Made for the Journey by Eisabeth Elliot (book review)

I have found myself drawn to autobiographies and biographies about missionaries for awhile now. I like to read about their passion for the Lord, their love for people, and their hardships. Yes, their hardships. These always end up showing God's character through his compassion, kindness, gentleness. Not always in the taking of the hardships but through His walking with the missionary through it. 

Anyone who knows missions knows Elisabeth Elliot or at least her husband, Jim Elliot. Being familiar with their story, I was ready to read "Made for the Journey" by Elisabeth Elliot. It did not disappoint. 

image via Baker Publishing

I have a degree in English and I fully understand how vital it is to read the Bible in one's own language so I adored all of her linguistics talk! Her honesty about the physical hardships, her identity crisis, and her faith lessons she learned during them. Sometimes we can think of missionaries as Super Christians but Elliot is deliberate to show herself real and fallen, like the rest of us. 

A few things I didn't care for was that sometimes she sounded snobbish - I don't have an example of this but I wrote it in my notes. Perhaps it was just a different way with generation gaps so I could just be reading it like that. 

Her friend in the book, Barbara, felt called to missionary life and ended an engagement to go. It made it seem that motherhood  was incompatible with missionary work - which is, of course, untrue. One line made it seem like one is more important than the other but that, again, could just be my reading into it. 

I would have LOVED to see pictures of her life but perhaps that's not technology she had at the time; it wasn't mentioned in the book. 

The last thing I disliked were the bats. Oh the hardships those gals went through! Animal hardships would probably be my biggest hardship if ever I get called to foreign missions. I have friends who deal with cockroaches (giant ones), snakes, tarantulas, and more. Yikes!

I so appreciate the ability to vicariously live through missionaries like Elisabeth Elliot. What an honor to learn about her faith and God-honoring life.

Disclaimer: I received this book in order to write an honest review. Others' opinions may differ from mine. Links in this post will link to AmazonSmile and if you purchase, you will be supporting Emmaus University in Haiti.