1920s
Early Family Years: Love, Order, & Values Instilled
December 21, 1926
Elisabeth Howard is born in Brussels, Belgium, to missionary parents, Philip and Katharine Howard.
Elisabeth's Birth Certificate
1927
The Howard family moves to Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia.
The Howard Family
October 8, 1927
Philip James “Jim” Elliot is born in Portland, Oregon, to Fred and Clara Elliot.
Jim as a young boy
The Elliot Family
1940s
School Years: Boarding School, Heart for Missions, & Love Awakens
1941
Elisabeth attends Hampden DuBose Academy boarding school in Orlando, Florida.
1944
Elisabeth enters Wheaton College desiring to become a Bible translator and studies Classical Greek.
March 23, 1947
Elisabeth meets Jim Elliot, her brother David’s roommate, at Wheaton College.
"He is no fool who . . . ."
"He is no fool who . . . ."
1948
Elisabeth spends the year at Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, Canada.
1950s
Missionary Years: Mission Field, Marriage, Motherhood, & Gain through Loss
February 1952
Jim sets sail for Quito, Ecuador, for mission work.
Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming
Jim Elliot and Ed McCully
April 1952
Elisabeth sets sail for Quito, Ecuador, for mission work.
October 8, 1953
Elisabeth & Jim marry in Quito, Ecuador.
February 27, 1955
Elisabeth & Jim’s daughter, Valerie, is born.
Shortly after, the Elliot family moves to the Shandia mission base to serve the Quechua people.
September 1, 1955
Jim & other missionaries begin dropping gifts from Nate Saint’s airplane to Waodani tribe members.
January 1, 1956
Missionary families celebrate the 1956 New Year together.
January 3, 1956
“Operation Auca” begins. 5 missionaries fly to & camp at “Palm Beach” with supplies in hopes to reach the Waodani tribe.
January 6, 1956
Successful initial contact in made with members of the tribe.
January 8, 1956
This Sunday morning, members of the Waodani tribe return to “Palm Beach” with spears. They attack & kill all 5 missionaries: Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and Ed McCully.
1958
Elisabeth, Valerie, & Rachel Saint (Nate Saint’s sister) learn the Huao language & travel into the jungle to live with the Waodani people. Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot is published.
Elisabeth's letter to suppoorters, just before she entered the Waodani village.
A page from Elisabeth's Waodani language notes. Notice "Gikita's Offering" at the bottom of the page. Gikita was one of the killers who later befriended Elisabeth
Valerie and Waodani
Valerie and Waodani
1960s
Early Writing Years: Revival, Return to the States, & Remarriage
1960
Many among the Waodani tribe accept Christ as their Lord & Savior.
1961
The Savage My Kinsman is published.
Cornell Capa © International Center of Photography/Magnum Photos.
1963
Elisabeth & Valerie move back to the United Sates to their family home in Franconia, New Hampshire.
January 1, 1969
Elisabeth & Addison Leitch, a professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, are married.
1970s
Writing & Teaching Years: Love, Loss, & Gain
September 17, 1973
Elisabeth’s second husband, Addison Leitch, dies of cancer. God’s Guidance: A Slow and Certain Light is published.
1974
Elisabeth joins the faculty of Gordon-Conwell Seminary as an adjunct professor.
1975
These Strange Ashes is published.
Elisabeth serves as a contributor to the New International Version of the Bible (NIV).
1976
Let Me Be a Woman is published.
Valerie graduates from Wheaton College and marries Walter Shepard.
December 21, 1977
Elisabeth & Lars Gren are married.
1980s
Early Public Speaking Years: Writing, Traveling, & Radio
1981
Elisabeth is appointed writer-in-residence at Gordon College in MA. The Mark of a Man is published.
1990s
Traveling Years: Writing, Lecturing, & Ministering Around the World
2000s
Sunset Years: Season of Retirement & Fading Memory
2004
Elisabeth retires from public speaking due to progressing dementia.
June 15, 2015
Elisabeth Elliot passes away in her home in Magnolia, Massachusetts, & enters through Heaven’s Gates of Splendor.
2019
Suffering is Never For Nothing is published posthumously.
Valerie Elliot Shepard has her parents letters published in Devotedly: The Personal Letters and Love Story of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot.
June 20, 2020
The Elisabeth Elliot Foundation is established.
September 15, 2020
Ellen Vaughn’s biography, authorized by the family of Elisabeth, Becoming Elisabeth Elliot is published.
2022
The beloved perpetual calendar, A Heart for God, is republished.
Also released is a never-before-published devotional from Elisabeth, Heart of God: 31 Days to Discover God’s Love for You.
March 30, 2023
The Elisabeth Elliot exhibit opened at the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. (Video).
