God had spared Jim Elliot's life twice before—once during a hunting trip when a bullet nearly hit him and the second time when he and his friends found themselves stalled in a car on the railroad tracks. They saw the train coming, and they scrambled out of their vehicle just seconds before the train demolished the car.
After the wreck, Jim told his parents, "It sobered me considerably to think that the Lord kept me from harm in this. Certainly, He has a work that He wants me in somewhere."
Following God's leading, Jim became a missionary after he graduated from college. He traveled to Ecuador to serve God among South American tribal people. After about a year, he married Elisabeth Howard, and their daughter, Valerie, was born while they were serving in Ecuador.
Jim still enjoyed working with his team to spread the gospel. His new teammates and fellow missionaries were Pete Fleming, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, and Roger Youderian.
God gave Jim a strong desire to reach the tribal people. The Waodani, an indigenous people group, had a reputation for violence and suspicion toward outsiders. Together the team prayed and devised a plan to reach out to the Waodani by dropping gifts from their plane. They even learned some of the language from a woman who had recently escaped from the Waodani tribe in order to communicate with the people there.
After some initial success in building a relationship, something went terribly wrong. There were those among the tribe who did not trust the missionaries. They attacked and killed the entire team after the plane landed on the Waodani beach.
Through the tragedy, God continued moving among the Waodani. After a time, they realized that the missionaries had unselfishly laid down their lives for the tribe. Jim and his team had hoped that they would lead the people to an understanding of Christ's love. In an unexpected way, the missionaries had accomplished that goal. And their wives returned to the beach and forgave the people who had killed their husbands. The sacrifice of their lives helped the Waodani understand Jesus' ultimate sacrifice on the cross and led many of the tribe to follow Him. |
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