Part of a sermon series on heroes featuring the martyrdom of Nate Saint and his friends among the Auca Indians of Ecuador.

1. No Fool:
Martyrdom
in Ecuador
Alvin L. Reyes MD

2. Luke 12: 20
• But God said unto him, Thou fool, this
night thy soul shall be required of thee:
then whose shall those things be, which
thou hast provided? So is he that layeth
up treasure for himself, and is not rich
toward God.

3. Luke 12: 20
• But God said to the man 'Fool! This very
night your life is being demanded; and as
for all you have prepared--who will have
it?' So it is with those who lay by wealth for
themselves and are not rich to the glory of
God."

4. Curare River in Ecuador

5. The Waorani or Auca

6. The Waorani
• Meaning “people”
• Called Aucas by others meaning
“savages”
• Numbered 500 in 1955
• Lived between the river Napo & Curare
• Few lived beyond their 20’s
• Noted for their fierceness

7. The Chonta (wooden spear)

10. Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Peter Fleming, Roger
Youderian, Ed McCully

11. 1. Jim Elliot
• Jim Elliot, born 1927
• Graduate with honors, Wheaton College
• Debater, public speaker, and champion
wrestler.
• Married to Elisabeth Howard.
• Did paramedic work, tending broken arms,
malaria, snakebite. The taught sanitation,
wrote books in Quechua, and taught
literacy.

12. Jim, Elizabeth & Valerie

13. 2. Nate Saint
• Nate Saint was pilot who served in WW2.
• Enrolled in Wheaton College then joined
the Missionary Aviation Fellowship.
• Flew short hops to supply missionaries
with food, medicines, mail, etc.
• He was married to Marjorie .

14. • "People who do not know the Lord ask
why in the world we waste our lives as
missionaries. They forget that they too are
expending their lives ... and when the
bubble has burst, they will have nothing of
eternal significance to show for the years
they have wasted." -- Nate Saint

15. 3. Ed McCully
• Ed McCully had been a football and track
star at Wheaton College, and president of
senior class.
• Enrolled later at Marquette to study law,
but dropped out to go to Ecuador.
• Married to Marilou and worked with the
Quechuas at Arajuno, a base near the
Huaorani.

16. 4. Peter Fleming
• Peter Fleming born 1928 from the
University of Washington,
• An honor student, a linguist, married to
Olive .
• They ran a literacy program among the
Quechuas.

17. 5. Roger Youderian
• Roger Youderian from rural Montana
• A former paratrooper who had fought in the
Battle of the Bulge in Belgium and had been in
General Eisenhower's honor guard.
• Married to Barbara
• Roger had been working with the Jivaros, and
was thoroughly at home in the jungle.

18. Barbara Youderian

19. 3 Months Air to Ground Contact

20. January 8, 1956 (Sunday 3pm)

21. January 9, 1956

22. The 5 Missionary Martyrs

23. Lessons

24. 1. Let us remember
our mortality and our
allotted lifetime.
“The years of our life are threescore
and ten, or even by reason of
strength fourscore; yet their span is
but toil and trouble; they are soon
gone, and we fly away.” Psalm 90:11

25. Jim Elliot (28), Nate Saint (32), Peter Fleming (27),
Roger Youderian, Ed McCully

26. • How many of your years are left?
• How are we spending our lives?
• What occupies our minds?
• Are we appreciating what the Lord has
given us- family, friends, health?
• Are our lives filled with regret, hate and
remorse?
• Are we preparing for our death?
• Do we have hope?
• Where will we (and our family)spend
eternity?

27. • "Never pity missionaries; envy them. They
are where the real action is -- where life
and death, sin and grace, Heaven and Hell
converge." -- Robert C. Shannon

28. 2. Remember the
Great
Commission.
Mark 16:15-And he said to
them, "Go into all the world
and preach the gospel to
the whole creation.

29. Missionary @ church
• "The Great Commission is not an option to
be considered; it is a command to be
obeyed" -- Hudson Taylor, Missionary to China
• "If a commission by an earthly king is
considered a honor, how can a
commission by a Heavenly King be
considered a sacrifice?" -- David Livingstone
missionary to Africa

30. More mission quotes:
• "Sympathy is no substitute for action." --
David Livingstone, missionary to Africa
• "No one has the right to hear the gospel
twice, while there remains someone who
has not heard it once." -- Oswald J. Smith
• "Only as the church fulfills her missionary
obligation does she justify her existence." -
- Unknown

31. And more mission quotes
• "The mark of a great church is not its
seating capacity, but its sending capacity."
-- Mike Stachura
• "Missions is not the 'ministry of choice' for
a few hyperactive Christians in the church.
Missions is the purpose of the church." --
Unknown

32. Missionary @ home.
• You may or may not be called to the
mission field, but each Christian is called
to the delightful adventure of knowing and
doing the will of God. This is the thrill of
the Christian life - to experience God at
the center of all you do, think, and say.

33. Mother’s Missionary Work
• If every mother could realize how great
are her duties and her responsibilities, and
how great will be the reward of
faithfulness. The mother's daily influence
upon her children is preparing them for
everlasting life or eternal death. She
exercises a power more decisive than the
minister in the desk, or even the king upon
his throne…

34. • The day of God will reveal how much the
world owes to godly mothers for men who
have been unflinching advocates of truth
and reform--men who have been bold to
do and dare, who have stood unshaken
amid trials and temptations. EGW Lift Him Up
339

35. Missionaries where we live
• In the very family, the neighborhood, the
town, where we live, there is work for us to
do as missionaries for Christ. If we are
Christians, this work will be our delight.
Desire of Ages p141

36. No One Excused
• There is a mighty power in the truth. It is
God's plan that all who embrace it shall
become missionaries. Not only men, but
women and even children can engage in
this work. None are excused. All have an
influence, and that influence should be
wholly for the Master. EGW Historical Sketches
p151

37. 3. The Lord requires
everything in His
service.
"No one can serve two
masters; for either he will
hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted
to the one and despise the
other. Matt 6:24

38. Rachel Saint & Elizabeth Elliot

39. • In less than two years Elisabeth Elliot, her
daughter Valerie, and Rachel Saint (Nate's
sister) were able to move to the Auca
village.
• Many Aucas became Christians. They are
now a friendly tribe.
• Missionaries, including Nate Saint's son
and his family, still live among the Aucas
today.

40. Power of Influence
• When we strictly heed the instructions God
has given us in regard to cherishing pitying
love, compassion, forgiveness, and
kindness for others, and are forgetful of
ourselves, we shall have a power of
influence with our people such as no
others can have. EGW11Manuscript Releases
25.3

41. Forgiven as we forgive
• We are not forgiven because we forgive,
but as we forgive. The ground of all
forgiveness is found in the unmerited love
of God, but by our attitude toward others
we show whether we have made that love
our own. EGW Christ Object Lessons p251

42. 4. We may lose
everything in this life
but God’s promises
gives us courage to
live and hope for
tomorrow.

43. Elizabeth Elliot
• Author-
(Through Gates
of Splendour
etc)
• Radio
Broadcaster
• Speaker
• Mother/
Grandmother

44. Our Hope of Salvation
• As they see in God's faithful servants a
reflection of the Light of the world, will
realize that they have a hope of salvation,
and they will open their hearts to receive
the healing beams. EGW CT 468.2

45. Hope against death
• Jesus changed the mother's grief to joy
when He gave back her son... Jesus
comforts our sorrow for the dead with a
message of infinite hope. EGW Desire of
Ages 320

46. • They are to despair of nothing, and to
hope for everything. With the golden chain
of His matchless love Christ has bound
them to the throne of God. EGW Desire of Ages
p 680

47. Final Words

48. Some lessons from the Auca
Martyrs:
• 1. Remember our mortality.
• 2. Remember the Great Commission
• 3. The Lord requires everything in His
service.
• 4. We may lose everything in this life but
God’s promises gives us courage to live
and hope for tomorrow. .

49. Challenge to everyone:
• "Someone asked: Will the heathen who
have never heard the Gospel be saved? It
is more a question with me whether we --
who have the Gospel and fail to give it to
those who have not -- can be saved." --
Charles Spurgeon

50. • "He is no fool who gives up what
he cannot keep to gain that which
he cannot lose" -- Jim Elliot, missionary
martyr

51. Maraming salamat
po.