Beyond the Gates of Splendor

A couple of nights ago we finally watched the documentary, Beyond the Gates of Splendor.  It tells the story of 5 missionaries who were speared to death in Ecuador.

The event took place almost 50 years ago, in January of 1956.  The missionaries were Jim Elliot, Peter Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian, who were at the time all just a little younger than Shari and I.  They were making contact with a the Waodani tribe.

This was one of the most publicized missionary stories of the last century, making worldwide news.  But it’s the aftermath of the spearings themselves that is the most astounding part of the story.   It was only two years later that the wife and the sister of one of the murdered missionaries went to live with the tribe.

I couldn’t help thinking that someone who didn’t know God’s power would be completely confused about how everyone involved acted.  And there’s more that the documentary didn’t even get into.  When the missionaries were murdered, including pilot Nate Saint, more than 20 fliers promptly volunteered to take his place.  More than 1000 college students volunteered for missions in response to the massacre.

A couple of years ago I saw the son of Nate (Nathanael) Saint speak.  Beside him was one of the men that had been involved in the spearings.  The two were serving the Lord side by side.

If you’d like to know more about the story, order the DVD.  It’s not gory, although you’ll certainly hear a lot about spearings.  It’s also well done because it simply tells the story – it’s not preachy, and leaves yuo to draw your own conclusions.  You’ll hear interviews with people involved, and see photos and footage.  There are good reasons why this story should not be forgotten.

The documentary won two film festival awards, including the audience award for best documentary feature at the Palm Beach International Film Festival.  A feature film about the missionaries is scheduled to be released in January.

A few years before he was murdered, as a college student, Jim Elliot wrote:

“[He makes] His ministers a flame of fire.”  Am I ignitable?  God deliver me from the dread asbestos of ‘other things.’  Saturate me with the oil of the Spirit that I may be aflame.  But flame is transient, often short-lived.  Canst thou bear this my soul-short life?  In me there dwells the spirit of the Great Short-Lived, whose zeal for God’s house consumed Him.