Elizabeth Elliot. For some, the name calls to mind her many books – Shadow of the Almighty, Passion and Purity, Through Gates of Splendor, and The Savage my Kinsman among others. For others the name is associated with the story of her first husband, Jim, killed by a tribe in Ecuador. Some may have heard Elizabeth speak at a conference. Some love and admire her, finding in Elizabeth a hero to be emulated. Others cringe and recoil at her name, finding her writings on purity and womanhood to be “restrictive.”
Before reading Becoming Elizabeth Elliot, I knew of her vaguely. I knew her as the wife of Jim Elliot. I knew that she was the woman who had gone back to be a missionary to the very tribe that had killed her husband. I knew her as the author of Passion and Purity (and other books, though, to my shame I have yet to read Shadow of the Almighty). I knew her as someone admired by those I admire, and someone I should probably read about (hence the reason this book made its way onto my summer reading list).
Now that I have finished this book, I know Elizabeth (Betty) Elliot as a woman of faith, courage, drive, mistakes, and failures. She was strong and strong-willed. She loved the Lord and desired always to follow his will.
Ellen Vaughn is a compelling storyteller. In Becoming Elizabeth Elliot, she weaves facts and anecdotes together with quotes from Betty’s journals and letters and interviews with family and friends. She uses these to craft a narrative that draws you in, bringing the person of Elizabeth Elliot more and more to life with each page turned.
Elizabeth Elliot was deeply devoted to the Lord. From a young age, habits and routines were built into her life that allowed this devotion to grow and become deeply rooted in her life. Her family life was highly structured, to a degree that may feel excessive to us now. But Elizabeth expressed a deep appreciation for this part of her upbringing (page 22). It taught her that the ordinary and mundane faithfulness laid a foundation for obedience in the larger things (page 11).
Her journals show that throughout her life, she was deeply dependent on God…in every step. One place in her life where this shows the most clearly is in the years between when she first met Jim Elliot and when they finally got married. Throughout the process, her journals show a heart that loved Jim deeply and desperately wanted to marry him. And yet she loved God so much more than Jim that she was willing to give up her desire for marriage if the Lord would call her to it. “In this tendency, Betty Howard was the opposite of those of us who’ve thrown ourselves completely open to people who may or may not be trustworthy, yet have held God, the Lover of our souls, at a discreet and dispassionate arm’s length” (page 75). Perhaps it was the trial of waiting for the Lord to bring about her marriage to Jim in his timing that prepared her heart to let him go (though certainly not without pain) when she was asked to. Her devotion to the Lord took first priority in her life.
Betty was influenced by many of the missionaries of history that I have long admired. She learned from the lives of John and Betty Stam that to follow Christ means death. For the Stams, this was indeed physical death. For Elizabeth’s husband Jim, this was also certainly physical death. But for many others throughout history, the cost of following Christ is a death of a different kind – a death to self, a death to desires and plans, a death to pleasure and comfort and safety. For Elizabeth it did not mean loosing her own life, but it did indeed involve loosing one who was very, very dear to her. The lesson learned here could be summed up in the words of another missionary hero of Elizabeth’s, Amy Carmichael: “Missionary life is simply a chance to die” (page 41). The stark words force me to stop and consider – am I willing to die? Am I willing to lose everything to follow where I believe the Lord is calling me?
Elizabeth was driven and courageous. How many women would pack up their baby daughter and travel deep into the jungle to live with the very tribe that had killed her husband? I don’t think very many women would do it – but that is exactly what Elizabeth felt God was calling her to do and so she followed his call courageously. Even as she mourned the loss of her husband and wondered how she could go on, she could not escape the call of God on her life to return to the tribe and try to speak the gospel to them (pages 169-170). She did not give up when it was hard, or when her work was lost and she had to start anew. She knew what God had called her to do and she was devoted to it. Her courage and inner strength shine forth brightly from the pages of this book.
Ellen Vaughn writes very positively of Elizabeth, but she doesn’t shy away from some of the “ugly” in her life either. There is certainly much to admire, but Elizabeth’s journals reveal a woman who was far from perfect. The most striking of these moments would have to be the ongoing conflict between Elizabeth and Rachel Saint. Both women desired the Waodani people to hear the gospel and be transformed by it. Both wanted to work on the translation of the Bible into the tribal language. And yet, for some reason, these two women hated one another and refused to learn to work together. They were constantly in competition, to the point that Betty ended up leaving the tribe because she could not work with Rachel. There was back stabbing and harsh words and a general lack of Christian love for one another. These moments in the book remind me not to place anyone – past or present – on a pedestal of perfection. No human being can be perfect. There are wonderful lessons to learn from the things Elizabeth did well, but there are also lessons to learn from the ways she messed up. It saddens me that she and Rachel could never work through their differences to work with one another for the goal of Waodani salvation. I hope that I can practice Christian love and charity toward those around me so that I can work in ministry even with those with whom I may disagree in certain things.
After reading this book I feel like I know Elizabeth Elliot for who she is, rather than just “the wife of Jim Elliot.” Elizabeth Elliot can now join the long line of missionaries of the past who have influenced me in some way. The faith and courage of Elizabeth Elliot are, in my opinion, most worthy of emulation. I desire to cultivate that kind of devotion to the Lord that will carry me through whatever difficulties may come my way.
Vaughn, Ellen. Becoming Elizabeth Elliot. Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2020.