Philip James Elliot

Jim Elliot (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/00/Jim_Elliot.JPG)

A man of faith, courage, and love for the unsaved, my hero was such a man. Jim Elliot was born in Oregon in 1927. During his youth many missionaries visited his family’s home impacting his decision later in life. Elliot excelled in architectural drawing and acting while at Benson Polytechnic High School and was urged to enter the professional theater. It was here when his talent of preaching began to shine through. Elliot taught at many youth groups while attending Wheaton College. One summer he visited Mexico and stayed with a missionary family for six weeks where he felt his first calling to South America. While working with a former missionary in Norman, he heard of the feared Auca Indian tribe. Immediately felt called to minister to them in the depths of South America, and after ten days of praying his course was set. A statistic that challenged him in his decision for mission outreach was, "There is one Christian worker for every 50,000 people in foreign lands, while there is one to every 500 in the United States." He left everything behind, his good education and bright future, to reach people for Christ. Elliot knew that this is what God called him to do and he obeyed with his entire heart.

The journey began on February 4, 1952 when Jim and two other missionaries headed for Ecuador. During his linguistic training he learned more about the Auca tribe. He longed to bring the gospel to those secluded people. As a result he started a plan called Operation Auca. After locating the tribe, he and five other men flew in to set up camp on the banks of the Curray River, “Palm Beach,” to try to share the gospel with the Aucas and translate the Scriptures into their language. After successfully communicating with three Aucas, they suddenly turned hostile towards the missionaries. Within only a few days at Palm Beach Auca warriors murdered the five men that had come to share with them the truth of the Gospel. Although the missionaries brought guns, not a single Auca was harmed. Even though those five men were unsuccessful in bringing any of the tribe to Christ they showed the love of Jesus to them and made a way for other missionaries to witness to them.

Jim Elliot gave his life trying to save the Auca tribe. He knew that God called every Christian to proclaim the gospel to all nation, and he did that very thing right to the end. After that tragic day more missionaries, including one of the sons of the murdered missionaries have gone and shared the gospel with the Auca tribe. What those five men sacrificed their life for has now been fulfilled. Jim Elliot gave his life over to God with these words “Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.” This is what I want for my life. I pray that I could have the faith and courage of Jim Elliot to trust God with my life so I can do his will without fear.