Thursday, April 26, 2007

No Graven Image

I just finished reading Elizabeth Elliot's "No Graven Image." It is a novel about a gal who goes to Ecuador to an unreached people group up in the mountains and her first year there. There was so much I could relate to as she learned to live and love the place God had placed her. I was told that this book was almost banned when it first came out because no one could believe that the mission field was really like that. I thought it would be filled with head hunters and violence. But it wasn't, it was filled with the reality of life as a missionary, not the perfect life we try to portray in prayer letters. I suppose the people thought it was blasphemy, I don't know. I recommend it.
Here is a quote from when Margaret, the missionary, begins to understand who she is:
"The Indians had become people to me-they were no longer my 'field.' While I had once declared them to be my equals, I now regarded myself as theirs. Instead of saying, 'Oh, you are as good as I-let me help you,' I now said, 'I am as poor as you. God helps us all.'"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That is a very powerful quote you used from the book. It makes me want to read it to understand more what missionaries like you go through.