Love Sacrifices: Elisabeth Elliott (1926-2015)

During this Valentine’s week we are jumping into the lives of incredible Christians who showed God’s love in huge ways. Today we’re going to learn about a woman named Elisabeth Elliott.

Elisabeth Elliott was a well-known missionary, author and speaker. Her journey started by walking into the jungles of Ecuador with her husband Jim as missionaries. They lived with the Quecha tribe, telling them about Jesus.

Llamas in the mountains of Ecuador

But they wanted to do more. They heard of a tribe called the Waodani that was known to be violent. As they reached out to the Waodani, it didn’t go well. Five missionaries, including her husband, were killed by the tribe.

Two year later Elisabeth returned to the Waodani tribe with her small daughter, Valerie, choosing to forgive those that killed her husband. She and her friend Rachel Saint lived among the Waodani people hoping that by their forgiveness they might be able to tell them about Jesus.

And they listened! Many in the tribe came to believe in Jesus after seeing their courage and love for them. Elisabeth even helped to create a writing system for the Waodani language which started the process for a New Testament translation years later.

Upon returning to the United States, Elisabeth did a lot of writing and speaking for the next 40 years, telling her stories of struggle and how God never failed her to others.

Jesus told us to love our enemies and this is exactly what Elisabeth did! Even in her deep pain, Elisabeth chose forgiveness and love.