As part of this story moving forward, Erika Kirk is a very impressive woman in her own right and my feeling is that she will become this generation's Elizabeth Elliot. For anyone not familiar with the story of Elizabeth Elliot who passed away a few years ago, she was the widow of Jim Elliot a missionary to Ecuador who was killed by Indians there as he ministered. Like Charlie, Jim was very gifted in presenting his faith and was a prodigy of sorts:
"In 1941, Elliot entered
Benson Polytechnic High School, studying
architectural drawing. There he participated in numerous activities, including the school newspaper, the wrestling team, school plays, and the public-speaking club. His acting ability led some of the teachers in the school to suggest that he pursue acting as a career, and his oratorical skills were similarly lauded—after Elliot prepared and delivered a speech in honor of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt hours after his death, a faculty member praised it.
Elliot used his speaking ability regularly. A classmate recounts how Elliot quoted the Bible to the president of the student body as an explanation for his refusal to attend a school party. Another time, Elliot risked expulsion from the public-speaking club by refusing to give a political speech, believing that Christians were not to involve themselves in politics."
"Elliot and Fleming arrived in Ecuador on February 21, 1952, with the purpose of evangelizing Ecuador's Quechua people. They first stayed in
Quito, and then moved to the jungle. They took up residence at the
Shandia mission station. On October 8, 1953, he married fellow
Wheaton alumna and missionary
Elisabeth Howard. The wedding was a simple civil ceremony held in Quito. Ed and Marilou McCully were the witnesses. The couple then took a brief honeymoon to Panama and Costa Rica, then returned to Ecuador. Their only child, Valerie, was born February 27, 1955. While working with the Quechua, Elliot began preparing to reach the Huaorani.
Elliot and his group (
Ed McCully,
Roger Youderian,
Pete Fleming, and their pilot,
Nate Saint) made contact from their
Piper PA-14 airplane with the Huaorani using a loudspeaker and a basket to pass down gifts. After several months, the men decided to build a base a short distance from the Amerindian village, along the
Curaray River. There they were approached one time by a small group of Huaorani and even gave an airplane ride to one curious Huaorani whom they called "George" (his real name was Naenkiwi). Encouraged by these friendly encounters, they began plans to visit the Huaorani. Their plans were preempted by the arrival of a larger group of about 10 Huaorani warriors, who killed Elliot and his four companions on January 8, 1956. Jim Elliot was the first of the five missionaries killed when he and Peter Fleming were greeting two of those attackers. Elliot's body was found downstream, along with those of the other men. Ed McCully's body was found even farther downstream."
His widow, Elizabeth Elliot continued on Jim's evangelistic work:
"
Life magazine published a ten-page article on Elliot's and his friends' mission and deaths. After his death, his wife
Elisabeth Elliot and other missionaries began working among the Huaorani, where they continued evangelistic work. She later published two books,
Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot and
Through Gates of Splendor, which describe the life and death of her husband. In 1991, the
Jim Elliot Christian School was created in
Denver, Colorado. In 1997, the
Jim Elliot Christian High School was founded in
Lodi, California.
In 2002, a documentary based on the story was released, entitled
Beyond the Gates of Splendor. In 2003, a musical based on the story of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, entitled
Love Above All, was staged at the
Victoria Concert Hall in
Singapore by Mount Carmel Bible-Presbyterian Church. This musical was staged a second time in 2007 at the NUS University Cultural Centre. In 2006, a theatrical movie was released, entitled
End of the Spear, based on the story of the pilot, Nate Saint, and the return trip of Saint's son, Steve Saint, attempting to reach the natives of Ecuador.
Susan Martins Miller in her book Jim Elliot: Missionary to Ecuador gives a quote from Jim Elliot which he wrote during his years at Wheaton College. "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose". The actual quote is “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
Think about Charlie Kirk's life and testimony in the eternal frame of "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." Both men used their prodigious talents and gifts of personality to go into hostile territory to communicate the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it's application among men. Both young men paid with this lives like Stephen in the Book of Acts.
I suspect that Charlie's widow will continue to have a ministry to many as a rare example of feminine grace and poise in this age in much the same way that Elizabeth Elliot did.
