Missionary Lives from the Students' Eyes

In Bible class, we’ve been studying the book of Acts and talking about mission work. As part of that discussion, we watched End of the Spear, a movie about Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, and three other missionaries who served in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador.

-- Caution: Spoiler Alert -- J

The missionary men who serve in the Amazon make a seemingly astounding sacrifice: their lives. They make a pact that they will not, under any circumstances, shoot at the Waodani tribe with whom they’re trying to make contact. The violent, unreached tribe may not be ready for Heaven, but the missionary men are. Thus, defending themselves by harming the Waodani simply is not an option. When the time comes and the men finally not only make contact but meet the tribe members, things go unexpectedly well. They seem to form a small friendship. But then things turn bad. The Waodani spear the men. Nate, in his dying breath, whispers Waodani words his son taught him: I’m your sincere friend.

Years later, the wives of the missionaries return to work among the tribe. The Waodani still need to learn about God. God miraculously transforms the tribe as the women live among them.

What a testimony of service, forgiveness, and love!

As our class processed what we saw and considered the testimonies of Stephen, Paul, and others we had read in the Bible, we realized a few things.

Christians are missionaries. Whether you work a full-time job at “home,” volunteer part time for a ministry, disciple, evangelize, or move into a remote, unreached tribe, you are a missionary as a Christian. Although the students live as “missionary” families overseas, they felt that any Christian lives as a missionary.

With that in mind, we considered this question: What decisions do missionaries have to make? My students’ answers challenged me:

We must love regardless of whether others deserve it or earned it. Nate Saint and the others loved the Waodani without knowing them.

We are called to serve with our lives daily.

Sometimes we have to make sacrifices in order to help others even when it’s risky. The missionary men’s service meant giving up their lives.

We must forgive others no matter what. The wives of the killed missionary men forgave and loved the Waodani simply because they needed to know God and God does not hate.

We need to trust God in every circumstance.

We need to be genuinely involved in others’ lives since that’s how God works through us.

We should live each moment with kingdom character – character after the heart of God’s kingdom.