No Graven Image

This is Elisabeth Elliot's only work of fiction. The writing isn't brilliant but the story is compelling. The main character sets out for the mission field full of expectation and idealism. She is swiftly brought back down to earth by the realities of missionary life. The clash of cultures and the d......more

The first time I read this (earlier this year), I couldn't put it down. I finished it in two days. On this second reading, I wrote narrations after each chapter, which caused me to slow down. I noticed so many observations about the thoughts, beliefs, and ideals of cross-cultural workers, and yet th......more

I found myself eerily able to identify with Elisabeth Elliot's main character in the novel No Graven Image. In this, Elliot's only novel, we follow the experience of first-time missionary Margaret Sparhawk as she touches down on Ecuadorian soil for the first time, settles into her new home, tries to......more

As a child of missionaries, I am always looking for honest portrayals of missionaries. I consider much of the literature on missionaries put out by churches as dishonest, and feel somewhat the same way about the critical literature put on them by much of the secular press. Elisabeth Elliot was well......more

This book… the main character is laughable in many regards but her naive assumptions of “how God works”or how He “should be working” is something we all need to be confronted with. What’s your “agenda for God?” This somewhat ridiculous story will help you uncover those “graven images” of God and per......more