"Journey into the Waorani Village" Part II

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." (Jim Elliot)


We had just finished lunch with a missionary family on Monday, June 18. We opened our guesthouse door to go for a walk on the HCJB compound when the wife of a missionary pilot with MAF (www.maf.org) greeted us, saying that she was coming to find us.  She informed us that her husband, Chad, had an open window to fly us into the Waorani village where the five missionaries were slain on January 8, 1956.  The weather was good.  He had an established relationship with this village tribe.  He spoke English, Spanish and some Waorani. But, we had to go now; there was no guarantee that he could take us in at a later date.   We grabbed our backpack, water, Off spray, Tivas, and passports and practically ran to the plane hangar just across the street.  We weighed, paid for the fuel, and boarded the single-engine, four-seat plane.  Chad fitted our headgear so we could communicate while flying and our seatbelts.  We took off, eventually following the same flight path that Nate Saint flew.   We couldn't believe that our persistent inquiries were finally paying off.  We flew 3,000 feet over the dense jungle below.  Maybe, at last, we could meet Dayuma!   Our plane landed on a short, grassy runway and taxied and turned for our takeoff later.  We stepped out of the plane into a humid heat and right into the path of many of the Waorani village people of Ecuador's Rainforest who had come to greet us.  Chad explained what we had come to see:  Palm Beach on the Curaray River where Jim Elliot, Peter Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint (pilot), and Roger Youderian were slain by this very tribe.   They motioned for us to follow them and we did! 

We went into the jungle and sludged along the muddy path.  Suddenly, one of the older women, turned and put her red finger up in my face.  I backed off to see that she was holding a small bulb from which the red paint came.  She painted red stripes down the sides of our cheeks and one stripe on our foreheads.  They made small bamboo crowns and placed them on our heads.  Now, we could continue our walk.  When we arrived at the river bank, we slid down a muddy slope into a 30-foot canoe.  We were really going to Palm Beach.  We landed 20 minutes later on the sandy beach where these five men had landed their plane, hoping to share the gospel with this vicious tribe. Instead,they were speared to death. 


The two older members of the tribe retold the story.  We told them in our broken Spanish that these men were now in heaven.  We asked them if they were Christians. Yes, the older woman replied, "Rachel Saint told me about Jesus when I was young."  Wow!   We were standing with the converts born out of a terrible tragedy.  We were standing on the sand with converts who had reached out and witnessed to other Waorani tribesmen in the jungle. 

The story doesn't end with deaths of these five missionaries. Read  Through Gates of Splendor,  The Dayuma Story, and watch The End of the Spear.   Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds." ( John 12:24)  


We gathered rocks from the beach, many of the tribe placing precious stones into a sunglass case that we had emptied. We were inspired to have stood on Palm Beach, to have listened to their story, to have hugged and shared that even though we may never see each other again on this soil, our Christian faith would reunite us in Heaven.  This is a journey we will forever be grateful to have taken.  Is there a steppingstone large enough on which to inscribe the honor of this trip down the Curaray River?  Is there a stone large enough to possibly write the words to describe the Presence that was there at that moment?   We have been on a  remarkable journey these last three months. 

It seemed like this part of our journey was not going to take place.  But God did indeed give us the desire of our hearts.(Psalms 37:4)

Is there more?  Yes, Part III 

Keep Looking Up! and we all will, too!    Jim and Linda