Content Warning: Through Gates of Splendor includes portrayals of Indigenous people that may be seen as stereotypical or demeaning; the depiction of the Huaorani as “savages” in need of salvation; strong Christian evangelism perspective that may be alienating to some readers; and a depiction of violent deaths. Please note that the text of the book uses the term “Auca” to denote the Huaorani people, but since “Auca” is now considered a pejorative exonym, this study guide refers to them by their preferred name, Huaorani (except when the word appears in quotes and titles).

The story opens with Jim Elliot and his friend, Pete Fleming, on a ship headed to Ecuador in February of 1952. Elisabeth Elliot, who writes as the narrator of the text, relates several entries from Jim’s journal in which he reflects on the experience of leaving his parents in the United States and sailing for the mission field to which he felt God was calling him: “Now I am actually at sea—as a passenger, of course, but at sea nevertheless—and bound for Ecuador. Strange—or is it?—that childish hopes should be answered in the will of God for this now?” (13).