On 15 June one of the most influential Christians of our time, Elisabeth Elliot, died at the age of 88.
She was born Elisabeth Howard in Brussels in 1926 to missionary parents and had four brothers and one sister. Her family moved to the US. A very bright girl, she studied Classical Greek at Wheaton College with the intention of becoming a Bible translator.
It was at Wheaton that she met Jim Elliot, and married him in 1953 in the city of Quito, Ecuador. She is perhaps best remembered for her work with the Auca Indians of Ecuador. Her husband Jim and several other missionaries were killed during an outreach to the Aucas. She and her daughter later spent some years living among the very people who had murdered her husband. Two Auca women taught the tribe’s language to Mrs Elliot and her fellow missionary, Rachel Saint. This led to many of the Aucas coming to Christ.
