Made for the Journey by Elisabeth Elliot was a story that spun so many emotions in me. Her knowing and living her appointed way and sharing with the reader about it was powerful to me. As she moves along she shares all the Spiritual Truths that she discovered walking it out. Like her "natural" way is to not trust God but to worry instead. Also that God has given us the power to exercise our wills. He has delegated it to us. I loved this "Trust Me. Never mind the answers to the whys just now - those are Mine. Trust Me." "God's story never ends with 'ashes.'" Having also journeyed to Quito, Ecuador, this holds a special place in my heart.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I read Ms. Elliot's first book, "Through the Gates of Splendor" when I was in my mid-twenties. From that very first book, I found a great respect for her and her writings. She does more than just put words on a page. They go deep into you and teach you spiritual lessons, also reaching you on a deep emotional level. I have never read any of her books that I have not walked away with something life-changing. Therefore I was excited to read this book.

Her spiritual strength and close relationship with God is shown in following His calling to be a missionary in the jungles of Ecuador as a young woman. I guess it is my own stereotype but I picture those serving on mission fields as older. Even with her maturity venturing out so young, had to make it even more of an eye opening experience.

Culture shock does not even begin to describe her experiences there. The Colorados Indians did not request they come there and introduce Christ. It wasn't like a visiting preacher coming for a revival and hospitality abounding. I don't think we realize all the sacrifices God's servants make to do his work is such remote places. She brought it all to life, not just existing there but the gamut of emotions that she felt.

In each chapter of the book you are a companion to Elizabeth as you walk beside her experiencing different parts of her work and all she saw and did. My favorite chapter was "Jungle Housekeeping". All food and drinking water was a laborious task, not just from obtaining it but also to protect themselves against nasty diseases and parasites. And there is more. They had to live in primitive, dirty places forever prey to wild animals and un-American bugs. Travel was precarious at best and they were oddities as white women in the strange land. They faced death and medical emergencies in the most primitive conditions and which they had no training for. To add to all the work and distractions she had to learn the language not only to communicate but to write a Bible for the Colorados. They had no written language!

As I put myself in her place I felt exhausted, discouraged and at times frightened. Yet she and her fellow missionaries served with all their hearts. Here Christians in America have conveniences and comforts beyond what they need, yet if problems arise or busy times, their church attendance suffers! Shame on us! This is an incredible read you won't want to miss.

I received this book from Revell Publishing in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have stated are my own.

Elisabeth Elliot is a name that is known and loved among most Christians today so when I got this opportunity to read and review one of her books, I jumped at it and I am so thankful that I did. Mrs. Elliot's writing style is so straightforward, commonsense, and yet incredibly engaging. The emotions she expresses and the everyday events (everyday for a missionary, that is ) that she describes are so relatable. Funny and sad, difficult and encouraging, she experiences the gamut of emotion. And then the spiritual truths she brings out and the lessons she learns during this time were so apt not only for me, but I would say for every believer in their Christian walk. The lesson of living each day by faith, trusting that the Lord knows best and will faithfully lead us on the path that will be the best for us and bring the most glory to Him. I cannot recommend this book highly enough! Just go read it for yourself.

I will say that Mrs. Elliot does not use the KJV exclusively which is my preference.

*Disclaimer: I received a free paperback of this from Revell in exchange for my honest review.

Made for the Journey" by Elisabeth Elliot is the true life story of her first year as a missionary in the jungles of Ecuador. She describes her first lessons in the sovereignty of God, with the echo of His crystal-clear Word resounding in her ears - "Trust Me. The answer to 'why' is Mine." As Elisabeth says, ashes are not the end of God's story. From the ashes always springs a brand new life and a fresh new beginning. Faced with numerous physical and often baffling spiritual trials, Elisabeth vividly captures the puzzles, mysteries and striking realities in the starkly primitive world in which she lived and ministered day after day. She recounts her early days in a series of poignant, deeply personal reflections on the important questions of life. Elisabeth spent countless hours meditating on why she was there. Although she knew that it was important to have a clear-cut purpose and pursue it diligently, and she was absolutely certain about God's call upon her life, she still felt rather restless and strangely uncertain at times. Faced with the severe trials and tribulations of life in the Ecuadorian jungle, Elisabeth learnt that the familiar became like dreams, and the former dreams became familiar. Later, she realized that this was an integral part of the process of letting go of her previous life to embark wholeheartedly on a brand new God-inspired mission. Elisabeth prayed for divine wisdom, the power to understand and the grace to grow. She learnt that missionary work needs a very strong, resilient faith. That she persevered courageously is a remarkable testimony to her Christian dedication, commitment and unswerving obedience to God.

Sit on a wooden bench (behind a goat) for a day long bus ride through the Andes. When the bus stops, the only way forward in 1952 is to rent a horse for an excursion over steep mountain trails with muddy puddles up to your knees. You'll know you've reached the village of San Miguel de los Colorados because the large clearing before you is ringed by a number of small housesand because your fellow missionaries open their doors in greeting.

This was the inauspicious beginning to Elisabeth Elliot's famous missionary career. Those who have read Shadow of the Almighty or seen the Life Magazine accounts of her husband's brutal death at the hands of an unreached people group know that Elliot became a sought after public speaker and her words reached literally millions via print and radio ministries. With her perfect diction, ironic humor, and crisp, no-nonsense delivery of gospel truth, she set the course for my following life and has influenced my teaching and my parenting like no one else, and yet her on-ramp to ministry was beset by disappointment and confusion and was characterized by nothing that would point to a future of success or influence.

These Strange Ashes was originally published in 1979, and when I read it during my early mothering years, it quickly became my favorite of Elisabeth Elliot's books, partly because of its realistic portrayal of the mundane (and sometimes simply boring!) nature of ministry life, and partly because of the titular reference to a poem in which Amy Carmichael writes about the experience of personal suffering that seems to come to nothing:

"But these strange ashes, Lord, this nothingness,

This baffling sense of loss?"

I hear in the anguished question a howl that expresses a broken heart and empty hands, but Elisabeth is quick to point out the "mysterious exchange" by which we offer this emptiness to God and receive back from Him the gift of Himself. Following the death of John Chau and in a season in which many believers seem to be disappointed that salvation has not arrived on Air Force One, Revell has re-released Elisabeth's deeply personal account of her first year as a missionary under a new title, Made for the Journey: One Missionary's First Year in the Jungles of Ecuador with a foreword by Kay Warren. In a world in which Twitter and YouTube can bestow celebrity status upon anyone, it becomes a holy experience to read about "calling" in the sense that God "calls people who believe in Him to [go to] others who do not." This "going" may be beset by what looks for all the world like "downward mobility" and, in Elisabeth's case, entailed a good bit of what she referred to as "jungle housekeeping," the making of a safe and livable dwelling in the midst of amoeba infested waters, plain and monotonous food choices, and often deep loneliness.

Taken from journal accounts and her own memory of her young adult self, Elliot comes across as restless and uncertain. Her evangelical roots have led her to expect that her "calling and election being sure," she should expect resounding success in the jungle success being defined as a written language for the people, a Bible translation in their brown hands, and a line up of converts to be trained and discipled. What she found instead was a self-sufficient people group, hidden from white culture and content to stay that way, who may have been living in "bondage, sorrow, and night," but were not interested, "not in the least, in our definition of liberation."

Confronted with four stunning set backs to her ministry in the jungles of Ecuador, it began to appear to Elisabeth that God had failed her. Given the opportunity to prove Himself strong before the Colorados, He chose to work in quiet and incomprehensible ways that looked, to Elisabeth's young eyes, like the silence of betrayal. Those who struggle with the mysterious ways of God or who have experienced the anger and disappointment of feeling as if God is not to be trusted will find a surprising voice of comfort and collegiality in Elisabeth Elliot's long, slow wait: waiting for help from the nationals with reducing their language to print, waiting for the local population to trust the missionary presence, waiting for a commitment from her fiance, Jim Elliot, that would allow them to marry and minister together.

When God does not "cooperate" with our vision of success or yield to our will for Him, the believer is left to yield her own will to a story arc that may eventually untangle itself in the passing of yearsor it may not. In characteristic Elisabeth Elliot fashion, the veteran missionary looks back with clear eyes on her youthful disappointment and derives bracing counsel for us in our days of uncertainty.

Whether or not God chooses to reveal His plans to us, "faith, prayer, and obedience are our requirements. We are not offered in exchange immunity and exemption from the world's woes. What we are offered has to do with another world altogether." Our assignment, then, becomes a fierce cooperation with God that brings our hearts into alignment with His to the point that this other world becomes more valuable to us than the one we can see with our own eyes.

Many thanks to Revell for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which, of course, is offered freely and with honesty.