Voting Station

Jim Elliot

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Martyr

The Resume

    (October 8, 1927-January 8, 1956)
    Born in Portland, Oregon
    Evangelical Christian missionary
    Participant in Operation Acua to bring Christianity to the Waodani tribe in Ecuador
    Killed with four other missionaries

Why he might be annoying:

    He declined to attend a high school dance with the comment 'I am in the world, but not of it.'
    At college, he turned down a staff position that would have given him a free year of tuition because the commitment required would take time away from Bible study.
    For some reason, it did not occur to him that it might be useful to study Spanish until after he had arrived in Ecuador.
    Although he considered himself a pacifist and had planned to claim conscientious objector status if drafted, when attacked he drew a pistol and fired, hitting two Waodani tribesmen, one of whom later died from the wound.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His parents encouraged him to be adventurous and to 'live for Christ.'
    He graduated with honors from Wheaton college.
    Before the attack, he and the other missionaries had had some promising contacts by lowering gifts to the Waodani from an airplane.
    It is generally believed that in firing his gun he had been trying to scare off the attackers rather than hit them.
    After the attack, his widow and the sister of one of the other missionaries returned to Ecuador, eventually converting many of the Waodani to Christianity.
    He wrote in his diary about the importance of his mission, 'He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 19 Votes: 52.63% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 40 Votes: 27.50% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 51 Votes: 62.75% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 85 Votes: 52.94% Annoying