Showing the World

Deep in the heart of South American jungle in the small, coastal country of Ecuador, lived one of the most savage tribes ever known - the Waorani.  As savage defenders against outsiders, the Waorani had never been reached by anyone outside their tribe. But that was about to change.

Also in Ecuador, but not so deep in the jungle, five men and their wives labored to bring the Gospel to those who had not yet heard. They all had different backgrounds and circumstances; one had been married for nearly eight years and had three children, another married only eighteen months with no children. One was a World War II paratrooper, another a deep thinker, and another a inventive pilot. But they were alike in their passion for Christ and their burden for those who did not know the truth. Like the Waorani.

Leading up to their first meeting with the brutal, unreached tribe, the five missionaries dropped gifts to the Waoranis, including meticulously-planned items and photos designed to prove their friendship to the natives. After much prayer, planning, and more prayer, they flew off to visit the Waorani tribe for the first time on January 3, 1956. Meanwhile, the wives waited anxiously for the periodic radio contact and reassurance that everything was going well. On January 8, one of the missionaries radioed his wife and assured her that things were going fine. He saw that Waoranis were approaching, so he promised his wife that he'd call again at 4:35. His wife waited. All was quiet.

It was love from God that motivated the five men to pursue what appeared to be a suicidal mission in order to further the good news of the Gospel. It was that same true, Biblical love that kept those five from using their weapons when the natives returned - with spears. It was that same love from God that empowered one of the five martyrs' wives and another's sister to return to the same natives and continue the mission of furthering the Gospel - ministering to the same ones who murdered their loved ones!

Elisabeth Elliot wrote of one of the missionaries, "[he had] a love for God and a sympathetic heart" (Through Gates of Splendor, p. 65). Before his death, another of the slain missionaries wrote in his diary, "I am longing now to reach the Aucas [Waorani], if God gives me the honor of proclaiming the Name among them. I would gladly give my life for that tribe, if only to see an assembly of [them] gathering around a table to honor the Son" (Through Gates of Splendor, p. 26). All five showed a love for God that motivated a love for the lost - a love strong enough to resist fighting back when those they loved turned on them. This love for God, passion for His glory, and love for those who had never known the Gospel motivated Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, and Roger Youderian to give their lives. They could agree with another missionary, John Stott, who challenged, "In view of the constraining memories of the cross of Christ and the love wherewith He hath loved us, let us rise and resolve, at whatever cost of self-denial, that live or die, we shall live or die for the evangelization of the world in our day.” They did it gladly. God's love is great! As five missionaries to Ecuador have shown the world, our love should be, too.