Review: Becoming Elisabeth Elliot

A review of the first of two volumes, an authorized biography of Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughan.

I picked up this book via NetGallery’s review system, for two reasons:

• I am looking for written works I can turn into competitive speech scripts for my high school students; and
• I have an interest in Elisabeth Elliot.

Honestly, it was the name of the writer which drew me, because I’ve read different works of Ellen Vaughan since seminary. I found her writing easy to follow in the past, and I thought well, she could help bring Elliot to life for me.

I’ve heard about Elliot for years. Fellow classmates passed around her Passion and Purity book and other works as we attended school in the mid-90s. Honestly, something turned me off of Elliot – she seemed two perfect, too much of a Proverbs 31 woman. She didn’t seem real.

I was also working in Christian publishing when Steve Saint wrote his book about the five missionaries (which included his father) so I had a chance to see him in person during a conference. – Which ultimately also peaked my interest in Vaughn’s work.

While some of her thoughts (as expressed by Vaughn) still turn me off, I have a greater understanding of Elliot and her life in the Amazon Jungles. I admire her, because she never gave up – and because she followed her gifts of writing which led her to a whole other unexpected ministry.

I really enjoyed reading her story, and I’m looking forward to the second volume which will examine her life after the jungle.

Reading this has led me to take a small deep dive into her writings – I’m now reading Through the Gates of Splendor and potentially a few other works surrounding the five missionaries who were killed in Ecuador.

I’ll most likely purchase this book (NetGallery was a review e-book). I think it’s a good addition to my library. (And I would like to have a hard copy to go back and really dive into it a bit more).

The book is available on Amazon.