Lisa Barry: Have you ever stumbled upon a lovely park or garden and wonder how you happened to miss it for so many years? I think that's the same response many of us have when we find a biography of a godly man or woman who left behind a legacy of mammoth proportion. Unfortunately, those books are hard to come by and our only role models seem to be Hollywood moguls and sports figures.

Well, that's all about to change today, because Elisabeth Elliot has a host of people who have influenced her life that she'd like to share with us. Today we'll hear about the life of Betty Scott Stam, whom Elisabeth met personally as a child. Hear why her life became a testimony of love and sacrifice next on Gateway To Joy.

Elisabeth Elliot: "You are loved with an everlasting love." That's what the Bible says. "And underneath are the everlasting arms." This is your friend Elisabeth Elliot, talking with you today about women of influence.

I began with the one who certainly had by far the greatest and most long-term influence in my life, which of course was my mother, Katherine Gillingham Howard. Today I want to talk about Betty Scott Stam. Some of you have heard me quote, and I have quoted probably hundreds of times, a poem that Betty Scott Stam wrote when she was about 18 years old.

She had visited in our home when she was on her way to China. I was just a little girl at the time. She went to China, married her fiance, John Stam. And this prayer that she had written at the age of 18, I learned when I was only 12 years old and was so captivated by it that I copied it into my Bible.

These are the words: "Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to Thee to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt. Send me where Thou wilt. Work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever."

Before I go on with the story of Betty Scott Stam's life, I was amazed to receive a letter from a listener, Mrs. Eleanor Ayrd of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, who wrote to tell me that she had known Betty Scott. She said she went to Wilson College. This lady says, "I went to Chambersburg High School. We had student teachers from Wilson. I had Betty Scott as an English teacher in rhetoric or literature. Of all the student or practice teachers I had, she impressed me the most, and the only one I remember.

She wore her hair then in braids neatly around her head. She had about two white blouses that she wore with a dark skirt. Her mannerism was gentle, calm, with a quiet voice. This all made the news about her later so real to me. I wished I had her book. My daughter said that it was out of print. Later, she was happy to tell me that it was reprinted."

So I want to tell you about Betty Scott's father, Dr. Charles Ernest Scott, who was a visitor in our home. I do remember him very well. When he left to go back to China, he promised to write to me. I was probably six or seven years old. He began to send me letters and frequently would tell me that he had sent a separate package for me. One time it was a Chinese fan, which I was very excited to receive. I never got it. He told me in his letters that very frequently the mail was stolen by bandits. The most exciting gift that he promised to send me was tiger-skin slippers. They never arrived. Once again, the bandits got them first.

But Betty Scott and her husband, John Stam, were married in China. In less than one year, they were captured by Chinese Communists, marched through the streets of their village in which they lived, and beheaded. You can imagine that this made a very, very deep impression on an eight-year-old child. This lady had visited in our home.

You might think that it would turn me off from ever wanting to be a missionary, but I was so determined that I wanted to be a missionary. I had read many missionary books, and of course I'd read the Bible, and I knew that missionary work is dangerous. Trusting God is dangerous. The world is a dangerous place to be. So it wasn't too surprising, although it was indeed shocking, that this wonderful lady and her husband were killed.

It's very interesting that she left behind many poems. Let me read you a few from the book called THE FAITH OF BETTY SCOTT STAM. I love one of the poems that she wrote before she was a missionary. There are some sweet poems that she wrote when she was only ten years old.

"I cannot live like Jesus, example though He be, for He was strong and selfless, and I am tied to me. I cannot live like Jesus; my soul is never free. My will is strong and stubborn; my love is weak and wee. But I have asked my Jesus to live His life in me.

I cannot look like Jesus. More beautiful is He in soul and eye and stature than sunrise on the sea. Behold His warm, His tangible, His dear humanity. Behold His white perfection of purest deity. Yet Jesus Christ has promised that we like Him shall be."

This is one my favorites. I, too, was faced with some very difficult decisions with regard to the mission field. This was when she was a student at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. She took these words from Exodus 14:13: "Stand still and see."

"I'm standing, Lord. There is a mist that blinds my sight; steep, jagged rocks, front, left and right. Lower, dim, gigantic in the night. Where is the way?

I'm standing, Lord. The black rock hems me in behind; above my head, a moaning wind chills and oppresses heart and mind. I am afraid.

I'm standing, Lord. The rock is hard beneath my feet. I nearly slipped, Lord, on the sleet. So weary, Lord, and where a seat? Still must I stand?

He answered me, and on His face a look ineffable of grace, of perfect understanding love, which all my murmuring did remove. I'm standing, Lord. Since Thou hast spoken, Lord, I see Thou hast beset. These rocks are Thee. And since Thy love encloses me, I stand and sing."

And another one, which she calls "My Testimony." "And shall I fear that there is anything that men hold dear Thou wouldst deprive me of and nothing give in place? That is not so, for I can see Thy face. I hear Thee now. 'My child, I died for thee. And if the gift of love and life you took from Me, shall I one gracious thing withhold to all eternity? One beautiful and bright, one pure and precious thing, withhold? It cannot be.'"

Perhaps I should read one of her children's stories. I should have thought of that first and read them chronologically. Just recently I had a letter from her brother, Dr. Kenneth Scott, who lives in Swansboro, North Carolina. He is in his eighties now, but he was a great deal younger than she. She wrote this about him.

"Once there was a baby whose name was Kenneth Scott, and I am sure that you would say, 'He's darling, is he not?' Betty was the oldest and Helen, next came she. And Bunny, she came next in age, and Laddie, he was three. Once there was a baby, the youngest one of five, and I will not give Kenneth Scott to any man alive." She was ten years old when she wrote that.

And here is one from early childhood, undated, "The Children's Christmas."

"'Go to bed,' their mother said to Francis, Benny, Ruth and Ted. 'Tis Christmas Eve, now haste away to land of dreams till break of day.' But when his mother had gone away, 'I wish that this was Christmas Day. I cannot go to sleep a bit. If I wanted to, I couldn't do it"-this from Ted, the oldest boy. 'Let's say what we'd like-book or toy-tomorrow from old Santa Claus.' Here he stopped. There was a pause.

Then Benny said, 'I'd like a sled, like one that Santa Claus gave Ned.' 'I wish Santa would bring me a book, which tells about different things to cook, to go with the toy stove that he last Christmas gave to Ruth and me.' 'I hope,' said Ted, 'that Santa will bring an Indian suit, a lovely thing, with a gay headdress and bow and arrows with which I could shoot at walls and sparrows.' 'I'd like,' said Ruth, 'some jewelry things, a new chain, bracelet and two rings.'

Those children talked for half an hour till eight strikes came from the church tower. Then little Ruth found out that she was just as sleepy as she could be. She closed her eyes and went to sleep, and in ten minutes more without a peep, each one of those had gone away to the land of dreams all night to play.

Next morning they got hosts of toys, things for girls and things for boys. Books and dolls and nice new sleds, and Benny got one just like Ned's. There was no Indian suit for Ted, but a lovely pair of boots instead, made of leather from top to toe. With them, he could go in the deepest snow. I cannot tell you all the things, but people know that Santa brings every Christmas lovely toys, which are much liked by girls and boys."

The life of Betty Scott Stam-delightful stuff when she was just a child, and the unforgettable way in which she and her husband laid down their lives for Christ.

Lisa Barry: Wow! What a legacy of obedience to leave behind! And thankfully, we've captured a portion of Betty's insights in our newest book entitled GATEWAY TO JOY. It's a collection of the poems, writings and quotes that Elisabeth has shared on this program over the years. Each one has had a profound impact on Elisabeth, and she would love for you to benefit from them as well.

We also have a series which goes into greater detail about Betty Scott Stam's story. It's called THE TRIUMPH OF JOHN AND BETTY STAM. You can purchase either of these resources by writing or calling.

Our toll-free number is 1-800-759-4JOY. Or why not purchase these resources through our Web site? Our address is gatewaytojoy.org. After you place your order, you'll get immediate e-mail confirmation of your purchase. And you can be assured that every order is secure. The address again is gatewaytojoy.org. Today's program has been a production of Back to the Bible.

Tomorrow Elisabeth introduces us to another influential woman in her life-Dr. Virginia Blakesley. You won't want to miss the next installment of Gateway To Joy.