1 Running head: A STORY WORTH TELLING A Story Worth Telling: Exploring the Spread and Impact of the Story of Operation Auca through Mass Communication Andrew Ballard Georgia Southern University COMM 4330 A: History of Mass Communication April 16, 2018 A STORY WORTH TELLING 2 Abstract This paper explores a) how the story of Jim Elliot and Operation Auca broke through Christian news into maintstream media, and b) what impact the legacy had in subsequent years. The author explores Jim Elliot’s upbringing, life, and impact as a Student at Wheaton College and later in Ecuador, and then presents the story of Operation Auca. After this, the author investigates the spread of the story to the international audience, which took place in three waves: 1) newspapers picked up the in-progress story and printed updates, 2) Life Magazine covered the story in greater depth, drawing the audience in with captivating photography from Cornell Capa, and 3) Elisabeth Elliot published her account of Operation Auca, which was followed by biographical sketches, interviews, appearances on Television, movies, and documentaries. Finally, the author argues that the publishing of the story through these different mediums resulted in tens of thousands of Christians developing a deeper devotion to their faith, and thousands committing to living their lives as career evangelical missionaries. Keywords: Jim Elliot, operation auca, evangelicalism, missionary, life magazine ​ A STORY WORTH TELLING 3 A Story Worth Telling: Exploring the Spread and Impact of the Story of Operation Auca through Mass Communication Our language often says more about us than we do through it, whether we look at an individual’s use of language or any particular language as a composite structure. How we speak about things, the words we choose, tell a story in and of themselves. Take for example the word “history.” Perhaps it is a coincidence that “history” looks like “his story.” But isn’t that how we approach history, the study of past human events, as though it necessarily has an overarching pattern and narrative? Throughout the ages we trace generations and dynasties, trying to fit it together, seeing how it all seems to make sense; whether we attribute this narrative to being told about the divine or the mundane, we people are very clearly interested in “his story.” To be sure, narrative is essential to our communication: humans are fundamentally storytellers (Clair et al., 2014). The question is: what makes a story worth telling? How we answer this question will impact what stories we accept, which we remember, which ones we value, and which ones we tell again. These are the stories that captivate our imaginations, that inspire us, challenge us, motivate us, and seem to “live on” in a sense, even though the events they speak of may be in the ever more distant past. One of these such stories shocked Christians in the United States and other parts of the world in 1956. “5 U.S. Missionaries Lost; Jungle Murder Feared,” read one of the headlines (New York Times, 1956). Thousands across the nation wept with the five widows as newspapers from Chicago and New York shared the tale of their martyred husbands over the next two months. Later on there would be survivors to be interviewed, books to be written, TV shows to be invited onto, and movies to be produced- all telling the story of these five ordinary men. One A STORY WORTH TELLING 4 of the men- Jim Elliot- had his story told extensively, and through this narrative he influenced more people in death than in life. While stories about missionaries, pioneer work, and martyrdom for the Gospel typically have no trouble with gaining salience and circulation when they are narrowcast to the audience of American Evangelicalism, this remarkable story transcended Christendom and briefly held the attention of mainstream America. The story of Operation Auca was printed in the pages of LIFE magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Daily News, and New ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ York Times, each of which were considered “secular” news networks, in contrast with “Christian ​ News,” which is concerned with publishing news in view of a biblical lens (Christian News Network, 2018). In this paper I will explore how the story of Jim Elliot and Operation Auca broke through the niche of Christian media to gain recognition in “secular” newspapers, and why it had such an incredible impact that has endured for over half of a century. First, I will examine how Jim Elliot’s early upbringing shaped him to become an extraordinary man. Then, I shall demonstrate how he lived a completely unique and memorable story, even while in college, and then later on the mission field. Then, I will explore the events of Operation Auca, and the immediate mass media coverage of it. Finally, I will offer my analysis of the impact of this coverage in allowing the story of Jim Elliot and Operation Auca to be told, ultimately leaving an immeasurable impact on an innumerable amount of people. Upbringing As Elisabeth Elliot, widow of Jim Elliot, details in her book on Jim Elliot’s life, Shadow ​ of the Almighty, Jim grew up in Portland, Oregon (Elliot, E., 1958). He was born in 1927 to Fred ​ and Clara Elliot. His parents were simple and God-fearing. They invested themselves and their resources their four children, raising them with love and with discipline as they guided them “to A STORY WORTH TELLING 5 God as well as to bed” (Elliot, E., 1958, p. 25). His parents were hospitable people, so they frequently hosted missionaries in their home. This provided Jim with a global perspective of missions at an early age. His parents stressed two values especially to their children: obedience and honesty. Jim embodied these for the rest of his short life. When he came to understand that God’s commandment in the Bible was for the Gospel to be taken to all peoples, he saw no decision other than to obey, and to obey to the fullest. And when he met Christians who either didn’t have this clarity, or who didn’t live it out, he was compelled to be direct with them about what God’s Word said. This radical obedience and radical honesty led him to lead a life that truly stood out among his peers. Impact During His Life Jim lived an extraordinary lifestyle, filled with enthusiasm and fervor. One of his most well-known maxims was, “wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you ​ ​ believe to be the will of God” (Elliot, J., 1950). This he exemplified personally and was known by his classmates for constantly challenging them to live a life more fully after God by exhortation and by example (Howard, D., 2014). During his college years, Jim Elliot won tournaments for the school’s wrestling team, served as president of the large Student Foreign Missions Fellowship, served as an RA, and personally recruited his peers for the mission field (Howard, D., 2014). Jim’s best friend in college and A STORY WORTH TELLING 6 eventual brother-in-law, Dave Howard, described Jim’s enactment of his ‘live-to-the-hilt’ mentality: If it was time to study the Bible and pray, he did it “to the hilt” and knew the Bible better than any person his age I ever met. When it was time to study, he studied “to the hilt” and graduated as a Greek major summa cum laude. If it was time to have fun, let’s have all ​ ​ the fun we can. (2014) Given his passion for taking the Gospel to those who had not yet heard, it is no surprise that Jim did not remain long in the United States- he left for the mission field in February of 1952. While in Quito, Ecuador, Jim sent a letter back to “brother Virgil and all the saints in Williams” (Elliot, J., 1953), providing some of the details of his work. Although his language might come across as archaic (reminiscent of the biblical language that the Apostle Paul so strikingly opened his epistles with), Jim was certainly not out of touch with his context: he worked hard to learn the language of the Quichua, and had a very clear vision for the evangelization of the Indians, as well as for the training and commissioning of young leaders- all the while working to meet the felt need of education in the community by running a boys school (Elliot, J., 1953). He worked hard at language learning and endeavored to impact the Quichua, but he soon felt the call to give his efforts to those seemingly furthest from God, and so in 1954 he and his new wife, Elisabeth Elliot, moved to Shandia (Fickas, T., n.d.). There he would give his utmost to make contact with the violent Waorani tribe- and, when he finally did make contact, he would give even more. The combination of Jim’s life and his words seems to have increased the poignancy of his story. Many have noted that Jim seemed to have an almost prophetic inkling that he would die at A STORY WORTH TELLING 7 a young age. His journals were sown with ponderings on and references to a life lived short- the following are some examples of his thoughts on the subject, interspersed throughout his writings between 1949 and 1951. The quotations below were provided by Dave Howard, Jim’s brother-in-law, in an online article, while the pictures are the corresponding excerpts from Jim’s original journal, pulled from the archives of Wheaton College (Elliot, 1951): God, I pray, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn up for Thee.