Book Review: The Savage, My Kinsmen

The Savage, My Kinsmen by Elisabeth Elliot

In January of 1956, the world received with shock the news that five American missionaries had been speared to death in the Equadorian jungles by Auca Indians – reportedly the most savage tribe on earth. Years later, it became clear that what seemed to be the tragic ending of those missionaries’ dreams was only the first chapter of one of the most marvelous missionary stories of the twentieth century.

The Savage, My Kinsman tells the story, in beautifully written text and pictures, of Elisabeth Elliot’s venture into Auca territory three years after the death of her husband, Jim Elliot. Elisabeth and her daughter Valerie, then tree years old, returned to the jungle along with Rachel Saint, the sister of one of the other slain men. The linguistic work of these women brought Christ’s message of salvation to the tribe that had killed their loved ones. They became the first to enter the Auca territory and live to tell the story. This is a courageous story of family, love, and above all, trust and confidence in a sovereign God to open doors of opportunity for the gospel.

Summary

The Savage, My Kinsmen chronicles one of the greatest missionary stories of the twentieth century. It begins by recounting the horrific news of five missionaries who had been speared to death on a beach in the territory of the Auca Indians. The family members of these men were overwhelmed with the news but were previously aware of the danger knowing that this tribe was said to be the most dangerous on earth.

After much praying, thinking, and weighing the options, Elisabeth Elliot decided to venture into the Auca territory to build on what her husband began. She, along with her daughter Valerie and Rachel Saint, began to meet the people, observe their daily lives, and learn the language. Through years of language study with the Dayuma, Mintaka, and Mankamu, Rachel Saint and Elisabeth create a filing system and recordings in order to learn the language of the Aucas. Years of service and labor among these Indians proved to be worthwhile as they saw them come to the knowledge of Christ. Their acceptance of the gospel was without question an act of God and a movement of the Holy Spirit. It was out of the death of the five missionaries that life began to flow to the Auca people through the witness of Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint.

Elisabeth recounts the story of when she first entered the village of the Auca people. She said the Aucas were the personification of death in her mind as she could only associate them with the death of her beloved husband. It was possible, in her mind, that death also might be the fate of both her and her daughter Valerie. She describes the first Auca people she came in contact with. They were naked besides a cotton string around their hips, with large holes in their earlobes which were filled with disks of balsa wood.

Elisabeth soon learns that if she is going to live with the Aucas she must do exactly what they do – and nothing else. Her days were filled with writing down their language so she could give them the Bible and educating Valeria through correspondence courses. Their time was spent in a small straw hut with a hammock swinging between two beams of wood that made a nice relaxing place. This story is filled with ups and downs that only missionaries experience and can understand. It is filled with stories of triumph and disappointment, praises and hardships. It is a story of love.

Critical Evaluation

The Savage, My Kinsmen is written from the perspective of a grieving wife that turns into a God-sent missionary to those who murdered her husband. The reader can actually hear Elisabeth Elliot speaking from her heart through these pages as she speaks of her dependence upon God for everything while living with the Auca Indians. This book tells of the journey into the dark jungles of South America in a real autobiographical way. The reader learns who Elisabeth Elliot is and her work among the Auca people. It is almost like reading a diary or journal.

Another advantage of this book is the pictures that fill its pages. They show the daily life and faces of the people Elisabeth Elliot learned to love and care for. They show a daughter growing up in a foreign territory and the contrast of her curly blonde hair against the savage warriors. The pictures add a quality to this book that nothing else can add. The reader automatically sympathizes with the condition and work that lay before the feet of both Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint.

This reviewer has read many accounts of the five missionaries that were killed on ‘Palm Beach’ by the Auca Indians but The Savage, My Kinsmen is another type of book. It shows another side to the story that many Christians know and love. It shows how the work of Christ and His kingdom must continue even after tragedy and lose. It shows how the gospel must be shared even with those we despise in our hearts. This book is a story of grace; grace in the life of Elisabeth Elliot and grace given by Christ to the Auca Indians.

Conclusion

The Savage, My Kinsmen is a work that I would recommend for anyone desiring a closer look at foreign mission work in a hostile part of the world. It is well written from a first-hand perspective which gives credence to its content. It will prove to be inspirational, eye-opening, and enjoyable to all who read it. Elisabeth Elliot and her family are examples to all missionaries and those who desire to do mission work. She is clearly a Godly woman who can teach us, drawing from years of experience, that complete and total surrender is the only way to serve God and make an impact upon his kingdom.

Filed under: Book Recommendations, Book Review, Books, Evangelism, Missions

Book Review: The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes

I am pleased this week, while on vacation, to have Jeff Cavanaugh as a guest blogger on Pastor and People. Jeff is someone I have grown to appreciate not only as a theologian, thinker, and writer but also as a dear friend. I trust you will enjoy his posts and be encouraged by his words.

Book Review: The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes

Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the second person of the Trinity, is presented in Scripture as an inescapably fearful figure. The vision of Him that John records at the beginning of Revelation left John on his face as though dead, and considering Christ as the great Judge who will destroy His enemies at the last day has caused many more men to be utterly abased and driven to despair. But, strangely, gloriously, Jesus is also the Comforter, the Wonderful Counselor and Good Shepherd who is wondrously tender with His sheep. It is this tender, comforting side of Christ’s nature that Richard Sibbes is primarily concerned with meditating on in The Bruised Reed, and it is indeed a wonderful meditation.

Sibbes’ text is from Isaiah 42:

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

From this passage, and especially verse three, Sibbes elaborates beautifully on the person and offices of Christ as the Servant of God who treats His people with the utmost care as He sustains and purifies them, bringing forth “judgment unto truth.” The bruised reed, Sibbes says, represents a man who is in misery because of his sin and is despondent but for the hope he has in Christ. Christ will handle this person, bruised by his sin, gently, until through the misery he is purged of sin. Likewise, the smoking flax stands for a Christian in whom, though the flame of the Holy Spirit is kindled, it is weak, and the fumes of sin’s effects make him miserable. In the same way, Christ will not quench this believer, but will fan into flame the spark that he possesses until it grows and burns away all sinful impurities and he becomes a bright light shining forth the glory of God. As Jesus is so gently shepherding us, he is bringing forth the judgment of His gracious kingdom in us and through us, and one he will have brought it forth to victory and His kingdom will be consummated.

Everyone who struggles with sin-and that means every true believer-should find this book tremendously encouraging and comforting. There are times when each of us is in misery because of his own sin and its cancerous effects in our lives. In these times, we need more than anything else what Sibbes provides: a meditation on Christ and His work in our lives. Focusing on Christ, not on ourselves, is key to finding comfort and assurance when we feel particularly “bruised.”

Perhaps the only criticism that may justly be offered against The Bruised Reed is that it is not as narrowly exegetical as he seems to be at first blush, or as one would normally expect from a sermon. Sibbes lays out a wealth of comfort, encouragement, inspiration, and truth in these pages, but it is not always clear that it all comes from the Isaiah text. A great deal of the significance Sibbes finds in the images in this passage seem to be related to the meaning of the text primarily in an allegorical way, rather than literally or typologically. For example, his image of sparks (from the flax) by nature flying upwards as a symbol of the “Spirit of grace carry[ing] the soul heaven-ward and sett[ing] before us holy and heavenly aims,” does not seem to be the originally intended meaning of the passage. Additionally, some of the other passages he cites throughout the text don’t seem to closely support the point he intends them to make. For example, he uses 1 Corinthians 3:17, making a point about a Christian being “a sacred thing,” when the context of the passage clearly indicates that it refers to the corporate body of the church, not to individual Christians.

For all this inexact application and occasional stretching the meaning of the text (and it is really a minor problem), the book is still packed chock-full of wonderful nuggets of truth that I will be meditating on for some time to come. One of the more helpful is a point that he makes throughout the book, speaking to the man who is so painfully aware of his sin that it makes him miserable, and causes him to question whether there really is any true faith and repentance in him. He says,

Fire, where it is present, is in some degree active. So the least measure of grace works, as springing from the Spirit of God, who, from his operations, is compared to fire. Even in sins, when there seems nothing active but corruption, there is a contrary principle, which breaks the force of sin, so that it is not boundlessly sinful, as in those that are carnal.

Even when sin is so hideously present that it seems to obscure all else-when the fire cannot be seen because of all the smoke-still we can find comfort in that the awareness of sin and conviction is itself an evidence of grace. Were there no Spirit within us-no fire-we would feel no conviction and misery-no smoke. So then, in some ways misery because of sin is something for which to thank God, because in it we know that He has given us new life and is busy refining us into the image of Christ, painful though the process may be.

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Jeff Cavanaugh is pursuing a Master of Divinity at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Originally from central Ohio, he graduated from Patrick Henry College with a degree in Government. Before moving to Louisville, he spent some time in Washington, D.C. where he interned at Capitol Hill Baptist Church and worked for the White House handling presidential correspondence. He is a member at Third Avenue Baptist Church and hopes to pursue pastoral ministry after finishing seminary. He is married to a wonderful wife, Andrea.

Filed under: Book Recommendations, Book Review, Books, Guest Blogger, Jesus, Puritans, Richard Sibbes