Was It Worth Their Lives?

A Man of Discipline and Dreams 

He put in the work needed for success whether it was performing in plays, making speeches or wrestling.  He was a man of great skill, intelligence, talent, and promise. Those who looked into his life saw so much promise, such future for a bright young man.  Yet, this young man was different. God has set his heart ablaze for those who have never heard and he would settle for no other calling. He prayed and asked God to send him laborers to the country of Ecuador.

More specifically, to the Auca (means savage) Indians

The Team

Elliot and four other missionaries – Ed McCull , Roger Youderia , Pete Flemin , and their pilot, Nate Sain – made contact from their Piper PA-14 airplan with the Huaorani using a loudspeaker and a basket to pass down gifts. After several months, the men decided to build a base a short distance from the Indian village, along the Curaray Rive . There they were approached one time by a small group of Huaorani and even gave an airplane ride to one curious Huaorani whom they called "George" (his real name was Naenkiwi).

Encouraged by these friendly encounters, they began plans to visit the Huaorani, without knowing that Naenkiwi had lied to the others about the missionaries' intentions [1 Their plans were preempted by the arrival of a larger group of about 10 Huaorani warriors, who killed Elliot and his four companions on January 8, 1956.

Elliot's body was found downstream, along with those of the other men, except that of Ed McCully which was found even farther downstream

“Did they waste their lives or am I wasting mine?”

A Waste of Life?

Jim Elliot’s had written in his journal, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Was his a wasted life? Was the life of the other men wasted? Some may think so, but eternity will reveal the great harvest of not only the Auca Indians of Ecuador but countless souls from all over the world reached by missionaries that were stirred to service by the sacrifice of these men.

Nate Saint, one of those who gave their lives said, “People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives...and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.

So I am challenged with the thought, “Did they waste their lives or am I wasting mine?”  May our lives matter for the cause of Jesus Christ around the world