For those of you who may not have heard of Elisabeth Elliot, she was the wife to one of the five missionaries who were killed in Ecuador in January 1956. You should definitely check out the stories of these 5 missionaries. There are more books including one by Steve Saint (son to one of the missionaries) called "End of the Spear" which I have not read but have seen the movie. Check it out-very good as well!
Obviously, I look up to the bravery and the obedience to the Lord that the five missionaries had. Their fervor and steadfast love for God and His people was remarkable. They risked their lives for the sake of the gospel. They did not question whether or not they should go but instead knew that God had called them to go and did not let anything stand in their way. And it also should be said, that these were pioneer missionaries. It's not the same as today...there was no furlough, skype, phone calls, etc. It was instead a complete uprooting of your entire life never to know if you'll return again...
However, God really worked in my heart while reading this book and showed me great things through the diligence of the wives of these missionaries. They went over there with infants and went through pregnancies in the jungles sometimes being without their husbands for many days while they were out on the trails. They worked hard and had very specific tasks that they were expected to accomplish. Many times they said goodbye to their husbands never knowing if they would see them again. When Elisabeth Elliot's husband, Jim, left never to return again, she remembered him rushing out of the house not looking back with a quick kiss and goodbye. It wasn't a long drawn out thing. They each had it settled in their hearts. They were obedient to the Lord immediately without hesitation.
Here are a few excerpts from her book after her husband and the other men died:
"This is the context in which the story must be understood--as one incident in human history, an incident in certain ways and to certain people important, but only one incident. God is the God of human history, and He is at work continuously, mysteriously, accomplishing His eternal purposes in us, through us, for us, and in spite of us..." (p. 263)
"It is not the level of our spirituality that we can depend on. It is God and nothing less than God, for the work is God's and the call is God's and everything is summoned by Him and to His purposes, the whole scene, the whole mess, the whole package--our bravery and our cowardice, our love and our selfishness, our strengths and our weaknesses. The God who could take a murderer like Moses and an adulterer like David and a traitor like Peter and make of them strong servants of His is a God who can also redeem savage Indians, using as the instruments of His peace a conglomeration of sinners who sometimes look like heroes and sometimes like villains, for 'we are no better than pots of earthenware to contain this treasure [the revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ], and this proves that such transcendent power does not come from us, bus is God's alone.' (2 Cor. 4:7)" (p. 267)
Barbara Youderian (wife to Roger) wrote in her diary:
"Tonight the Captain told us of his finding four bodies in the river. One had tee-shirt and blue-jeans. Roj was the only one who wore them...God gave me this verse two days ago, Psalm 48:14, 'For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our Guide even unto death.' As I came face to face with the news of Roj's death, my heart filled with praise. He was worthy of his home-going. Help me, Lord, to be both mummy and daddy. 'To know wisdom and instruction...'"
"I wrote a letter to the mission family, trying to explain the peace I have. I want to be free of self-pity. It is a tool of Satan to rot away a life. I am sure that this is the perfect will of God. Many will say, 'Why did Roj get mixed up in this, when his work was the Jivaros?' Because Roj came to do the will of Him that sent him. The Lord has closed our hearts to grief and hysteria, and filled in with His perfect peace." (p.231)
Wow! You may think I'm crazy but this began questioning in me: If something happened to Corey, how would I react? Would I allow God to still use me? Would I be like Elisabeth Elliot and others who shared the gospel with the very same people who killed my husband? Could I resist bitterness and still have love in my heart? Would I have peace?
Right now, I honestly don't know what my answers would be and unfortunately, I feel that I would not be so graceful in a situation such as this. However, it comforts me to know that the only way these women also got through this tragic situation was through God alone. I worship the same Savior and have guidance through His Spirit. I have God's Word at my fingertips and can rest in His promises. This is a challenge to me because both the missionaries and their wives constantly quoted Scripture through these events and years of work. I need to stop taking God's Word for granted and hunger for His truth and write His Words on my heart. I want to have the same kind of obedience and diligence for God's Kingdom work. I want to consider all things loss for the sake of Christ...
Philippians 3:7-11 "But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ--the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead."
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