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Line 1: − + − Jim was a graduate of [[Wheaton college]] and known for his prolific journaling and strong Christian study.+ + − + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + −
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'''Jim Elliot''' was a [[missionary]] [[martyr]] killed while trying to reach the [[Waodani]], an extremely violent tribe found in [[Ecuador]] that was previously unreached and on the brink of extinction. Feeling a strong calling from God to reach them with the good news of [[Jesus Christ]], he and four other missionaries made the ultimate sacrifice in January 1956 when they lost their lives. Jim was 28 years old. The story was told in [[Life Magazine]] and energized a new generation of [[Christians]] for the mission field. The Waodani would later be [[evangelized]] and give up their killing ways through the work of the wives of the murdered missionaries. Jim Elliott was survived by his wife, [[Elisabeth Elliott|Elisabeth]], and his daughter, Valerie, not quite 1 year old at the time of his death.
'''Philip James "Jim" Elliot''' (October 8, 1927 – January 8, 1956) was an [[United States|American]] [[Protestant]] [[missionary]] who worked in eastern [[Ecuador]]. He was killed, along with four other missionaries, by [[Waodani]] Indians while trying to evangelize them.
==Early life==
Elliot was born in [[Portland, Oregon]], the third of four children. His parents were devout Christians and taught their children about the Bible. Elliot because a Christian at the age of six.
He famously wrote in his journal: <blockquote>"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."</blockquote>
Elliot attended Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland. Upon graduation in 1945, he entered [[Wheaton College]], near [[Chicago, Illinois]]. Feeling the call of God to enter mission work to primitive tribes, he majored in [[Greek]] to assist in translating the Bible into a new language. It was also at Wheaton that Elliot met Elisabeth Howard, his future wife.
Jim graduated from Wheaton in 1949 and immediately began preparations for going to the mission field. At the time he believed very strongly in celibacy, and wanted to find another single man to go with him to Ecuador. He originally wanted to go with his college friend, Ed McCully, but when McCully married, Elliot went with Pete Fleming instead. (The McCullys would later move to Ecuador as well.)
==Ministry in Ecuador==
Elliot and Fleming arrived in Ecuador on February 21, 1952. They first lived in [[Quito]], the capital city, where they completed their Spanish training. Then they moved into the jungles on the eastern side of the [[Andes Mountains]]. These lands make up the headwaters of the [[Amazon River]]. Here they used an abandoned Shell Oil Company base, Shandia, as their mission outpost, where they ministered to [[Quechua]] Indians]].
Soon after his arrival in Ecuador, Elisabeth Howard arrived as well as a single missionary. After careful consideration, Elliot abandoned his previous convictions regarding celibacy. They were married on Jim's birthday in 1953, and after a brief honeymoon in [[Panama]] and [[Costa Rica]], they returned to Shandia to work as a couple. Fleming was also married a short time later and relocated to another mission station.
In Septermber 1955, missionary pilot Nate Saint first discovered the Waodani, a previously uncontacted tribe that lived deep in the jungle. They were known for their violence against both their own people, and foreigners who entered their land. (The Waodani were known at the time as "Aucas", a Quechua word meaning "naked ones" or "savages".) Saint made his discovery known to Elliot and Fleming, and an effort to reach them was materialized. These efforts became known as "Operation Auca".
Sain was able to land his small bush plane on a 650 foot sandbar along the Curaray River in Waodani territory. There, Elliot and the four other men set up a camp hoping to make peaceful contact with the natives. This occured on January 6, when three Waodani emerged from the jungle.
Then two days later on January 8, the Waodani returned in greater numbers. The men were ambushed on the beach and all five were killed. Elliot's body was later recovered from the Curaray River with a chanta wood spear through his abdomen. He was burried nearby with three other of the missionaries.
==Legacy==
The deaths of the five men envigorated the missionary effort in the United States. The story gained national media attention, being told in [[Life Magazine]] (in a 10 page photo essay) and in [[Reader's Digest]] to name a few. A year after the events, Elliot's widow, Elisabeth, told the story in ''Through Gates of Splendor'', a book which went on to become a natinal best-seller. She later went on to considerable fame as an author.
Elliot is also well known for leaving behind a journal which was later edited and published. In it he made a now-famous quote: <blockquote>"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."</blockquote>
==References==
* Elliot, Elisabeth. ''Through Gates of Splendor]]. (1957)
* Elliot, Elisabeth. ''Shadow of the Almighty]]. (1958)
* Elliot, Jim. ''The Journals of Jim Elliot''.
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[[Category: Missionaries]]
[[Category: Missionaries]]