Dear Friends,

I have quoted from Elisabeth Elliot many times. Often I have used words found in "The Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter". Elisabeth generously allowed up to 100 copies of an article to be made for private distribution but not for resale. The Newsletter ceased publication with the 2003 November/December issue, as explained in the column included below this letter, which is found in the above-mentioned issue. I know that several of you ladies subscribed to the newsletter, and have already read this, but I wanted to include it here because of her reference to "sharing good words" -- this is my hope and aim also -- and because of the poem below.

I have copies of the Newsletter that go further back than the 1998 issues, which is as far as the Archives on her website go. In the body of the Newsletters I received by mail is this note: "Up to 100 copies of an article may be made for private distribution but not for resale. Please cite full credit as given below. For permission to make more than 100 copies of an article, please write to the newsletter." The two items underneath these sentences were (1) 2001 by Elisabeth Elliot Gren, and (2) "The Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter is published six times a year by Servant Publications. The cost is $7.00 per year. Tax-deductible donations make it possible for those who are unable to pay to receive the letter free. Please send donations to: The Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter, P.O. Box 7711, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48107-7711. Foreign subscribers: Please send donations in U. S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank."

I will continue to send Elisabeth's articles to this forum since we number less than 100 (at least so far). Since the 2nd note below the "permission" note is no longer applicable, I will not include that when crediting Elisabeth's articles, but will, of course, continue to give her full credit.

Please take special note of the poem included below. These words echo my own feelings, as do Elisabeth's words that her desire is to "share good words".

With prayers for all my dear brothers and sisters in Christ . . . may you feel His presence increasingly often as you travel the pilgrim path,

Elaine

p.s. Elisabeth is very near 80 years old, and has been a faithful witness to our Father and Saviour and the Holy Spirit all of her life. She has been truly a "spiritual mother" to me, sharing much very helpful Christian wisdom and shaping much of my thought in the practicalities of the faith. She has been a light in the darkness to me. May you also find much that is helpful in her words.

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The Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter

The Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter has ceased publication with the November/December 2003 issue. As Elisabeth writes in that issue...

I began writing this newsletter in 1982 with the help of Servant Publications in Ann Arbor, Michigan. At first I thought it might be a bit misleading to call it a "newsletter." After all, it didn't convey much actual news. It hasn't been "relevant" in the popular sense. But I took refuge in C.S. Lewis' remark, "All that is not eternal is eternally out of date," and I tried to include things eternal in every issue. Like the psalmist, I have had a burning desire to share "good words." ("My heart is teeming with a good word; I utter what I have framed concerning the King." Psalm 45:1, Kay).

Now it is time to end the newsletter. This will be your last issue. Two factors brought about this decision: One was wondering how long to keep doing the newsletter, and the other was that Servant could no longer continue doing the layout and all that is required to get the newsletter into your hands. So it seems to be the right time to bring this chapter of my life to a close. There is no adequate way to express my deepest gratitude to you readers for all that you have meant to me. I'm particularly grateful for having met many of you in person, and for your many notes and letters over the years."

I bid you farewell with words from a hymn written by Anna L. Waring in 1850:

Father, I know that all my life
Is portioned out for me,
And the changes that are sure to come
I do not fear to see;
I ask Thee for a present mind,
Intent on pleasing Thee.

I would not have the restless will
That hurries to and fro,
Seeking for some great thing to do
Or secret thing to know;
I would be treated as a child
And guided where I go.

Wherever in the world I am,
In whatsoešer estate,
I have a fellowship with hearts
To keep and cultivate .

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Some past issues of The Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter are available here ("Newsletter" link on the Elisabeth Elliot website) in PDF format. These files may be viewed using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. (See Elisabeth's website at www.elisabethelliot.org. Archives go back as far as the 1998 newsletters.)