Through Gates of Splendor

This chapter leaves Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming’s narrative to follow the story of Ed McCully, another prospective member of their mission team, a story that is again told by weaving the account together with extracts from letters and diary entries. Ed had been a friend of Jim’s during their Wheaton College days, where the former had excelled in academics and sports. Ed had strong skills in public speaking, and after initially majoring in economics and business, he planned to head in the direction of a law career. Shortly after enrolling as a law student at Marquette University, however, he became convinced that God was calling him to life as a missionary: “I have one desire now—to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it” (50-51). He partnered with Jim Elliot in 1951, when Jim was back from Ecuador for a few months, and Ed became widely known as a radio speaker with a compelling presentation of the gospel message. Upon receiving an invitation to speak at a Christian youth gathering in Michigan, he happened to meet his future wife, a young woman named Marilou.