Philip James Elliot was born October 8, 1927, in Portland, OR, to Fred and Clara L. Elliot, one of three brothers in a family which included Robert, Herbert, and a sister, Jane. His father was an itinerant non-sectarian evangelist in the Puget Sound area and his mother conducted a chiropractic practice. Their home was frequently visited by missionaries who were an important influence on the family. By the time he was about eight years old, Jim was aware of his salvation by Christ.

He attended Benson Polytechnic High School, 1941-1945, majoring in architectural drawing and participating in sports with the goal of building his body for the rigors of missionary life. He also began preaching during these years. In his senior year, he was elected vice president of his class.

Jim chose to attend Wheaton College because of his brother Bob's recommendation; he enrolled in the fall of 1945 with the goal of total commitment to God and the active pursuit of the disciplines involved. He was granted a scholarship and worked part-time to support his studies. Elliot joined the wrestling team at Wheaton and made varsity in his freshman year. He began speaking to youth groups in the Wheaton area, and in his junior year began a journal as another means of spiritual discipline. In the summer of that year, 1947, he stayed six weeks in Mexico with the missionary family of his friend, Ron Harris. There he learned Spanish and felt his own call directed toward mission work in Latin America.

In 1948, Elliot and some of his friends narrowly escaped death in a car-train accident on the tracks in Wheaton. That year he was president of Foreign Mission Fellowship on campus and part of a gospel team for the Fellowship during the summer. Elliot chose Greek as his major, and graduated with highest honors in 1949. He lived with relatives in Glen Ellyn during his College years and attended Lombard Gospel Chapel.

For a year following graduation, Elliot returned to the family home in Portland to concentrate on Bible study. He worked at odd jobs and learned to preach on street corners, in jails, and at Plymouth Brethren assemblies. His future wife and former Wheaton College student, Elisabeth Howard, paid a visit to the Elliots on her return from summer missionary work in Canada. In June of 1950, Elliot spent several weeks in Norman, OK, at the Summer Institute of Linguistics, sponsored by Wycliffe Bible Translators. There he worked with a former missionary to the Quichua Indians of Ecuador and first heard of the remote and much-feared Waorani tribe in that country. [The name commonly used for the tribe at the time was "Auca" and this was the name by which they were called in almost all the literature of the time period.] His response was immediate and, after a ten-day period of prayer for guidance, Elliot wrote to Dr. Wilfred Tidmarsh in Ecuador offering to come to that field. A recently abandoned station, Shandia, established for work with the Quichua Indians, was in need of staff.

Elliot stayed on in Oklahoma City to work with Bible study groups on the university campus; he applied for a passport on Dr. Tidmarsh's urging to come as soon as possible. In September of 1950, Ed Mc Cully, another friend and Wheaton College student, wrote him indicating that he wanted to leave school and join a mission activity. The decision to go to Ecuador was postponed a year while Tidmarsh returned to England because they were unable to arrive in Ecuador before his necessary departure. During this period, Elliot preached, studied, and worked with youth in Huntington, IN, and Chester, IL, where Ed Mc Cully and Bill Cathers joined him in working on a radio broadcast series, The March of Truth. Pete Fleming of Seattle, WA, also indicated an interest in going to Ecuador with Elliot. A visit to Portland from Tidmarsh confirmed the decision to work in Shandia and passport, visa, and draft board arrangements were made. Elisabeth Howard had also decided to do mission work in Ecuador, but she and Jim went as independent missionaries to separate assignments.

Preparations to leave for Ecuador occupied the second half of 1951; included was an itinerary through the East speaking to acquaint Plymouth Brethren there with the work and to raise support from those groups. Elliot and Fleming sailed to Ecuador on the Santa Juana on February 4, 1952, and Jim made his first journal entry on February 27 in Quito. Elisabeth Howard arrived in Quito in April, 1952, to study language, tropical diseases, and medical work.

In June, the first aerial search of the Oriente territory where the Shandia station and the Quichua and Waorani tribes were located was made from the Mission Aviation Fellowship station at Shell Mera. Waoranis had recently killed five persons in that area. Shell Mera had been abandoned by Shell Oil Company as too dangerous a location because of the Waoranis' hostility and the killing of Shell personnel. Elliot and Fleming moved to Shandia in September 1952.

In February 1953, both Elliot and Elisabeth Howard came into Quito from their separate stations and agreed to marry. A flood had destroyed part of the Shandia station and the need to rebuild confirmed their decision. They were married on October 8, 1953, Jim's 26th birthday, in a civil ceremony in Quito. Their first home was a tent set up at a river junction called Puyupungu. There they set up a school for a family of Indian children. A new location for the airstrip at Shandia was selected, and a home completed. Elliots' daughter, Valerie, was born February 27, 1955, and in that month the Flemings, Elliots, and Mc Cullys were together in Shandia for a conference for the Indians.

With the assistance of MAF pilot, Nathanael "Nate" Saint, Elliot and Mc Cully located the first Waorani huts in the jungle near Arajuno in September that year. The Waoranis had recently killed a mother and two children in this area. This sighting firmed determination of the men to attempt contact, and weekly "drops" of gifts to the Waoranis from the plane were begun in October. As plans developed, Roger Youderian, a missionary working in Jivaria, was asked to join the men. Pete Fleming was the fifth man of the group hoping to make contact with the tribe.

Using a battery-operated speaker, the men made thirteen trips over the area, broadcasting words of friendship in the Waorani language and dropping such gifts as buttons, a kettle, a machete, and tinted photographs of each man. The Waoranis responded by sending back a parrot and feathered head-dresses in the drop bucket. Encouraged by these responses, the men decided to find a suitable landing strip for the plane. They selected a sandy beach, which they named "Palm Beach", on the Curaray River and made a successful landing on January 2, 1956. After four trips to bring in a radio and other supplies, they built a tree shelter and began shouting Waorani phrases into the jungle. Four days later, two Waorani women and a young Waorani man came out of the jungle. They appeared friendly, and "George" was given a brief ride in the airplane. The following day was spent quietly and without contacts.

On Sunday, January 8, after songs, prayers, and a service, the men radioed their wives at 12:30 p.m. that contacts were expected by mid-afternoon and they would radio again at 4:30 p.m. When there was no radio message at that hour, a search and rescue operation began. Flight over the area showed a damaged plane, and a ground search party left for the area. Planes and a helicopter from the Ecuadorian Air Force and the U. S. Army, Air Force, and Navy flew in for aerial search. The ground and air groups met on January 13 at Curaray Beach.

Jim Elliot's body was found downstream with three others. They had been killed by wooden lances and machetes, and the plane's fabric was ripped off and body damaged. Nate Saint's watch had stopped at 3:12 p.m. Because of the danger of another Waorani attack, the burial service lasted only three minutes. The Army party came out by canoe or helicopter over a two-day period, spending one day trekking through Waorani territory.

The deaths of the five men--Jim Elliot, Ed Mc Cully, Pete Fleming, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian-were reported world-wide, and they were regarded by many as twentieth-century martyrs. Elisabeth Elliot returned to Shandia and resumed the work of her husband. She subsequently wrote three books about the mission work and its consequences: Through Gates of Splendor, a biography of her husband, Shadow of The Almighty, and The Savage My Kinsman. She also edited The Journals of Jim Elliot. Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint went to live with the Waorani group in 1959. One of the Waorani tribe members later explained to the missionaries that "George" had told them that the white men planned to eat them, and that they would not otherwise have killed the men.

Full name: Philip James Elliot

Birth: October 8, 1927 in Portland Oregon

Death: January 6, 1956 on Palm Beach in Ecuador, at the hands of members of the Waorani people

Family:

Parents: Fred and Clara L. Elliot

Siblings: Robert (Bob), Herbert Ironside, and Jane Elliot Hawthorne

Marital Status: Married Elisabeth Howard on October 8, 1953 in Quito, Ecuador

Children: Valerie Elliot Shepard

Conversion: About the age of eight

Education:

1941-1945 - Polytechnic High School, majoring in architectural drawing and participating in sports with the goal of building his body for the rigors of missionary life

1945-1949 - Attended Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, graduating with a BA with highest honors

Summer 1950 - Attended the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Norman, Oklahoma. While at SIL he learned of the Waorani people of Ecuador, who lived remote from contact with Western civilization and had never heard the Christian Gospel

Career

1949-1950 - At his family’s home in Portland, Oregon, where he engaged in private Bible study and worked at odd jobs and learned to preach on street corners, in jails, and at Plymouth Brethren assemblies. His future wife and former Wheaton College student, Elisabeth Howard, paid a visit to the Elliots on her return from summer missionary work in Canada.

Summer and fall, 1950 - Stayed in Oklahoma City and worked with Bible study groups on the university campus. At the same time, he wrote to Dr. Wilfred Tidmarsh in Ecuador offering to come to that field. A recently abandoned station, Shandia, established for work with the Quichua Indians, needed staff. Elliot stayed on in Oklahoma City until October to work with Bible study groups on the university campus; he applied for a passport on Dr. Tidmarsh's urging to come as soon as possible. In September of 1950, Ed McCully, another friend and Wheaton College student, wrote him indicating that he wanted to leave school and join a mission activity.

1950-1951 - Preached, studied, and worked with youth in Huntington, IN, and Chester, IL, where Ed McCully and Bill Cathers joined him in working on a radio broadcast series, The March of Truth. Pete Fleming of Seattle, WA, also indicated an interest in going to Ecuador with Elliot. A visit to Portland from Tidmarsh confirmed the decision to work in Shandia and passport, visa, and draft board arrangements were made.

Fall and Winter, 1951 - Traveled through the eastern United States, speaking to acquaint Plymouth Brethren there with the work and to raise support from those groups.

February 1952 - Elliot and Fleming sailed to Ecuador on the Santa Juana on February 4, and Elliot made his first journal entry on February 27 in Quito.

June-September, 1952 - In June, the first aerial search of the Oriente territory where the Shandia station and the Quichua and Waorani tribes were located was made from the Mission Aviation Fellowship station at Shell Mera. Waoranis had recently killed five persons in that area. Shell Mera had been abandoned by Shell Oil Company as too dangerous a location because of the Waoranis' hostility and the killing of Shell personnel. Elliot and Fleming moved to Shandia in September.

February 1953 - Elliot met Elisabeth Howard, who had come to Ecuador as a missionary, and became engaged.

October 8, 1953 - Jim and Elisabeth married in a civil ceremony in Quito, shortly after a flood at destroyed the mission station at Shandia. They set up their first home in a tent in Puyupungu.

February 27, 1955 - Daughter, Valerie, was born February 27. In that month Peter and Olive Flemings, the Elliots, and Ed and Marilou McCully were together in Shandia for a conference for the Indians.

September, 1955 - With the assistance of MAF pilot, Nathanael "Nate" Saint, Elliot and McCully located the first Waorani huts in the jungle near Arajuno. The Waoranis had recently killed a mother and two children in this area. This sighting firmed determination of the men to attempt contact, and weekly "drops" of gifts to the Waoranis from the plane were begun in October. As plans developed, Roger Youderian, a missionary working in Jivaria, was asked to join the men. Pete Fleming was the fifth man of the group hoping to make contact with the tribe

October-November, 1955 - Weekly "drops" of gifts to the Waoranis from the plane were begun in October. As plans developed, Roger Youderian, a missionary working in Jivaria, was asked to join the men. Pete Fleming was the fifth man of the group hoping to contact the tribe. Using a battery-operated speaker, the men made thirteen trips over the area, broadcasting words of friendship in the Waorani language and dropping such gifts as buttons, a kettle, a machete, and tinted photographs of each man. The Waoranis responded by sending back a parrot and feathered head-dresses in the drop bucket.

January 1956 - Encouraged by these responses, the men decided to find a suitable landing strip for the plane. They selected a sandy beach, which they named "Palm Beach", on the Curaray River and made a successful landing on January 2, 1956. After four trips to bring in a radio and other supplies, they built a tree shelter and began shouting Waorani phrases into the jungle. Four days later, two Waorani women and a young Waorani man came out of the jungle. They appeared friendly, and "George" was given a brief ride in the airplane. The following day was spent quietly and without contacts.

On Sunday, January 8, after songs, prayers, and a service, the men radioed their wives at 12:30 p.m. that contacts were expected by mid-afternoon and they would radio again at 4:30 p.m. When there was no radio message at that hour, a search and rescue operation began. Flight over the area showed a damaged plane, and a ground search party left for the area. Planes and a helicopter from the Ecuadorian Air Force and the U. S. Army, Air Force, and Navy flew in for aerial search. The ground and air groups met on January 13 at Curaray Beach.

Jim Elliot's body was found downstream with three others. They had been killed by wooden lances and machetes, and the plane's fabric was ripped off and body damaged. Nate Saint's watch had stopped at 3:12 p.m. Because of the danger of another Waorani attack, the burial service lasted only three minutes. The Army party came out by canoe or helicopter over a two-day period, spending one day trekking through Waorani territory.

Other significant information

The deaths of the five men--Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian–were reported world-wide, and they were regarded by many as twentieth-century martyrs. Elisabeth Elliot returned to Shandia and resumed the work of her husband. She subsequently wrote three books about the mission work and its consequences: Through Gates of Splendor, a biography of her husband, Shadow of The Almighty, and The Savage My Kinsman. She also edited The Journals of Jim Elliot. Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint went to live with the Waorani group in 1959. One of the Waorani tribe members later explained to the missionaries that "George" had told them that the white men planned to eat them, and that they would not otherwise have killed the men.