*Giveaway Ended*
Happy day after Valentines Day everyone. I hope you had a good one. I got my college midterms done, my brother gave me earrings and Daddy bought home flowers for Mom and balloons for us. Pretty good day. 😉
Today I am reviewing one of my all time favorite books, Shadow of the Almighty, and launching a giveaway for Through Gates of Splendor. For those of you who are not familiar with these books, they are both about Jim Elliot, a martyr missionary. As usual, all you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment on this post*. So, enjoy the review and enter to win Through Gates of Splendor.
“Is the distinction between living for Christ and dying for Him so great? Is not the second the logical conclusion of the first?”
From an adventurous childhood, Jim Elliot matured into an intense man. In college, he began journaling and searching for God’s will in his life. This book uses narrative as well as Jim’s letters and journals to follow him through his college years and into his mission work in Ecuador. It showcases his love for his Lord and his desire to serve Christ, even into death. In his own, now famous word, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
This was the first non-fiction book to make me cry. In fact, I read about Jim’s death while walking on a treadmill at the gym. Awkward place to start crying. 😛 I love this book because it shows what passion for Christ looks like. I copied many passages from the book into my journal and now, a year after reading it, I still frequently think about things I learned from this book. So next time you’re looking to be challenged and inspired by a powerful book, try this one.
Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Audience: Young Adults and up
Genre: Biography
Pages: 250
And, here’s a picture of the giveaway book.
*Due to the cost of shipping, giveaway is only available to residents of the United States.
Leah E. Good 
Okay, so it’s a book written by Elizabeth Elliot about Jim Elliot? Are they related, then? I’d love to read this book. 🙂
~Joyous Penn from the forum
Yes. Elisabeth was Jim Elliot’s wife.
I love how OYANers refer to the OYAN forum as ‘the forum’ as if it’s the only one. 😀 Thanks for commenting!
I would be very interested in reading more about Jim Elliot. 😀 Thanks for hosting the giveaway!
I would love to read this book.
I would love to read this book too!
Thank you for hosting this giveaway! I’d love to read this book. It sounds excellent.
I know hardly anything about Ecuador. I keep multicultural and inspirational blogs. This book would fit on both blogs. I vaguely remember hearing about the horrible murder of Jim Elliott while he was on missionary duty. I would like to fill in my lack of knowledge about him. I can’t remember whether his wife was with him or not. My knowledge about these inspiring people is very small. The quote you gave is very inspirational.
Thanks for commenting, Hattie! Jim Elliot is a person I greatly respect. His wife, Elisabeth, was in Ecuadorean with him, but she was not present when he was killed. She and the wives of the other men who died stayed in Ecuador and eventually had the privilege of leading the people who killed their husbands to the Lord. It’s a truly amazing story. God’s hand was definitely on it, despite what we see as a tragedy.
I’d love to win Through Gates of Splendor–actually I can’t believe we don’t have it already! It’s one of those classics on my long list of books to read… 🙂
Ditto you Melody! Except for the fact that I actually do have it. Well, I finished “Ethics of Sumggling” by Brother Andrew, so now I only have nine books on my currently reading list; so maybe I’ll pick this one up soon… 🙂
Ethics of Smuggling, huh? Sounds interesting. Of course, at the moment you merely have to mention Brother Andrew to catch my interest. Between God’s Smuggler and Secret Believers, both of which I read recently, I’m hooked on Brother Andrew stuff.
Does this comment mean you are not entering the giveaway, Maiden?
Secret Believers? I didn’t know He wrote another one! What’s it about exactly? *writes it on her To Read list*
Yup, I just wanted to comment, but I already have it, so you can give it to someone else. 😉
*laughing as she re-reads post* So I’m not the only one who reads while on a treadmil! Good to know 🙂
I watched the first movie I seriously cried at yesterday – I positively loved it! Uh, the movie, not necessarily the crying I mean. (if you want to hear more about it, shoot me an email, so we won’t clutter up your blog – as we’ve been known to do 😛 )
He wrote several other ones. Those two are just the ones I’ve read. Secret Believers is about Christians in Muslim countries. Positively phenomenal book. All I can say is, read it. He also wrote/co-wrote the following: The Narrow Road, The Calling, Light Force, The Practice of the Presence of God, Operation Desert Light, For the Love of My Brothers, Prayer Works, and Prayer: The Real Battle. Hope you like long reading lists. 😛
I know this is an old post, but can you tell me the difference between the two books? It seems like they are about the same events. Thank you!
They are about the same events! Shadow of the Almighty covers more life lessons in addition to telling their story from what I remember. Versus Through Gates of Splendor which is more of a narrative account of their mission journey. Again, it’s been a long time since I’ve read either, but that’s what I remember. There’s definitely a lot of overlap, though.