It shames me to admit it, but until I read this book, all I knew of Jim Elliot was that he went on mission as a young man and was almost immediately murdered – and then his wife went back to share the gospel with the very same people who had caused his death. All of this is true, but God used Jim in so many more ways than simply by his death.

The story naturally focuses on Jim’s childhood and young adulthood, and as such is a real example to our young people today of how the Lord can touch and use even the teenage heart. His experience in a committed Christian family in 1930s America may be rather different from most nowadays, but between model airplanes and hitchhiking trips, there is still enough to excite and encourage. And the friendship between Jim and his schoolfriend Dick will one way or another, challenge any reader in how they speak to their friends about Jesus.

Telling Jim Elliot’s story was always going to poignant, as we know the ending. For me, this made the telling of his move to Ecuador and his relationship with Elisabeth exceptionally sad. We know God works in mysterious ways, but I’m unsure of the wisdom of ending this book somewhat abruptly with Jim’s death, even with the brief postscript which outlines what happens next.

My concern is that whilst we can see God’s loving plan in Jim’s life, it seems much easier to understand, especially for children, when taken with the rest of Elisabeth’s story. Otherwise, there may be a risk of young people coming away from this book sad and confused, without fully understanding how God worked through the untimely death of a remarkable young man.

For this reason, I would recommend that this book is read with Selah Helms’ ‘Elizabeth Elliot: Do The Next Thing’, which tells the rest of this powerful story.

Both of these Trailblazers are part of the ‘Americans’ boxset.

Miriam Montgomery, Free Church Books