Beyond the Gates
Sunday evening we went to Victory Community Church in the evening for a special service. Don't worry Edmondites, we weren't looking for alternatives. The concert (complete with laser lights and fog) which they called church was interesting, but definitely was a seeker service and loud enough for me to be concerned for Drakes hearing. But that's a whole different topic I will not get into. We went there to hear Steve Saint speak. He is the son of a missionary pilot and has a pretty incredible story. So much so they made it into a movie to be released this month. End of the Spear.Many of you may have heard of 'Beyond the Gates of Splendor' or the book by Elizabeth Elliot (a wife of one of the missionaries) called 'Through Gates of Splendor'. It's about missionaries in the untouched Amazon jungle of Ecuador in 1956 that take the bible to remote villagers that have had no outside contact and have no laws. They basically kill (spear) each other when they get angry. These five missionaries fly in by plane and land on a sand bar and befriend a couple natives. After a few meetings and some inner-tribe jealousy one of the natives lies and they turn their hatred towards the foreigners. The tribe goes out and kills the 5 missionaires on the sand bar.
This is the story of the tribe and how, even after that, they came to know Christ and the forgiveness of the victims families. One of the missionaries' sister returned to the village (and was not killed). Through that, the son of the pilot has found a best friend in the man that killed his father. Steve and one of his father's killers, Mincaye (shown), were at Victory and spoke about their journey and the making of the movie. We got to meet them afterwards as well. TBN showed the documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor last night and will probably do it again leading up to the Jan 20 release of the movie 'End of the Spear', about the events 50 years ago this week. The pic above will take you to the movie site. The documentary 'Beyond the Gates of Splendor' is also available for rental and the book 'Through Gates of Splendor' widely available.
