53 Years Ago...

53 years ago yesterday 5 missionaries to the Auca (or Waodani) indians in South America were massacred by those indians.

This short movie gives something of the story of those events. Steven Curtis Chapman's words and music are a great counterpoint to this wonderful story.



If you want to delve into the story further, I would highly recommend the documentary "Beyond the Gates of Splendor". On the 50th anniversary of the massacre that documentary and a feature film were released. A shortened and not quite as powerful version of the documentary was shown in many churches at that time. The film was called "End of the Spear" and was released around this time that year in honor the 50th anniversary.

The documentary is wonderful, well made, a great subject of course. The movie is not as good. It suffers from some weak acting and the direction is adequate, but not particularly great. The message was dimmed to appeal to a wider audience, but the message is a heavy message by nature, and that tension hurts the film.

Still, it is a powerful story, and it isn't a waste of time. I'd definitely recommend the documentary over the film.

If you really want to know more, I highly recommend the book "Through Gates of Splendor" by Elisabeth Elliot. Taken from Jim' journals, and the story of their relationship, it gives a portrait of a man who was truly sold out to God from the beginning.

2 Timothy 2:4