Made For The Journey by Elisabeth Elliot // Book Review

Made for the Journey: One Missionary's First Year in the Jungles of  Ecuador

  by Elisabeth Elliot

In this deeply personal account of her first year as a missionary, Elisabeth Elliot shares the challenges she faced as she worked in the jungles of Ecuador to bring the Word of God to a people virtually untouched by the outside world. With fascinating detail, she captures the stark realities of life in the jungle, the difficulties she encountered while developing a written language for the tribe, and her confusion when God didn't "cooperate" with her efforts to accomplish what she believed was His will.

More than just a memoir, Made for the Journey is a beautifully crafted and deeply personal reflection on the important questions of life and a remarkable testimony to authentic Christian obedience to an unfathomable God.

I signed up to be part of Revell's book team and the first opportunity to review was this wonderful book by Elisabeth Elliot.

Jim and Elisabeth Elliot have always been such amazing people to me. Their story, their faith; it's simply incredible and not humanly possible. I have read Shadow of the Almighty and have Through Gates of Splendor sitting on my shelf. 

Made For The Journey, previously titled These Strange Ashes, is the same Elliot faith that I've read in other places. Elisabeth was human. She struggled with impatience, doubt, questioning God, but she also was secure in her calling. Ultimately, her questioning brought her closer to her Father. 

I read about the things she witnessed and experienced and I know that I could not do those things. God gives everyone different gifts and mine are not suited to missionary life. 

This book is about Elisabeth's first year as a missionary in Ecuador. She was not yet married to Jim and she was working on a written language for the Colorado Indians. To me, it seems not a very auspicious start. If I were a missionary, I'd be pretty discouraged and she was, at times. But she says that the lessons she learned that first year were crucial for the things she'd face later in life. 

We don't always have the benefit of hindsight, but sometimes, God gives a reason for an event, a trial, or something that we didn't like and questioned Him on. It's happened in my life and to some degree, it happened to Elisabeth. She could look back and see God preparing her for other things, things she had no inkling of in the moment.

Thank you, Revell, for providing a free copy of this book for me to review!