Through Gates of Splendor

"Through Gates of Splendor" tells the bittersweet story of five missionaries. Five, who came together with the common mission of spreading the gospel. Five, who sacrificed everything they had on earth, in hopes of bringing someone new to God. The story is put down on paper by Elisabeth Elliot, the wife of one of those missionaries, who scoured the men's letters and journals after their death, to piece together the journey in its entirety.

Jim Elliot felt a stirring in his heart which led him to the natives of Ecuador. There, scores of tribes who had never heard of God, inhabited the jungles. It seemed like the place to go if one was to reach out to someone new, even though other missionaries had tried and fatally failed. This didn't stop Jim from carrying out his purpose. He knew that his own life and other lives from anyone who joined him on this trip would be endangered by the flighty warriors they were planning to convert. His own words show that he was willing to offer everything he could: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

Also joining "Operation Auca" was Nate Saint, airplane pilot. He already was performing his own works for the ministry, by his routine rounds of flying his yellow airplane around Ecuador, delivering food and supplies to the inhabited stations in the area. His service to Jim Elliot's expedition made everything work together. Without an airplane to fly over the dense jungles, it would take days to go far on foot.

One of my favorite descriptions comes from Nate Saint's notes, after the men had dropped a gift to the natives from the airplane: "In a sense we had delivered the first Gospel-message-by-sign-language to a people who were a quarter of a mile away vertically, fifty miles horizontally, and continents and wide seas away psychologically."

In addition to Jim Elliot and Nate Saint, three other men played their part of that 1956 expedition: Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, and Roger Youderian. These five worked together for months while they tried to make friends with the Auca people. Even then, it wasn't only those five men, but in fact, the five wives and all their young children who lived in Ecuador at the home bases and stations, adding their own helpful components to the mission work.

Some think that a person becomes an inspiration to the world when they die trying to do a most honorable thing. But I've found that the inspiration comes from the grueling effort put into such a weighty project, and never turning back to debate whether you should really finish it or not.

After the mission came to an end, the fruit of the men's work was seen. Their accomplishments turned up through the voices of people they had touched. To quote from an Indian they converted, who prays in simple earnest: "Send some more messengers, and give the Aucas, instead of fierce hearts, soft hearts. Stick their hearts, Lord, as with a lance. They stuck our friends, but You can stick them with Your Word, so that they will listen, and believe."

This is one of those books I'll remember for a lifetime.

I love this book and I have normal eye sight, however the print is too too small. Is there a latger print edition ?

True story of missionaries in the jungle who gave their lives to reach the unreached.

After seeing the movie, the book gave me a better understanding of what took place in this story of how faith can not be a substitute for cultural knowledge.

This book is a terrific story revealing how God works through ordinary people to get his message to the world. It is nothing short of miraculous how the Spirit of God moves in order to accomplish His purpose. What appears to be disheartening as judged through the eyes of the world, God uses for his glory. That is His specialty. In this book, the sacrifices and obedience to His calling of the lives of a group of missionaries results in the blessings of an unreached tribe of people in the Amazon. I am left with the reminder that "with God, all things are possible."

Thanks for this....Couldn't find it anywhere....8th great reading project.
grand-daughter very happy....Don't know what else to say.....Maybe if
they pick books like this, they should have a supply at the school for
purchase..

Point: By faith men and women set aside all that this earth may offer them of success, happiness, ease, and safety and look to a better country, that is, a heavenly one.

Path: Elisabeth Elliot retells the story of the five families who gave up what they could never keep, in exchange for what they couldn't lose. She details the preparation, planning, and mission of Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Jim Elliot to reach the Auca Indians in Ecuador, South America.

Sources: Based on her heavily involved role as wife, mother and fellow worker, Elliot gives the reader an inside look into the thoughts, motives, and fears of a missionary.

Agreement: This story has had a tremendous impact on the evangelical world over the past fifty years. God used the lives of these servants to encourage men and women to reevaluate their goals and lifestyles. It challenges the reader to set aside the alluring lie of ease and comfort which the world tells us we deserve, and press toward the goal.
I believe stories like these do exactly what the author of Hebrews stresses in Hebrews 12:1 - they push us to run our race, laying aside every weight and sin, and looking forward to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.

Disagreement: Although it is highly challenging, this story strays close to becoming a hagiography (idealizing its subject). These men were dedicated and showed true commitment to Christ. But they were sinners as all men are.
This is understandable given the relatively recent time of writing after the event (I believe only several years according to the ending of the first edition). They wanted to caste the men in the best possible light, and there was much for which one could laud them.
With that said, I was very appreciative of Elliot's inclusion of the doubts of Roger in chapter 12, The Savages Respond. I believe in those several pages the reader gets a real look into the doubts and fears which often plague the missionary's life.

Personal App: What level of dedication do I display in my life day by day?

Favorite Quote: Quoting Barbara Youderian, "I want to be free from self-pity. It is a tool of Satan to rot away a life. I am sure that this is the perfect will of God" (236).

It would be worth another read and I would recommend it.

WOW, what a story! Wish I could find it in Spanish for my daughter-in-law's parents, who are from a region in Peru, close to where this happened!

One of the greatest books written in modern church history. Profoundly convicting and uplifting.

Wonderful testimony of the love of God; in 1958 it was a great encouragement for us when moving to Brazil to help Missionaries there.