I didn’t see a post on Facebook about this anniversary until too late in the day on Thursday to write about it, but this week marks the 70th anniversary of the most famous Christian martyrdom of the 20th century. On Jan. 8, 1956, Waodani tribesmen murdered Jim Elliot and his fellow missionaries, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and their pilot, Nate Saint, in Ecuador.
Elliot grew up in Portland, Ore., as the son of a traveling preacher who settled down when he had a family. His family belonged to the nonconformist Plymouth Brethren, and he became a Christian at the age of six. He believed that Christians shouldn’t get involved in politics, and his high school public speaking club nearly kicked him out when he refused to give a political speech. He also planned to register as a conscientious objector if the military drafted him to serve in World War II.
He studied at Wheaton College, and somewhere along the way, he felt the call to missions. He specifically wanted to concentrate on people groups that had never seen a Bible translated into their own languages.
While studying the Quechua languages at Camp Wycliffe, Elliot heard about the Waodani people, whom the Quechua referred to as “Auca” (savages) in their native language. The Waodani were notoriously violent and hostile toward outsiders. It was just the challenge that Elliot felt compelled to meet.
Elliot and Fleming made their way to Ecuador in 1952 to work with the Quechua people. Elliot married Elisabeth Howard in 1953, and their only child, Valerie, was born in 1955. Shortly thereafter, Elliot and his team of missionaries set out to reach the Waodani.
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The five men used Saint’s plane and a loudspeaker to announce their arrival and lowered gifts by basket. They set up a camp nearby and even took one Waodani tribe member for a plane ride.
Things turned sour when a group of about 10 warriors from the Waodani met the missionaries. The warriors murdered the five Americans on Jan. 8, 1956.
Voice of the Martyrs tells the story:
A news flash alerted the world: “Five Men Missing in Auca Territory.” The date was Monday, January 9, 1956. A team of missionary pioneers trying to make peaceful contact with an infamous tribe of Indians in Ecuador, the Waodani, had failed to make a scheduled radio call. For almost a full day no word had come from their camp on the Curaray River, which they named “Palm Beach.” Then a hovering pilot reported the badly damaged plane at the camp. This was followed by a gruesome confirmation on Wednesday, January 11, when the first body was spotted in the river. Though a search and rescue team was quickly formed, the discovery of more bodies quickly changed the mission from rescue to retrieval and burial.
By Friday of that week the team reached the missionaries’ campsite and hurriedly buried four of the bodies. The men had died violently from repeated spear wounds and machete cuts. The fifth body (Ed McCully) was never located after being identified on the beach but then washed away by the river. Five widows and eight orphans mourned the deaths and looked to God for comfort and direction. The world witnessed in stunned amazement.
But that’s not the end of the story. Elisabeth Elliot and Saint’s sister made friendly contact with the Waodani within two years, and they began to translate the Bible into their language. Several Waodani tribe members became Christians.
“True to the Maker and Mover behind the scenes, the story of the Waodani displays God’s ways,” Voice of the Martyrs writes. “Those who were once the impossible-to-reach are now taking their place among those who reach out. Believers among the Waodani have suffered for Christ, and at least one has experienced martyrdom.”
Elisabeth Elliot continued writing, speaking, and keeping her husband’s memory alive until she passed away in 2015. How many people could we reach for Jesus if we lived as boldly and fearlessly as Jim Elliot did?
The culture doesn’t take a day off—and neither do we.
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