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11th out of 22 books
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24 voters
A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael
"A Chance to Die" is a vibrant portrayal of Amy Carmichael, an Irish missionary and writer who spent fifty-three years in south India without furlough. There she became known as "Amma," or "mother," as she founded the Dohnavur Fellowship, a refuge for underprivileged children.
Amy's life of obedience and courage stands as a model for all who claim the name of Christ. She w...more
Amy's life of obedience and courage stands as a model for all who claim the name of Christ. She w...more
Paperback, 381 pages
Published
May 1st 2005
by Fleming H. Revell Company
(first published June 1st 1987)
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In a time of male domination in the Victorian Era, Amy Carmichael was called by God to the Missions field. As Elizabeth Elliot tells the story, Amy determined to follow her Lord in spite of many issues that would not qualify her for service abroad. She had chronic pain and was not a particularly strong woman in sense of physical health. She found learning foreign languages difficult, and found conflict resolution very distasteful. She wasn't a team player, things needed to be her way, period. Me...more
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I admire Amy Carmichael’s life-long passion to follow Jesus and serve disenfranchised children. In her teens her burden was for factory girls, ‘shallies’, who were so poor that they couldn't afford hats to wear to church, so they wore shawls over their heads. The ministry grew to over 300 children, and Amy had to secure her own building for the ministry. Amy's first overseas assignment was to Japan for 15 months. She struggled to learn the language and the customs of the Japanese people, but lea...more
A biography of Amy Carmichael, an Irish missionary to India during the time of British colonialism. She founded an orphanage there to house young girls who would have otherwise been dedicated to the temples, i.e. made to serve as child prostitutes. She was a complicated woman, coming from a time of extreme racism, yet working carefully to respect the Indian people. In all, she spent 55 years working in India, up to her death.
Carmichael is an incredible woman, yet this book veers sharply into mel...more
Carmichael is an incredible woman, yet this book veers sharply into mel...more
Having read this several times before going to India as a missionary myself, I was greatly encouraged in everything about Indian soil.
I tried my hardest to follow in Ms. Carmichael's footsteps. Her faith, above anything, was what I geared towards.
I first read the book at age 12, and then re-read it and re-read it again during preparation for my first trip to India when I was 18. I could NOT wait to get there!
I loved the book - especially from Mrs. Gren's perspective - it was a very enjoyable rea...more
I tried my hardest to follow in Ms. Carmichael's footsteps. Her faith, above anything, was what I geared towards.
I first read the book at age 12, and then re-read it and re-read it again during preparation for my first trip to India when I was 18. I could NOT wait to get there!
I loved the book - especially from Mrs. Gren's perspective - it was a very enjoyable rea...more
This is a wonderful book. It is the story of Amy Carmichael, a woman who gave her life to rescuing children from temple prostitution in India. It challenges the reader to confront what Amy referred to as "nominal Christianity". As I read about Amy Carmichael's dedication to Jesus and all that she gave up for the sake of the Kingdom I was convicted and inspired. Elliot does a wonderful example of protraying Amy just as she was: a real woman in the midst of a real battle.
Although A Chance to Die did have many inspiring thoughts and moments, there was much in it that seemed lacking in my opinion. I have read other missionary stories that I have enjoyed far better. (For example: Evidence Not Seen: A Woman's Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II and Bruchko - Revised: The astonishing true story of a 19-year-old American-his capture by the Motilone Indians and his adventures in Christianizing the Stone Age tribe. )
Some definite faults that I saw were that...more
Some definite faults that I saw were that...more
"The devil does not care how many hospitals we build, any more than he cares how many schools and colleges we put up, if only he can pull our ideals down, and sidetrack us on to anything of any sort except the living of holy, loving, humble lives, and the bringing of men, women and children to know our Lord Jesus Christ not only as Savior but as Sovereign Lord.
"Every work undertaken in obedience to a divine command, whether the work be that form of conflict with the powers of darkness that we ca...more
"Every work undertaken in obedience to a divine command, whether the work be that form of conflict with the powers of darkness that we ca...more
People seem to either really love this book or find it completely unreadable & I can see why. The manner of Amy Charmichael's upbringing reminded me of Little Women-- strong Victorian ideals, lots of spiritual nurturing and sentimental nicknames ("Motherie"? Rlly?). One of the best things about this book is that it illustrates that people really lived this way once. Amy truly believed that the highest spiritual standards should be attempted. True, she also had tendencies that are considered...more
The extent of my knowledge of Amy Carmichael was that she was a missionary somewhere, sometime during the last 200 years. She had a significant impact on global missions both by her lifestyle and her copious writing. Carmichael was an Irish Presbyterian who felt God's call to spread the gospel to the lost. She left single and continued so until her death in 1950. She began first in Japan but later went to India where she ministered for over 50 years. Much of her work involved rescuing Indian gir...more
I found this an honest, fair and well-written account of a extraordinary woman of faith. Amy Carmichael was remarkable, but also human. Both are highlighted in this rendering of her life. It was well worth my time and effort. I found the following words in the epilogue especially helpful in evaluating not only Amy's contribution to the work of God, but also my own and that of other servants of the Lord: “We may and we must look at the visible, but let us remember that there is far more to be tak...more
Wow, I was so excited to read about this lady. What an amazing person.
I first heard about her in Warren W. Wiersbe's book: 50 People Every Christian Should Know. Probably the greatest collection of human beings ever assembled in one book. Amy's small bio just blew me away - A women who ended up in India saving small children from the abuses of Indian culture and Temple Prostitution. It appeared that Amy feared no one - and she made alot of people angry in the process: I applaud her. She even ups...more
I first heard about her in Warren W. Wiersbe's book: 50 People Every Christian Should Know. Probably the greatest collection of human beings ever assembled in one book. Amy's small bio just blew me away - A women who ended up in India saving small children from the abuses of Indian culture and Temple Prostitution. It appeared that Amy feared no one - and she made alot of people angry in the process: I applaud her. She even ups...more
It is always encouraging to read about Christian missionaries who gave everything they had to the Lord and faithfully served Him every single day of their life. Amy Carmichael is one of those people, and I feel honored to have read her story, written by Elisabeth Elliot. I really enjoyed how Elisabeth when into great depth to share Amy's life story, she had lots of information; and even though I've read other books about Amy Carmichael before, I felt like this one I learned more about Amy than t...more
Everything Elizabeth Elliot writes is wonderful. This was a re-read for me. Our Bible study discussed this book weekly. It was a reminder to me how life-changing it is to read missionary biographies. Amy was a very strong woman who had a huge ministry rescuing girls, and later boys, from temple prostitution in India. Lots of information about her early life in Ireland and then England, mission in Dohnavur, her co-workers, her views of education, and her love of books. Typical of strong women, sh...more
Amy Carmichael was born in Ireland at the end of the Victorian era, and traveled, alone, to Japan and India--Remarkable for a young woman of her time. She was apparently quite a leader and had a strong faith in God, which helped her run an orphange in India that grew to take care of hundreds of children.
Elisabeth Elliot admired her a great deal. She had already read the many books Carmichael wrote and was inspired to write this biography.
This book would probably be more interesting to other read...more
Elisabeth Elliot admired her a great deal. She had already read the many books Carmichael wrote and was inspired to write this biography.
This book would probably be more interesting to other read...more
I am an avid reader, but for some reason this book failed to grip my attention. I enjoyed the first few chapters about Amy Carmichael's youth, but somehow my interest waned toward the end; I had to make myself finish it just for the sake of finishing it, without really caring about the story. Maybe it has to do with my own age, but I failed to identify with the more mature Amy Carmichael, and so my empathy decreased. Much as I admire Amy Carmichael personally, somehow this book failed to bring h...more
This is a great biography about Amy's work in India. It was very insightful reading about the challenges she faced and the hard work she did to minister to the Indian children. It was very challenging reading about her character and how much people admired her. Her love for God really caused her to become a very loving person. I wanted to learn about her transformation, but it seems like she was raised in a very good Christian home and was bought up that way, so she didn't have to change a lot....more
A truthful description of missionary life, I'd say, since I was used -when it came to missionaries - to think only in terms of miracles, sparcles, intense and interesting life. It captures the prosaic, the long years of learning languages, the tedious days of impossible weather, even the "unfruitfulness" we all have to deal with at one point of our lives. It's an account of a woman with weaknesses, sterness, though with a strong character, belief, determination. I find it extremely balanced!!
I r...more
I r...more
~~~
From Scraps, a family writing, what she thought regarding raising/giving money:
"And they came both men and women as many as were willing-hearted, and brought bracelets and earrings and tablets and jewels of gold, and every man that offered, offered and offering of gold unto the Lord." (Exodus 35.22) Three things we may notice:
1st as many as were willing-hearted
2nd brought their own possessions
3rd unto the Lord.
Now we give unto Mrs. So and So who wrote us a begging letter, or Miss So and So wh...more
From Scraps, a family writing, what she thought regarding raising/giving money:
"And they came both men and women as many as were willing-hearted, and brought bracelets and earrings and tablets and jewels of gold, and every man that offered, offered and offering of gold unto the Lord." (Exodus 35.22) Three things we may notice:
1st as many as were willing-hearted
2nd brought their own possessions
3rd unto the Lord.
Now we give unto Mrs. So and So who wrote us a begging letter, or Miss So and So wh...more
For me, this book has been an inspiration to me each of the 4 times I've read it. At different stages of my life it hit different points of heart. Elisabeth Elliot does a beautiful job of weaving Amy's own writings into her history to give the reader a sense of Amy's heart. This book is not just for people who enjoy or have an interest in mission work, it is an excellent book for any woman to read and speaks into the life of any "average" woman.
How can you not give positive stars to a book that is about the life of a woman who followed God unfailingly?
This book is really challenging. While reading, I felt the same resistance in me to Amy's hard stance on the demands of God in her life that the "outside world" and critics had; Elliot does a good job of not glossing over the more controversial parts of her life but still putting it the context of Amy's life lived for God. Though the style isn't altogether gripping, it's a good, concrete...more
This book is really challenging. While reading, I felt the same resistance in me to Amy's hard stance on the demands of God in her life that the "outside world" and critics had; Elliot does a good job of not glossing over the more controversial parts of her life but still putting it the context of Amy's life lived for God. Though the style isn't altogether gripping, it's a good, concrete...more
My aunt gave me this book to read.. so I read it.. I found it not very well written and I was bored by it for the most part. I think that it is great that this lady gave her whole life to helping the people of India.. but I don't agree with some of her methods.. and it was like the story did not really flow and I just could not get into it.. I am going to donate it to the library maybe someone else will enjoy it.
I read this as a teen and later when I became a mother. Amy Carmichael became my heroine, a real live woman of character I could challenge myself to. She was totally sold out to Jesus and lived life to its fullest. Raising children, changing diapers, doing dishes everyday become a way to see God at work; to serve Him practically and lift thanks & praise to Him for providing for our every need.
Excellent biography of Amy Carmichael. Very thoroughly researched and lengthy. Shows what God can do when total dependance is placed on Him. This woman had so much faith and her prayers were answered faithfully. I was awed by her humility and strength even in the midst of great pain and suffering. She sacrificed much in her life but counted it all joy for her Lord!
My young teenaged-impression of Amy Carmichael: she weirded me out--or rather, some of her theology weirded me out. It may be due for a revisit some time in the future, now that I've read biographies of missionaries like Hudson Taylor and James O Frazier. Perhaps I'll have learned more charity since adolescence.
Amy Carmichael was a powerful personality. I do not think she would be very popular in the Church today, because she did not suffer uncommitted Christians lightly. Reading her story will at least get us to think about what our commitment is regarding the task of contributing to Christ's building of His Church.
An incredible read! The first biography I ever picked up. Her life was pretty stellar. This book did take me a while to finish, its not one you can read in one or two whole sittings. Yet, I loved the journey of it. Elisabeth Elliot is a wise writer. The look into Amy Carmichael's life inspires!
As much as I liked this book, I was disappointed to learn Amy Carmicheal was a feminist who insulted the roles of men especially those who worked in her Mission. It helped me to understand the importance of wives and daughters serving their husband/father in Missionary work not on their own.
This is one of my favorite books. The life of Amy Carmichael is amazing and inspiring. All women pursuing Christ, seeking holiness and throwing the world off will be inspired by this life God used to glorify Himself! Elisabeth Elliot did an amazing job of detailing her life.
What an amazing story! My only critique (and this is maybe not a critique) is that Amy is presented as faultless, which makes for an amazing story. I know plenty of Christians that aren't faultless so she makes a good, if although unrealistic, example to follow.
I hate to admit it but I did not finish reading this book. The story of Amy Carmichael is truly amazing and wonderful, but Elisabeth Elliot's style of writting in this book was so unengaging I couldn't continue. I got pretty far, just couldn't finish =(
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From the Author's Web Site: My parents were missionaries in Belgium where I was born. When I was a few months old, we came to the U.S. and lived in Germantown, not far from Philadelphia, where my father became an editor of the Sunday School Times. Some of my contemporaries may remember the publication which was used by hundreds of churches for their weekly unified Sunday School teaching materials....more
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“Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.”
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“Experience had quickly taught her that she could not survive the storms without the anchor of the constraining love of Christ and what she called the "Rock-counsciousness" of the promise given her, "He goeth before.”
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