End of the Spear

I just received a copy of the trailer for the forthcoming film "End of the Spear".

It will be 50 years this coming January when 5 missionaries lost their lives in Ecuador, killed by the violent Waodani tribe (then called Aucas) whom they sought to reach with the gospel.

How violent were the Waodani? In a documented trend going back 5 generations, 6 of 10 adult deaths among the Waodani were spearings...murders. Think about that for a minute.

Every Tribe Entertainment is preparing for a major theatrical release, in January, of the film "End of the Spear" - the story of these men, but more, the story of what happened after their death - how their wives, sister, and children went to live among the Waodani and connect them to life in Christ. Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully and Pete Fleming died at the End of the Spear, but when their families brought Christ to the Waodani, it was the End of the Spear... as a way of life.

Every Tribe has also made a powerful documentary, "Beyond the Gates of Splendor", telling the story through the voice of Steve Saint, Elizabeth Elliot, and other family members of the 5 men as well as the Waodani men and women who were part of the story.

Over the next 9 months there will be showings to pastors and other church leaders - to generate steam and interest before the theatrical release - now projected to be on the weekend that marks the 50th anniversary of the killings.

I have known of this story for almost all my life, hearing the accounts and seeing the books by Elizabeth Elliot that my parents had in our home. It has a deep hold in my life. I wept after viewing "Beyond the Gates" and I wept again... after watching a 2 minute trailer for "End of the Spear".