2010 – Day 15 – End of the Spear

Just finished watching End of the Spear.  This film tells the rest of the story of the five missionaries that were killed by the Waodani tribe in Ecuador.  Couple of thoughts:

1. If you haven’t read “Through Gates of Splendor” then read it.  There are several elements, which I thought would be pivotal in the film, that were not a part of the film.  Understanding that the film’s purpose was to show the story that followed the killing of the missionaries, yet there would have been a bit clearer understanding of why some of the things went the way they did.

2. It is nearly impossible to put yourself into the shoes of the characters in this story.  For instance, the wives of the missionaries who were killed went to live with the tribe.  They kept on with the mission, even though they knew these people were responsible for the death of their husbands.  That’s amazing to me.

3. This story will make you think twice about the will of God and choosing to follow it.  God never promises an easy trip.  God just promises a rewarding one.

Throughout the film, I kept going back to three things:

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ–the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  — Philippians 3:7-11

…Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 3:13-14

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. — Jim Elliot (one of the five missionaries killed).

What an incredible message!  These men, their wives, and their children are the embodiment of life as a Christ-follower.  It is amazing to think of the sacrifices they made.  It is also amazing that several years after these men were killed, one of the tribe-members spoke in a chapel service while I was a student at ORU.  Amazing that the seed that was planted years before had come to fruition.

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