美信 Faith Elliot
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.
--Psalm 127:4
Mia (美信) Faith Elliot was born on 19 July 2008 at St. Cecilia Ladies' Clinic in Aomori City, Japan. As is the case with her siblings, Faith has dual citizenship and therefore carries both a Canadian passport (like her father) and a Japanese passport (like her mother). Her Japanese name "Mia" (美信) is a combination of the kanji character for "beautiful" (美) and the kanji character for "faith" (信)* and therefore conveys the meaning "beautiful faith." In Japanese she goes by Mia, and in English she goes by her middle name Faith. Although we like to think of Faith as our Hebrews 11 baby, Her name is also meant to compliment that of her older sister, Grace. Our prayer is that together, as sisters, they will bear faithful witness to the divine truth found in the Apostle Paul's epistle to the Ephesians that it is by grace that God's elect are saved, through faith in Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. --Ephesians 2:8-10
* Although this kanji character is never pronounced "-a," it is quite common for proper names to employ unique readings.
