Speechless and Thankful

I became a Christian in 1980 and one of the first "Christian" books that I read was Elisabeth Elliot's book, "Through Gates of Splendor."  It was a book about the five missionaries who were speared to death on a river sandbar in South America.  The story of these martyrs, their love for Christ and God's undeniable presence throughout their 50+ year old story has held my rapt attention for the past thirty years.  

The most famous of the five missionaries is Jim Elliot.  I have read his biography, "Shadow of the Almighty," and a compilation of his personal journals many times.  His life, death and commitment to God have served to greatly challenge and inspire me in my faith journey.

I am fascinated by the story of the missionaries and over the years I have purchased and read anything that I could get my hands on about the five men and their lives.  The men died at the hands of a people living deep within the Amazon jungles of South America.  The missionaries accessed the jungle people via an airplane and the pilot of the plane was a man named Nate Saint.  Nate Saint was one of the five men who willingly gave up his life for Christ in January 1956.

Nate Saint's son, Steve Saint, produced a movie about his father and the other missionaries called, "End of the Spear."  The movie and book tell "the rest of the story." The men who murdered the missionaries have now renounced their violent ways and have found hope and new life in Jesus Christ.  In fact, the entire tribe of people have become Christ followers.  The movie shows how important the airplane was to the work of the missionaries.  On the day that the missionaries were killed, the jungle people tore the plane to pieces leaving its parts strewn throughout the Ecuadorian Jungle.  Forty years later Steve Saint found the remnants of his father's plane buried in the river sand.

A few weeks ago I was reading "Walking His Trail" by Steve Saint and I read that parts and pieces of Nate Saint's Piper Cub airplane could be seen at the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) Headquarters in Nampa, Idaho.  So, when I was in Nampa last week I stopped by the MAF Headquarters.  I actually saw the frame and some pieces of the little yellow plane that I have read about so many times.  It was an amazing sight that took my breath away and left me speechless and thankful.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose."

                                --Jim Elliot

Comments

[Evan]

Just stumbled across your blog...thought you might be interested to know that Steve Saint is in South Korea right now (March 12-21) for about a week of speaking engagements. Sorry I don't know details, but if you wanted to, you could email Ron and ask him if he has an itinerary and find out if Steve will be anywhere near Daejeon, in case you wanted to go hear him speak.