11.24.07
End Of The Spear
Many things seem to take forever to reach us down here. Last year I finally got a copy of Sean Hannity’s “Deliver Us From Evil” and also a copy of “Dereliction of Duty”, not to mention more entertaining reading like “Hell, I was there!”. Well, I finally got to see “End Of The Spear” last night. It’s been out a while, but not as long as the books mentioned above. Since we take Fridays as our “Family Day” we decided to grab a burger at Tim’s favorite street corner burger/dog stand and then grab a movie to watch.
For those of you who are not familiar with the title, “End Of The Spear” is the story of the five missionaries who were killed by a tribe of indians in Ecuador back in the 1950’s. At the time they called the tribe the “Auca” but now they are known as the Waodani. This movie tells much of the story that is found in the old book “Through Gates Of Splendor”, but from the perspective of Steve Saint and Mincayani, the man who killed Nate Saint.
The movie makes the case for Christian mission work to far off tribes without being preachy. The superstition, fear and violence too often found in “stone age” tribes gives the lie to the myths of “the noble savage” and “they are happy, just the way they are”. When the Waodani came face to face with the Christian world view as demonstrated by the five missionaries they killed and their families who forgave them rather than exacting revenge like the Waodani expected, they found the path to a new way of thinking, a freer way of living than the old vicious cycle of revenge and fear killings.
I highly recommend this movie - even if you’ve never yet read “Through Gates Of Splendor” nor know the story of Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian - the men who gave their lives willingly so that many who lived in darkness could come to the Light.
JimT said,
November 27, 2007 at 8:16 am
We saw this film at the theater when it came out and later on purchased it. We have shared it with a number of people. I have yet to see it fail to touch hearts. I would recommend the campanion documentary, “Through The Gates of Splendor” also.
Paul said,
November 27, 2007 at 9:01 am
I’ve got my eye out for a copy. I purchased a bootleg copy of “The Passion of The Christ” before the movie hit the theaters here. And then picked up two originals as opportunity presented itself. BUT I’ve seen neither originals nor pirated versions for sale around here yet. It’s not a widely popular movie here, don’t know if it even made it to the theaters. So far, no one I’ve asked about it has seen it. Haven’t checked with Blockbuster yet, they sometimes have lesser known videos on their shelves, but with retail prices that rival those in the US. So there’s a “companion documentary”? I”ve yet to see that one.
CrunchyCon said,
November 29, 2007 at 10:46 pm
I was excited when I read this review and noticed my local library had a couple of copies of the movie, but disappointed that I’d be something like 30th in line for a copy. So I checked out the book, “End of the Spear” yesterday and have read about half of it thus far. It’s amazingly good, and not really preachy and Steve Saint seems to have a good head on his shoulders and not only a true Christian perspective here, but a genuine love for these people, some of whom murdered his father. His writing style and stories remind me more than a little of your own stories of backwoods life in South America, which is a real compliment to both of you.
CC