If you’ve ever been around people who love The Great Commission, you’ve likely heard the story of Jim Elliot and the four other men he died with. They went down in history as martyrs, their names and faces memorialized in many halls of fame. Anyone familiar with early stories of pioneer missionaries going to frontiers of unreached lands for the first time is usually familiar with “Operation Auca,” or the movie made about the story (End of the Spear).
Jim Elliot was a man who had fire in his heart for the lost to be given an opportunity to hear the Gospel, and went to great lengths to see this happen. After his college education, he moved to a tribal area of Ecuador in 1952. In late 1955, his team of five started making contact with the Huaorani people. Shell Oil had been making plans to wipe out this notoriously violent tribe in order to gain access to their land to drill for oil; but before that could happen, this group of missionaries sought to attempt making peaceful contact with them.
Over a few months, they had some promising, friendly encounters with the Quechua Indians they wanted to reach. They dropped gifts of useful supplies to the tribe from an airplane to state their peace, and eventually flew there themselves. The team’s first attempt to make contact went well initially, the tribe received their gifts and seemed welcoming. But after two days, some members of the tribe returned with spears to attack and kill all five men. Jim gave his life alongside four of his brothers to plant a seed for the Gospel to go forth in that land, the blood of martyrs as a seed for the church.
Very inspiring, undoubtedly.
But I’d add there’s one person whose humble life held twice the power but received half the glory. This person also happens to be the reason why we even have Jim’s story. Her name was Elisabeth Elliot. (Yes, she was his wife.)
Elisabeth Elliot endured more suffering than most of us will ever even have to imagine, and came out brighter than most of us will ever shine.
If you’ve heard of her, you likely know her as an author of the many wonderful books she published. But the story of her own life behind the scenes is something anyone who longs to follow Jesus wholeheartedly can take a lesson from.
Elisabeth studied classical Greek and the scriptures to become a Bible translator, and moved to the field in Ecuador as a single, 25-year-old woman. Jim was her first love, she prayed for him for years before they finally married in the jungles of South America. When he was killed, not only was she grieving the loss of her beloved husband after only two years of marriage, but she was left alone with their newborn baby in the barbaric nation where he was killed.
Any sane person in this situation would take their baby home to safety to be surrounded with community and family while grieving the loss of their spouse, right?
Not her.
What Elisabeth did after Jim’s death is one of the most awe-inspiring stories I’ve ever heard.
As soon as he died, she immediately inherited all the duties of their collective ministry. In an instant, all the responsibilities of both home and work (they ran a school together) fell on her shoulders. I’m sure many would call this foolishness, claiming no person could carry all this alone, not to mention while grieving a late spouse and caring for a baby. The weight of what she went through sounds entirely unbearable—if not for God. There’s only one answer for how she was able to not only endure through this, but actually flourish and become very fruitful: She was deeply attuned to the miraculous power of God. She came out of this wilderness leaning on her Beloved,[1] casting her burdens onto Him.[2]
Her first two books were written during this time, Through Gates Of Splendor and Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot. Not even two years after the killings, she and Rachel Saint (the sister of one of the other men who was killed) had learned the Huao language, and traveled into the jungle to live with the very people who killed their husband and brother.
Of course, many would think this insane, reckless, and foolish. I’m familiar with the kinds of criticisms and warnings Elisabeth would’ve heard. But she had one thing at the forefront of her mind, and resolved “as long as this is what the Lord requires of me, then all else is irrelevant.”
Elisabeth and Rachel Saint labored in love amongst this tribe through brutal conditions physically, mentally, and emotionally. By 1960, many people among the tribe had accepted Christ and made the decision to follow Him. I can’t fathom the grit these women must have had to be able to finish what those five men started. I can guess a few reasons why the tribes may have been more receptive to them than they were to the team of men who tried first, chief among them being the unfathomable forgiveness and mercy they were walking in to even step foot there.
Years later, many of these Auca (meaning “savage”) Indians—including some of the killers of those five men—decided to follow Jesus and reconciled with the families of those they killed. This extraordinary story of redemption and forgiveness could have only been written by the God of offensive mercy. For these women to not only forgive the murderers of their family members, but to then pour their lives out in love for them, they had to be exceptionally surrendered to the Holy Spirit.
I can just imagine Elisabeth looking at the very faces of the men who brutally killed her husband and the father of her child, and threw his body in a river. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good; to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”[3]
In 1961, Elisabeth published the book The Savage My Kinsman. You can guess what that one is about.
None of us would argue that it’s difficult to die for Christ. Having the bravery to give your life as a martyr is powerful and honorable. The only thing I can think of that’s more difficult than dying as a sacrifice for Him, is living as a sacrifice for Him. When I think about the story of what these two women did to pour out their lives as an offering to God, I think of Paul’s words to the church in Romans: “I appeal to you, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice to God.”[4] The bravery of dying as a martyr is intense, but it’s momentary. Once you die, you pass on to glory and are free from the pain and trials of this life. But perseverance in the face of continual loss and suffering, year after year choosing to give your body as a living sacrifice every moment you breathe—that is an incomparable fragrance of worship to our God.
Thirteen years after she lost her first love, Elisabeth finally remarried. Only four years after marrying her second husband, he died of cancer. The titles of her books are just a tiny window into the oil that came out of her life during those times of crushing: Suffering Is Never For Nothing, Faith That Does Not Falter, God’s Guidance: A Slow And Certain Light, and so many more.
Her life painted an astounding picture of the verse she said she clung to during those dark days, reminding us of His unfailing nearness: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”[5]
Most of us won’t die as martyrs in the face of savage persecution. Most of us will go through our lives trying to stay faithful through bouts of disappointment, suffering, or day to day discouragement. Testimonies like Elisabeth’s and countless others who’ve clung to the Holy Spirit through hell and high-water remind us it’s possible to not only endure, but to find and reflect His triumphant glory in this life.
Autumn Crew is the Managing Editor of FAI Publishing. She lives in the Middle East and serves a number of disciple-making initiatives. She can be reached at autumncrew@faimission.org.
[1] Song of Songs 8:5
[2] 1 Peter 5:7
[3] Genesis 50:20
[4] Romans 12:1
[5] Isaiah 43:2