Recommending the movie "End of the Spear"

[soul dreamer]

It has been 50 years this month since 5 missionaries (Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, etc.) were brutally killed in the Amazonian jungle reaching out to the Auca Indians (possibly the most savage tribe in history) who call themselves the Waodani "the people" (neighboring tribes call them the Aucas = the savages).

Two weeks ago I heard in person the testimony of Mincaye, one of the Indians involved in the killings - Steve Saint (Nate's son) translated from Auca.  Mincaye killed Nate the missionary pilot, but today Mincaye is not only a Christian, but a minister reaching out to those in his country who still do not believe.  Steve Saint said Mincaye is both one of his best friends and a colaborer in the gospel.

These men are depicted in the movie "End of the Spear" that I got to see in an advance screening.  This is a very good movie that is intended to reach both Christian and secular audiences - the dialog loosely quotes maybe two Bible verses.  The camera in the movie follows the Auca Indians (with subtitles) more than it follows the missionaries.

Elisabeth Elliot, whose husband Jim was killed, goes to live with the Waodani, along with Steve Saint and his aunt Rachel.

Mincaye's tribe struggles to survive the inter-tribal revenge spearings that threaten to wipe out his people completely. His encounter with the five missionaries and his spearing of Nate Saint propel him down an extraordinary path that culminates in coming face to face with Steve Saint.

The movie covers some of the highlights of how these two women and a boy brought an incredible display of love: a lifestyle of forgiveness; lots of action - very little preaching.

The film was one of the most powerful and moving pictures I have ever seen. It vividly shows the power of God's love to reach out through His people to a violent tribe and forgive their brutal acts of murder. The film has a true and wonderful ending.

I recommend all Christians seeing it, unless you get squeamish at the sight of blood - there is some violence (PG-13).  The film opens in theaters this Friday, Jan 20.  The more people that see it this weekend, the more film prints shall be ordered to show the film in a wider release, and the longer the film shall stay in the theaters.

For more info, go to www.EndoftheSpear.com

Blessings!

Rick

[outdeep]

Interview with Steve Saint (son of Nate Saint)
http://www.bgea.org/DMag_article.asp?ArticleID=637


I was actually at this meeting (see picture - if I am not mistaken, one of the indians pictures may be the son of indian who killed Steve's father) at Amsterdam 2000.  I remember looking over while eating lunch and there was Steve Saint having in the cafeteria with an Auca Indian. 

Powerful story.  I look forward to seeing the movie End Of the Spear.  I hope folks get the point (sorry).

[BeckyW]

Just dropping in to say we've been looking forward to seeing this movie.  My husband and son met Steve Saint this past summer at the Oshkosh, Wis. air show.  Mincaye was with him and they both signed Phill's copy of Jungle Pilot, a book about Nate Saint's life.  Mincaye's 'signature' is his thumbprint. The airplane in the movie is an exact replica of the one destroyed on the beach the day the men were killed, down to the call letters. Steve also does the flying in the film.
A new generation needs to know this powerful story.

BW

[Margaret]

Steve Saint wrote a very interesting account of how he questioned for years why God let his father die, and how he got an answer. http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/articles/article_detail.php?666

[Joe Sperling]

Margaret---

Thanks for sharing that link. It really made my day. The verse that starts the story
is extremely important to me as God used it to greatly encourage me during a tragedy
I endured----and the story itself is truly a miracle in itself. Thanks again.

--Joe

[al Hartman]

Cathy & I saw the film today.  Two comments:

1. Thank you, Rick-- had it not been for your post, this one may have slipped past me...

2. Everyone else: SEE IT!!!

al     Please read my later post, reply #10 (1/23/06) on this thread

[matthew r. sciaini]

All:

Just returned from seeing it at the theater with the singles group....it was quite good. 

I would say that it is more of a film for those who are already saved, to encourage us in our faith and labor (or TO labor if not already doing so).   I don't think that your garden variety unsaved person will follow this, unless a Christian invites him or her to see the film and explains afterwards what was going on. 

Matt

[David Mauldin]

The greatest expression of faith is to die for it. While in the assembly I was constantly hearing ministry on Hebrews 11. "...these sought a better country...."  Finding myself in such a deadend (no pun intended) situation (living with saints for the rest of my life)  my funeral was a constant fantasy. Would it be at the hands of the government?  "Tell us where the Christians are gatherng!"  Would it be at the hands of the State Church?  "Tell us where the heretics are gathering!"  I can remember George himself teaching that laying down your life was the pursuit of the first church!  Now to my point!  If we examine the journals of jim Elliot we find these notions (dying for his faith) in his mind years before he went to Ecador! Also if we examine the circumstances of this missionary endevor we see that (for your sake I will say) to the "natural mind" it was pure suicide!!!   Not an uncommon notion when we look at other religions! So I ask the question "Were these truely murders?" "Do these deaths merit our wonderment, adoration?" The Ouca indians were taught by years of being murdered themselves by outsiders that anyone from the outside world had only one intent. To kill them!  They were only protecting their own lives and way of life. Had Jim and the rest reasonably thought out this situation a better approach may have sufficed? But then they wouldn't be in heaven now would they???

[M2]

The greatest expression of faith is to die for it. While in the assembly I was constantly hearing ministry on Hebrews 11. "...these sought a better country...."  Finding myself in such a deadend (no pun intended) situation (living with saints for the rest of my life)  my funeral was a constant fantasy. Would it be at the hands of the government?  "Tell us where the Christians are gatherng!"  Would it be at the hands of the State Church?  "Tell us where the heretics are gathering!"  I can remember George himself teaching that laying down your life was the pursuit of the first church!  Now to my point!  If we examine the journals of jim Elliot we find these notions (dying for his faith) in his mind years before he went to Equador! Also if we examine the circumstances of this missionary endevor we see that (for your sake I will say) to the "natural mind" it was pure suicide!!!   Not an uncommon notion when we look at other religions! So I ask the question "Were these truely murders?" "Do these deaths merit our wonderment, adoration?" The Ouca indians were taught by years of being murdered themselves by outsiders that anyone from the outside world had only one intent. To kill them!  They were only protecting their own lives and way of life. Had Jim and the rest reasonably thought out this situation a better approach may have sufficed? But then they wouldn't be in heaven now would they???

Why did Jim Elliot and his band of men do such a foolish thing and go out that day to "reach" the Ouaca Indians with the gospel??

Maybe it is for the same reason that you return to this board to display your "critical" thinking skills re. Christianity and Bush... 

Marcia

[David Mauldin]

Marcia,  You are correct!  Although sacraficing your life for a purpose, you deeply believe in, will give you a tremendous sense of meaning  (consider the hundreds of Muslim suicide bombers) it seems to me a tremendous waste. Primarily "Faith" being impossible to verify. Wouldn't a more reasonsoable approach to life prove more productive? They could have taken numerous options that would have been effective in reaching the Oucas. Why should we admire this? Take a look at your thinking pattern. Ask yourself "Why do I consider this to be admirable?"

[al Hartman]

 
Sadly, I must withdraw my endorsement of the recently released film "End of the Spear."  Thanks to an e-mail from a faithful brother in Christ, I have become aware that the movie's lead actor, Chad Allen, who plays both Steve Saint and Nate Saint, is a gay activist.  I have since confirmed this by researching numerous websites which featured interviews with the actor and others.
 
More important is the fact that Steve Saint and the producers were fully aware of Allen's orientation and activism.  It is indeed a sign of our times that one must research to such lengths before simply attending a movie.  We were hoodwinked.
 
I know that tolerance of alternative lifestyles has grown by leaps and bounds within the visible church today, and that many will excuse Steve Saint for having become a close friend of Allen during filming, as being an effort on Saint's part to reach Allen with the gospel.  If that is Saint's desire, I commend him for it, but it does not excuse his compromising the clear teaching of God's Word by joining hands with a pronounced opponent of God, who refers in an interview to believers as "them" and to the gay community as "we."
 
Chad Allen is a talented actor, whose work I have appreciated in the past.  Had "Spear" been produced in ignorance of his position, it would be no different than the film industry's employment of countless other unsaved actors and technicians.  We are in this world, and not in a position to buy only groceries that were produced by Christian farmers, transported to market by Christian haulers, and sold to us by Christian retailers.  We depend upon the product of unbelievers for our shelter, transportation, and nearly every phase of our physical life.  But we cannot condone open defiance of our Lord Jesus Christ and his gospel. 
 
I may buy a shirt or a loaf of bread or a tankfull of gasoline from a confessed atheist, but I cannot accept a film portrayal of any aspect of the Christian gospel or its believers by one who openly defies God, any more than I can tolerate blasphemy from the pulpit.  Allen has said that he would have foregone his contract and not made the film, had he been asked to do so.  This places the full responsibility for his role as a martyr for Christ upon Steve Saint and other Christians who endorsed his involvement.
 
My enjoyment of the movie was due to its excellent qualities in every aspect of filmmaking, and to my Christian bias and interpretation of its message.  Allen views the message he sets forth in the role(s) as a triumph of love over hatred, and of some general, all-accepting concept of God, but not related to Jesus Christ.  I felt blessed by the viewing, but now I see we were betrayed.
 
Let everyone answer to his own conscience before God's face.  Had I known what I now know, I would not have supported this film with the price of a ticket.
 
For more information, I recommend this site:
 
                http://carla_rolfe.blogspot.com/2006/01/end-of-spear-shame.html
 
Because of Christ,
al Hartman

[Oscar]

Al,

I intend to view this film during the next couple of weeks.  Many years ago, in my pre-assembly years, I spent an evening with a Christian movie actress named Georgia Lee. I had driven Ed Church's brother to Hollywood Presbyterian to record an interview with her. (He had a radio broadcast on a Christian station.)  She starred in a number of the Billy Graham film Association's evangelistic films. 

I had noticed that actors in those films also acted in very secular films, even in Soap Operas.  So I asked her, "Why don't they hire Christian actors to star in these evangelistic films?"  Her answer was that you just can't make films that way. 

It seems that there just aren't enough Christian actors for one thing.  In addition to this, all actors except the big stars have to sign contracts that make them focus on the current project to the exclusion of all others.  This causes many Christian actors, who have to eat just like real people,    , to be unavailable during the film's production.

So the alternatives are: A. Don't make any Christian films.  B. Use non-Christian actors.  Personally, I like films with a Christian message. Like the recent Narnia film, which also used non-Christian actors.

Incidentally, the guy who played Jesus in "The Passion" was not a Christian.  I have read that familiarizing himself with Jesus while studying up for the part led to his profession of faith.

Welcome, my dear brother and old friend, to the real world.

Ollie Owl, Boy Wonder

[Joe Sperling]

The movie "The Greatest Story Ever Told" starred Max Von Sydow, who is an
atheist, as Jesus Christ. Should I not watch the movie because the person playing
Jesus is an atheist? I don't think so. The movie faithfully follows the Gospel, and
honors Christ. The actor portraying him may not even believe, but the character
and honor of Christ is shown forth greatly.

The actor portraying the martyr may be gay, but does he bring dishonor upon the
person or character of the martyr he is portraying? Perhaps J.R.R. Tolkien would have
protested against the actor who played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings series of
movies, for he is an avowed and openly gay activist also(Ian McKellen). But he played
the Gandalf character perfectly and did nothing to ruin the character in the book.

I don't believe this actor's personal life should lead us not to watch an inspiring movie
about 5 inspiring men who sacrificed their lives to bring the Gospel to the Aucas. If he
is bringing honor to the life of a martyr, and though he does not believe himself, he is
leading many to reconsider their own lives, it is being used for good. If we held the idea
that "because Max Von Sydow is an athiest I shouldn't watch him portray Christ" many
many people would not hear the gospel message, or be attracted to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm going to watch "the End of the Spear" and remember the people who are being portrayed,
not the lives of the ones portraying them. Being gay may be a sin---but it is included in a list of
sins that many heterosexuals commit also--many actors in the film may be guilty of even greater
sins. Who knows? I don't believe that one of the actors being gay should be something to dissuade us from viewing the portrayal of 5 very honorable men who should be remembered for their sacrifice.

--Joe

[M2]

All,

I usually check out iMonk's site.  He recently posted his opinion re. Chad Allen's role in the movie.  See: www.internetmonk.com/archive/it-ought-to-be-a-parable-its-that-good

My favourite movie Chariots of Fire also stars a gay actor in the lead role.

David M,

"Naturally" speaking, I would evaluate the facts.  If you have read Through Gates of Splendor or Shadow of the Almighty you might remember that Jim Elliot and his band of men did not go to that beach that afternoon with a death wish.  They went in an attempt to "reach" the Aucas with the gospel.  Also, we have the account from some of the men, involved in killing the 5, who were converted, proving that the 5 did not die in vain after all.

There is no comparison to a Muslim suicide bomber terrorist here.

Marcia

[outdeep]

The greatest expression of faith is to die for it. While in the assembly I was constantly hearing ministry on Hebrews 11. "...these sought a better country...."  Finding myself in such a deadend (no pun intended) situation (living with saints for the rest of my life)  my funeral was a constant fantasy. Would it be at the hands of the government?  "Tell us where the Christians are gatherng!"  Would it be at the hands of the State Church?  "Tell us where the heretics are gathering!"  I can remember George himself teaching that laying down your life was the pursuit of the first church!  Now to my point!  If we examine the journals of jim Elliot we find these notions (dying for his faith) in his mind years before he went to Ecador! Also if we examine the circumstances of this missionary endevor we see that (for your sake I will say) to the "natural mind" it was pure suicide!!!   Not an uncommon notion when we look at other religions! So I ask the question "Were these truely murders?" "Do these deaths merit our wonderment, adoration?" The Ouca indians were taught by years of being murdered themselves by outsiders that anyone from the outside world had only one intent. To kill them!  They were only protecting their own lives and way of life. Had Jim and the rest reasonably thought out this situation a better approach may have sufficed? But then they wouldn't be in heaven now would they???

Granted if Jim Elliot and company knew what we know today, they might have approached things differently.  They probably wouldn't have taken guns as they did or at least have kept them hidden.  

While Christians historically (especially in the early church) saw martyrdom as a privilege and rejoiced if it came their way, to conclude that Jim Elliot's team was on a suicide march willfully putting themselves in harms way in order to die for Christ is not only unfounded, but silly.