Elisabeth Elliot was a Christian author and speaker most known for this book, Through Gates of Splendor, published in 1957. The book details the true account of five families and their attempts to befriend an isolated Waodäni tribe in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Tragically, after only a few encounters, five of the missionaries, including Elisabeth’s husband Jim, were killed by a group of tribesmen who perceived them as a threat.

In 1958, Elisabeth and her young daughter, Valerie, returned to Ecuador and served as missionaries to the Waodäni people until their return to the United States in 1963. Elisabeth went on to write dozens of books and served as a stylistic consultant for the committee of the New International Version of the Bible.