I felt led to read this book-like, God actually told me to. (Oh no, the air conditioning is out in the sanctuary again. Reading about this indefatigable literary man carrying his books of poetry in one hand and a sharpened machete in the other, battling malaria and sleeping in mud…well, it put into perspective the things that frustrate me as a 21st-century middle-class American pastor. Once in the mission field he regales us with vivid descriptions of building schools and houses and traipsing through jungles to deliver supplies and good news to primitive Ecuadoran villages.
On campus, he was combination Eddie Haskell and Billy Graham: the boy every mother (and girl) adores and the guy no one wants to see at parties because he’ll start droning on (and on and on) about the power of the gospel to change lives. We have Elisabeth to thank for bringing his thoughts and life to light, revealing to us what a unique man of God he was.Įven as a young undergraduate at Wheaton, Jim was immersed in his study of Greek and Hebrew like a scholar, and eager to do mission work with his burgeoning language skills. He was an explosion of spiritual energy that lit up the sky but then disappeared before anyone could notice. The result is a unique sort of biography with almost little of Elisabeth’s voice, composed entirely around Jim’s reflections and prayers-words he never thought would see the light of day, let alone mass publication.īut aren’t we glad they did. The story of the Huaorani’s conversion is told in “Through Gates of Splendor.” But the prequel to that book is this one, “Shadow of the Almighty.” Following his death, Elisabeth compiled her late husband’s journals and letters to render the account of his short life in his own words. Overwhelmed by her perseverance, many in the village gave her and others a hearing and came to believe in the God who would create in her such an ability to forgive them for murdering her husband. His new bride, Elisabeth, took up the cause and returned to the tribe to offer forgiveness and give the mission another go. Elliot was a Christian missionary who, along with his four companions, was stabbed through the heart by the spear of a Huaorani tribesman in Ecuador, in 1956. Like many of you, I had heard of Jim Elliot but never read the books. He is no fool who reads “The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot.” Book Report: “Shadow of the Almighty” by Elisabeth Elliot
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