winifred were in charge of the translation and publication responsibilities for the Literacy House in Gujranawala, Pakistan. During this time, Paul published many literary books that are contained in this collection. During the 1966-1967 school year, Winifred served as a visiting professor of Latin at Hope College, while Paul worked as field secretary for the board of World Missions. Unfortunately, Winifred became too ill to teach and was relieved of her position. She died in September, 1967, in East Lansing where Paul served as an assistant pastor.

After the death of Winifred in 1967, Paul married Dorothy Clark, and together they continued to do mission work in Chiapas, Mexico. After returning from Mexico, Paul took a call to the Crystal Cathedral as Minister of Mission and Evangelism, where they both served for five years (1980-1985). That assignment was followed by an invitation to the Reformed Bible College (now Kuyper College) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he was professor of missiology and director of field education while Dorothy served as director of admissions. This gave both Paul and Dorothy a chance to share their gifts and lengthy and varied mission experience. Hostetter continues his work in retirement at Words of Hope, where he has been assisting David Bast, the Words of Hope radio minister, since 1996.

This collection consists primarily of Paul Hostetter's literary publications from 1960-1965, while in West Pakistan. In addition, a compact disc (CD) containing 17 images of Hostetter and his work in Sudan, Chiapas, his family, Reformed Bible College (now Kuyper College), and Pakistan, as well as many letters of condolence addressed to Hostetter and his three daughters after the passing of Winifred on September 30, 1967, in Sparrow Hospital of Lansing, Michigan.

This collection is arranged alphabetically according to the topic of the book. Letters of condolence written to Paul and his daughters, after Winifred's death, are included at the end of the collection. All materials are in Urdu unless otherwise noted.