By Elisabeth Elliot OM Publishing. 270 pages
Elisabeth Elliot is well-known as the author of Through Gates of Splendour, the story of the martyrdom at the hands of Auca Indians in Ecuador of five missionaries, among whom was her husband, Jim. She subsequently worked at Bible translation among the same Indian tribe, with her three-year old daughter, telling the story in The savage my kinsman. Since then, she has engaged in a speaking and writing ministry. Her second husband died of cancer.
Every two months she sends out a newsletter. It contains her speaking engagements, articles on contemporary topics, maybe a recommended book, and a 'lead article' to cheer, encourage and challenge her readers. This book is a compilation of these lead articles.
The articles are seldom more than a page or two long. They are easy to read, being written in a fairly personal style. Some are reflections on incidents in her life, others are insights into a Bible story or accounts of present-day Christians (a Russian prisoner of conscience or a woman born without legs). They are grouped into sections such as 'Faith for the Unexplained', 'God's Curriculum', 'Our Culture in Controversy', and 'The Christian Home'. Among them are some that are profoundly moving, many that convict, others that argue a biblical case, some that offer practical advice. Above all, the principal theme is learning to know God better. They are full of Christ, full of the Bible and full of refreshing Christian common sense. Elisabeth Elliot has accepted the varied experiences of her life as given by God and her readers benefit from her reflections. To dismiss these articles as brief and easy devotional reading overlooks the fact that they deal succinctly with profound truths.
