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January 8. Jim Elliot. From the time he was a boy, Jim wanted to go abroad and tell people about .

Now, you know learning languages was going to be high on his to-do list.

So when he was about twenty, with a friend, Jim hitchhiked to Mexico and studied Spanish. Three years later, he joined Camp Wycliffe to study linguistics and learned to break down native languages into written symbols.

After a couple more years, he made it to and spent three years learning the language. But Jim wanted to reach the Waodani tribe, who lived in the deep jungles too, so he learned their language from a woman who had left the tribe. On this date in 1957, members of Waodani tribe ambushed Jim and his fellow and speared them to death. Jim had a gun, but he refused to shoot the natives. Here’s what happened.

You often have to choose: do what’s loving, or do what’s safe. Choose eternal.

Deep in the Amazon jungle, the Waodani tribe lived as if it were still the Stone Age. For hundreds of years they had met all intruders—from conquistadors to gold hunters—with spears. In 1955, oil companies with soldiers invaded the territory, and the Waodani retaliated. They killed the oil companies’ employees.

Now, rumors abounded—plans for the military to eradicate the Waodani “nuisance.” In nearby Shandia, twenty-eight-year-old Jim and his fellow missionaries prayed for a chance to contact the Waodani before the military could attack and wipe out the natives.

One day, a Waodani girl fled the tribe. When missionary befriended the girl, she taught the whole team some phrases of the tribe’s hidden language.

Jim put his plan into action. In a small plane, for thirteen weeks the missionaries flew over the village in tight circles, dropped a rope, and lowered a bucket of gifts, such as rock salt and buttons. With a loudspeaker, the missionaries broadcast simple phrases of friendship the girl had taught them. “We like you. We are your friends.” Pretty soon, the Waodani responded by putting gifts in the bucket for the missionaries. Ecstatic and full of hope, the missionaries planned for the men to have a face-to-face meeting with the natives.

Of course, there was danger. These people had never welcomed outsiders. Jim, his friends, and their wives talked about the possibility that the men would not return. But they believed the only way to convince the Waodani that Jesus loved them was to avoid violence. So the missionaries took a vow—they would not use violence.

When the time came, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, , , and headed out. On a sandbar near the Waodani village, the men set up camp.

Soon three Waodani made a friendly visit. It was unheard of.

A few days later, two Waodani women stepped out of the jungle. And the missionaries were excited to talk with them.

Suddenly, loud and angry warriors with spears surrounded the missionaries. Jim fired warning shots into the air, but he refused to shoot the warriors.

They rushed him.

Gored him.

Killed him.

Killed them all.

At 4:30 that afternoon, the wives of the missionaries waited for a scheduled radio check-in, but it never came. The rescue party discovered four bodies—all spear-gored to death. A fifth body was later recovered downstream.

Jim Elliot and his friends “gave what they couldn’t keep to gain what they couldn’t lose.” Two years later, Jim’s young widow Elisabeth continued Jim’s work in the Stone-Age village of her husband’s killers. And it wasn’t long before the Waodani asked why Jim hadn’t shot them. They didn’t understand his choice to freely give up his life until they heard about another man— Jesus—who had willingly given up His.

The rescue party found Jim’s journal. In the last entry he wrote, “Perhaps in mercy he shall give me a host of children [converts] … But if not, if only I may see him, touch his garments, and smile into his eyes—ah then, not stars nor children shall matter, only himself.”

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it” (Luke 9:24 NIV).

“I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9 NIV).

Take a moment to think about what you hold onto most tightly. Can you keep it forever? You often have to choose: do what’s loving, or do what’s safe. Choose eternal.

Taylor, Justin. “They Were No Fools: The Martyrdom of Jim Elliot and Four Other Missionaries.” The Gospel Coalition. Published January 8, 2016. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/they-were-no- fools-60-years-ago-today-the-martyrdom-of-jim-elliot-and-four-other-missionaries. Saint, Steve. “Did they have to die?” Christianity Today. Published September 16, 1996. https:// www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1996/september16/missionaries-did-they-have-to-die.html. Lodge, Carey. “Home Mission First Christian convert in tribe that killed Jim Elliot and four other missionaries dies.” Christian Today. Published April 15, 2014. https://www.christiantoday.com/article/first-christian-believer-of- the-tribe-that-killed-jim-elliot-and-four-other-missionaries-dies/36817.htm. Chester, Tim. “Jim Elliot Was No Fool.” Crossway. Published January 8, 2018. https://www.crossway.org/ articles/jim-elliot-was-no-fool/.

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man?

Jim’s widow, Elisabeth, wrote about this experience in her books, Through the Gates of Splendor and Shadow of the Almighty.

Steve—the son of Nate Saint—was five years old when the missionaries were martyred. Steve shares more of the story in a video at: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/ they-were-no-fools-60-years-ago-today-the-martyrdom-of-jim-elliot-and-four-other- missionaries/.

Story written by: Paula Moldenhauer, http://paulamoldenhauer.com/

This story is also told in Through the Gates of Splendor, a 2002 documentary, and , a movie directed by Jim Hanon and produced in 2006. NOTE: Waodani is also spelled Waorani or Huaorani, depending on the source.

This is a page from Jim’s notebook where he originally wrote “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” He cites Luke 16:9.