Jim Elliott Kyla Usher 12th grade Jim Elliot was a zealous Christian missionary who evangelized to the people of Ecuador. Jim grew up in Portland, Oregon, and trusted in Christ as his Savior when he was just a little boy. After graduating high school, Jim Elliot went to Wheaton College, and his burden for the inhabitants of Central America grew stronger. However, after graduating college, Jim wasn’t clear of God’s will for his life, so in 1950 he moved to Oklahoma to study unwritten languages at the Summer Institute of Linguistics, and it was there that he felt God was leading him to minister to the people of Ecuador. Jim Elliot’s Accomplishments Jim Elliot’s life and testimony affected the Christian church in many positive ways. He evangelized the Auca Indians and led many of them to Christ. Despite the danger Jim faced, he continued in his journey to witness to the Ecuadorian people because he knew that was God’s will for his life. Because of this, Jim Elliot inspired several people to go into the mission field, and his story is still affecting the lives of missionaries today. While on his journey, Jim Elliot wrote journals and letters, many of which were published. These journals tell of his life while in Ecuador and the different experiences he encountered. These writings still help people to have a firm foundation in Christ and to grow in Him. Jim’s faith encourages Christians to face their fears with courage and the belief that God knows what’s best for us. In 1927, Jim Elliot was born in Portland, Oregon to his mother Clara, and his father, Fred. Clara was a chiropractor and Fred was a minister. Jim was not the only sibling, but instead one of four kids. Robert was the first born, Herbert was the second, Jim was the third, and Jane was the fourth of the Elliot family. Jim was born into a family of faith, which we see had a clear impact on him as he was saved at the early age of 6. One source states that when Jim Elliot was six, he said, “Now, mama, the Lord Jesus can come whenever He wants. He could take our whole family because I’m saved now, and Jane is too young to know Him yet.” 1 Jim Elliot began attending school in 1941 at Benson Polytechnic High School. He was very passionate about God and the Bible, and was not afraid to speak the truth and spread the gospel to his peers. In 1945, Jim travelled to Illinois where he began attending Wheaton College. While in college, his passion for Christ seemed to have grown even stronger. Jim started each morning off with a routine Bible study and prayer time.2 He also kept a journal in which he jotted down, “None of it gets to be ‘old stuff’ for it is Christ in print, the Living Word. We wouldn’t think of rising in the morning without a face-wash, but we often neglect the purgative 1 http://www.inspirationalchristians.org/biography/jim-elliot/ (921/14) 2 http://www.inspirationalchristians.org/biography/jim-elliot/ (9/21/14) cleansing of the Word of the Lord. It wakes us up to our responsibility.” 3 Jim realized the importance of studying the scripture and made sure to set aside time each morning to do so. David Howard, Jim Elliot’s college roommate, writes in his blog, ““Glory, brother! What’s your verse for today?” The powerful voice of Jim Elliot would ring out in greeting when he saw a friend across the campus of Wheaton College. His idea was to challenge the friend to respond with what God had given to him in his personal devotions earlier that morning. Jim assumed that others should start each day with God, just as he himself did.” 4 In David’s blog, he recalled that Jim’s passion for the Lord often made the people around him nervous, fearing that they might be challenged by Jim to discuss their morning’s devotions. During Jim’s college years, he took part in several activities such as public speaking, wrestling and becoming the president of an organization called the Student Foreign Missions Fellowship. The goal of this group was to encourage students to join the foreign missions commitment. In the summer of 1947, Jim and his friend, Ron Harris, decided to spend six weeks of the summer in Mexico, where they spent a lot of time working with a resident missionary family. He also used his time in Mexico to study and become familiar with Spanish. His trips to Mexico greatly influenced his desire to become a missionary in Central America later on in life. 5 Jim’s third year of college is when he met Elisabeth, who happened to be his roommate’s sister. Previous to meeting Elisabeth, Jim felt as if girls and relationships were a huge waste of time, and that they distracted him from his relationship with God.6 This conviction burdened him as he began gaining feelings for Elisabeth, so they put their relationship on hold and decided to remain friends. After college, Jim Elliot was unsure of what the Lord wanted him to do, so from there he decided to return back home to Portland. However, in the summer of 1950, Jim felt called to attend the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Oklahoma. It was here that he learned about unwritten languages and began working with a former missionary to the Quichua Indians. Jim learned about the Auca tribe and had an immediate burden to reach the Indians of Ecuador. He began praying to God for direction as to whether he should pursue this burden or not. Sure enough, Jim felt led to reach the people of Ecuador, and so did Elisabeth Howard. On February 4, 1952, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming travelled to Ecuador, and it was on February 27th when Jim made his first of many journal entries. Around April, Elisabeth also arrived in Quito, and from there she started studying diseases and other medical matters.7 At this time, Jim and Elisabeth had already begun a courtship. In August, Jim had to leave Elisabeth in Quito, and from there Jim and Pete went to Shell Mera where the Mission Aviation Fellowship Station was located. Shortly after an aerial search of the Oriente territory, Jim and Pete decided to move in the jungle to a place called Shandia where the Shandia Station was located. Jim felt like this was exactly where he needed to be to witness to the Quichua Indians. A year later in 1953, Jim and Elisabeth met together in Quito, and from there they got engaged. Later in that year, they got married and established their first temporary home, which was a tent located at Puyupungu. Jim and Elisabeth were able to move to Shandia together, where they had a new home constructed. Shortly after, in 1955, they had their first and only child, Valerie.8 Jim had a heart for the Aucas who lived deep in the jungle, so Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, and Nate Saint began searching for a way to reach the Indians. They took a plane and began scouting out the villages of the Auca tribe. After learning some of the language from a woman who was a former member of the tribe, they used a radio to send kind words to the Indians. The missionaries made thirteen trips, and dropped gifts in hopes of making peace with them. Some of these gifts included buttons, kettles, and photographs of each of the men. After an encouraging response from the Indians, the 5 men found a landing strip and decided to make further contact with the Auca tribe.9 3 http://www.inspirationalchristians.org/biography/jim-elliot/ (9/21/14) 4 https://urbana.org/blog/my-roommate-jim-elliot (2/25/15) 5 http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/philip-james-elliot-1834.php (2/20/15) 6 https://urbana.org/blog/my-roommate-jim-elliot (2/25/15) 7 http://www.plymouthbrethren.org/user/330 (2/20/15) 8 http://www.plymouthbrethren.org/user/330 (2/20/15) 9 http://www.plymouthbrethren.org/user/330 (2/20/15) On January 2, 1956, the men landed on Palm Beach where they made a shelter and gathered up supplies. It was here that they made their first face to face interaction with the Auca Indians. Four days after landing, two Auca women and one man came out of the jungle and spoke to the missionaries. The young man, who they came to know as George, was given a ride in their airplane.10 The missionaries felt as though they had built up a trust with George, but little did they know he was actually lying to the other Indians about their intentions. Being completely unaware of George’s betrayal, they made a plan to go to the Indian village. January 8th was the day they travelled to the village. The men sent message to their wives telling them that they would radio them at 4:30 p.m. to let them know how they were doing, however; after not hearing from their husbands that day, a rescue mission took place. The U.S. military and Ecuadorian Air Force did an aerial search of the area, where they found a damaged plane. Soon after, a ground search took place.11 Jim Elliot’s body, along with three others, was found lifeless in a stream. It appeared that the men had been killed by spears and machetes.12 The rescuers, afraid of another attack by the Auca Indians, put together a quick, three minute burial in honor of the men.