Elizabeth Elliott tells the story beautifully of the death of the missionaries. She has written a number of lovely books telling of the importance of waiting for relations until you are married and many other things.
I believe her husband Jim wouldn't marry her until she learned the language very of the natives that killed him and the others. Her story as well as the story of the other women left behind is an amazing testimony to the love of Christ living within us, we hope only to be able show it the way they have. Kelly >Not in Vain > by Luis Palau > > Five years ago, 34 university students from the state of > Washington embarked on a summer trip of a lifetime: an > anthropological trek to visit the Huaodani (pronounced > wow-DAH-nee) people deep in the Amazon jungles of South America. > > When they left for the jungle, the students weren't aware of > three important facts: > > First, the Huaodani had come to the world's attention more > than 40 years earlier when several of their tribesmen speared to > death five young missionaries. > > Second, being from state universities and not young men and > women of faith, they had never heard the names of the five who > were killed: Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Pete Fleming, Ed McCulley, > and Roger Youderian. > > Third, following that horrific event, many Huaodani came to > know Jesus Christ through the efforts of Nate Saint's sister, > Rachel. > > To reach the Huaodani encampment, the students followed > Steve Saint, the son of one of the five martyrs. Steve had spent > time living with his aunt Rachel and the Huaodani while growing > up and could communicate in their language. Several Huaodani > acted as guides to walk the group along the eastern flanks of > the Andes Mountains in Ecuador and down into the virgin Amazon > basin. Their three-day trek along a jungle trail included > several downstream stretches in dugout canoes. Steve saw rapport > building between the students and their guides. > > Finally, the students unloaded their bags at the Huaodani > campsite. As they settled around a campfire that evening, a > student asked Steve about the "savage Huaodani" they had read > about before leaving the United States. > > Sitting on a log under a star-studded sky, Steve calmly > explained, "The very people you have been traveling, eating, and > sleeping with?your guides?are, in fact, those 'savages.'" > > "That can't be true!" one student exclaimed, as others > murmured their agreement. > > "But it is," Steve replied. "If you don't believe me, why > don't we ask some of these Huaodani where their fathers are." > > Taking up the challenge, one student nodded toward a > Huaodani woman. Steve translated. > > "Boto meampo doobae wendapa," she replied. "Having been > speared, he died a long time ago." Her tone of voice suggested > that any other cause would have been unusual. > > Overhearing the conversation, four more Huaodani volunteered > that their fathers had also been speared and killed. One woman, > Ompodae, nodded toward an older man a few feet away who was > listening to their conversation. His name was Dabo. > > "See him?" said Ompodae. "He killed my father and nearly the > rest of my family, too." > > The students couldn't believe that a woman could talk so > calmly about a person?someone sitting a few feet away?who had > killed most of her family. > > Dawa, another Huaodani woman, spoke up. Pointing to her > aging husband, Kimo, she said, "Hating us, Kimo speared my > father, my brothers, my mother, and my baby sister, whom my > mother was nursing in her hammock. Then he took me and made me > his wife." > > The visitors were stunned. "How could she live with a man > who murdered her family?" one young woman asked. > > Realizing that the students did not know about the > missionary slayings, he put his arm around Kimo's shoulders and > informed them, "Kimo killed my father, too." > > This was too much to comprehend. "What changed these > people?" a student asked. > > Steve knew the answer but wanted the group to hear it from > the lips of Dawa, Kimo, and the other Huaodani. They explained > how they used to kill inconvenient babies, and how mothers > strangled daughters to meet the demands of dying husbands, who > wanted their children to keep them company in the hereafter. > > The Huaodani explained that evil spirits and witch doctors' > curses could kill as effectively as their warriors' spears. They > spoke of living in constant fear of being ambushed, even while > working in the gardens. Then they explained to these highly > educated young people how they learned that the "Man Maker" sent > His Son to die for people full of hate, fear, and desire for > revenge. > > "We now follow God's trail," said Dawa. Then she asked Steve > to translate a question for the audience. "All people die, but > if you are following God's trail, then dying will lead you to > heaven. But only one trail leads there. Have you heard me well? > Which one of you wants to follow God's trail?" > > There was silence again. A lone hand rose into the night > air. Dawa joyously clapped her hands and said, "We will see each > other in God's place some day." > > Around a campfire in the Amazon, the dawn of the 21st > century came face to face with the Stone Age?and came up short. > In a fleeting but eternal moment, Steve Saint saw the Great > Commission of Jesus Christ?"tell people about me everywhere > [even] to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8)?come full circle. > Dawa's witness to the Gospel was living proof that his father's > blood truly had not been shed in vain. > > Used with permission from It's a God Thing (Doubleday). > Copyright 2001 Luis Palau. All rights reserved. >Bob Simons > >For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, >"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give >you hope and a future. Jer. 29:11 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com _______ Let the Golden Rule be your daily rule. 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