My visit to 'Terminal City'

In July 2010, I went with a mission team from our church to Shell, Ecuador. I just realized that I never posted some of my pictures or reflections on my blog. That's too incredible of a memory for me to forget so allow me to share some of that story. I hope you find it interesting...

Shell, Ecuador is where the incredible missionary story played out as told in the movie "End of the Spear" and the book "Through Gates of Splendor" by Elizabeth Elliot. Jim Elliot, Nate Saint and 3 other missionaries took their wives to Ecuador to share the Gospel with a militant tribe, called the "Waodani", who lived deep in the Amazon jungle. Unfortunately, on January 8, 1956, those five men were speared to death by the very tribe they were trying to reach with the Gospel.

The moment the five missionary wives learned they were now widows.
The moment captured in this picture is heart-wrenching.
This picture was spread around the world in Life Magazine.

The story continued as Elizabeth Elliot (Jim's wife) and Rachel Saint (Nate's sister) went back to that tribe. Showing God's love to the very ones who took the lives of their loved ones, these women evangelized that tribe. Because of what they did, the Waodoni are now primarily Christians.

On my mission trip to Ecuador, we found out that a MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) plane was planning a flight into "Terminal City" to deliver needed supplies. ("Terminal City" is where Jim Elliot and Nate Saint dropped the bucket of "goodies" from their plane in an attempt to befriend the warriors). If we quickly purchased the ticket, we could get a chance to visit the tribe at the center of this incredible missionary story. I jumped at the opportunity with some others on our team.

Here are some of the pictures I took on this trip:

MAF does an incredible job around the world taking care
of people groups who live away from civilization.
They provide transportation for food, medicines, necessities and
evacuations for people in medical distress.

Here's a copy of my plane ticket to Terminal City and back.

Getting ready to take our ride from Shell to "Terminal City"

I got to sit in the back row. We're waiting our turn on the runway to take off.
Chris Stinger is riding shotgun. Syretha Bates is in the second row on the left.

And we're off!

About 10-15 minutes into our flight, we leave behind civiliation.
Amazon jungle, here we come!

High above the Amazon jungle. We were miles from anything that
resembled civilization.

After about 30 minutes, we saw "Terminal City" on the left side of our plane.
The runway is the dirt/grass/gravel path.

In "Terminal City."

Some precious children in "Terminal City."

I wish that I could have spoke "Wao."

We're standing on the runway. A traditional hut is seen in the background.

MAF's airplane.

This is the runway ... and I use that term loosely.

And we're off!

This is the Curaray River. It was on this river that the lives of
the five missionaries were taken in 1956.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curaray_River

The Curaray River. Because of erosion, locating "Palm Beach"
would have been impossible for us. But the fact that God used
such a remote spot of Earth to create a story that has motivated
so many men and women to pursue missions was overwhelming.

This full-sized model of the plane that Nate Saint flew graces
a park in the center of Shell, Ecuador. The story lives on...

A "God Moment" in Ecuador

One of the great missionary stories in modern history is retold in the book "Through Gates of Splendor" (1957) and in the movie "End of the Spear" (2005). Last year, I was in a group that was able to experience a small part of that incredible story. Here's what happened...

On our mission/service trip to Ecuador, we were informed that a plane would be flying into the jungle to visit "Terminal City." We jumped at the opportunity.

It was in 1956 that five missionary men (Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Peter Fleming, Ed McCully & Roger Youderian) left their wives and flew into that area. Nate and Steve had spent the previous weeks familiarizing themselves with the lay of the land from their plane. They had also dropped many gifts into the jungle village to try to make friends with the savage inhabitants. These missionaries wanted to share the Gospel with the Waodoni tribe before either the Ecuadorian government killed them or they savagely killed themselves.

I took this picture of the Curaray River
after our visit to "Terminal City."

The day came when they determined they would try to make contact with the tribe from the ground. They landed their plane on the banks of the Curaray River. After a prolonged period of time, two Waodoni women and one warrior exited the jungle and met with the missionaries. The men were apparently filled with excitement that their plan had succeeded. However, their ecstatic joy would soon be turned to sheer terror.

 from "End of the Spear"

The account of what happened shortly thereafter is retold in the movie and book I referenced above. On January 8, 1956, all 5 missionaries were speared by the very tribe they were trying to reach with the Gospel.

But the story didn't end there. Jim Elliot's wife (Elizabeth) and Nate Saint's sister (Rachel) went to that same tribe and shared the Gospel with them. They told them of Jesus' love and sacrificial death for the forgiveness of their sins.

As we visited "Terminal City" last year, we mingled with the children and grandchildren of those warriors. Most of the tribespeople are now Christians. In fact, shortly after we left, they were going to have a Christian training seminar for many of their neighboring tribes. They planned to show other tribes how to share the Gospel in their individual contexts. Incredible!

I took this picture of the Nate Saint House
from the airport across the street

Back in Shell, we were able to visit the Nate Saint House that was experiencing a much needed renovation. This was the home that Nate Saint lived in and the one that the other missionaries and their wives frequented. In fact, the picture of the moment that the five missionary wives were told of their husband's fate (Life Magazine) was taken in the kitchen of this house.

One incredible part of the story that we were able to experience was that just a few days before our visit to the Nate Saint House, Mincaye and two of the other Waodoni men who were in the spearing party had visited the house. One of their grandsons is a construction worker at the house and acted as an interpreter for them.

Here's the video of the retelling of that moment in the radio room. Watch this video and then read my final comments below.
 

  

The significance of this room? It was the room where Marj (Nate Saint's wife) and Steve (Nate's son) kept in contact with Nate while he was flying over the Amazon jungle. It was in this room that Nate first yelled over the radio that he had seen the Waodoni for the first time. It was in this room that Steve tried to contact his father as the Waodoni had just taken his life.

How incredible that it was in this room that three of those Waodoni warriors would lift up their hearts and voices to the Lord in prayer! Incredible!

I visited "Terminal City" and took pictures of the flight over and back. You can access those pictures by clicking here.