If they had been willing to recant their Christian faith, their lives would have been spared. Given their commitment to Christ, such a choice was unthinkable. They placed not only their lives but the life of their baby, Helen Priscilla, in the hands of God, confident that God could protect them if He chose, and, if He chose not to, it was safer to be in those hands than anywhere else in the universe.
A great influence to Christian missionary, Elizabeth Elliot was Betty Stam. Here is a devotional from Back to the Bible describing her life.
I researched further and found a website of a relative to the Stams. That gives more details to their story. The info is at CarlStam.org. Notice their gravestones.

When we consecrate ourselves to God,
we think we are making a great sacrifice,
and doing lots for Him,
when really we are only letting go some little, bitsie trinkets we have been grabbing,
and when our hands are empty,
He fills them full of His treasures.
~Betty Stam
Here is a picture and the story of Helen Priscilla Stam, daughter of John and Betty
Taken from a website called Glimpses of Christian History. A site worth exploring.

Taken from Streams In The Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman @ Back To The Bible.org
I have all, and abound” (Phil. 4:18).
In one of my garden books there is a chapter with a very interesting heading, “Flowers that Grow in the Gloom.” It deals with those patches in a garden which never catch the sunlight. And my guide tells me the sort of flowers which are not afraid of these dingy corners–may rather like them and flourish in them.
And there are similar things in the world of the spirit. They come out when material circumstances become stern and severe. They grow in the gloom. How can we otherwise explain some of the experiences of the Apostle Paul?

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