Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Hebrews 11:36-40

A few weeks ago, following a youth service at a church, a young missionary couple was killed by roaming gangs in Haiti. From every account I saw, Natalie and Davy Lloyd were fully committed to serving the children and people of Haiti and while this outcome isn’t common, it is a risk Christian missionaries take in certain parts of the world.

I am reminded of this quote from Jim Elliot, a missionary who was martyred in the jungles of Ecuador nearly seventy years ago –

While we know the names of Jim Elliot and the Lloyds, the writer of Hebrews provides us with a list of unsung heroes of the faith who paid a high price because they believed in God. They paid with their lives because they valued what was to come in the next life over their current circumstances.

To most of the world, we are also unknown, but there are some whose lives we can influence with our own walk of faith.