# 8 - Beyond The Gates Of Splendor

By Michelle

Summary: Five young, American guys with hearts for the Great Commission move to Ecuador with their wives and kids as missionaries. Meanwhile, the Waodani (Aucas) have become a great threat in the jungles of Ecuador, not only to foreigners, but also to themselves. What happens when these two groups of people make contact initially looks like a tragedy, but through the love and power of God becomes a story of forgiveness and transformation.

What's it all about: "Beyond The Gates of Splendor," gives a balanced view of both sides, American and Waodani, of this inspiring story. Picking up the story from a few years before the "Palm Beach" martyrdoms of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, and Pete Fleming made famous by Life Magazine and international news media of the day, the documentary details the lives of the missionaries and their wives and also of the Waodani themselves with first hand interviews, photos, video footage, and reenactments as the story moves along. It also moves on to show how the Waodani are doing now and the affect that the death of the five men and the forgiveness and kindness shown by their wives and relatives has had on them.

Notable Quotes:

• "In an environment of killing unimaginable to the outside world, Waodani children grew up understanding they would spear and live or be speared and die." Steve Saint
• "One motivation that we had of thinking that we might be a part of reaching these people that were just known to all outsiders as killers was that we had the modern missionary mule, the airplane." Marj Saint Van Der Puy
• "They had guns with them. They had said they would never kill the Aucas even if they attacked them because they made this straight statement, "They're not ready for heaven, and we are." Frank Drown
• "Waodani were able in a period of just a few years to reduce the homicide rate by well over 90%." Clayton Robarchek

Highlights:

• Interviews with the wives (two of whom have since died) and kids of the missionaries and with the tribesmen involved in the attacks who have all since changed, which offer a great deal of insight into the people in the story. This gives a greater depth and detail than anything seen in the recent movie or even in books that have been written previously.
• Video footage and photos of the guys and of their first contact with the Waodani.
• Anthropological insight into the culture of the Waodani as well as to how it has been changed for the better.
• Humorous stories of what happens when Waodani come to America and how they view American culture.

Movie length: 96 minutes

Rating: 9 out of 10

Final review: Maybe you have heard before of the story of Jim Elliot and the four young missionaries who gave their lives in Ecuador in 1956. Maybe you watched the recent movie, "End of the Spear," which was based on the book of the same name by the son of one of the missionaries, Steve Saint.

I feel that this is probably the most balanced view presented of this story due to the fact that there are interviews with actual people on both sides who were involved. I believe it does proper justice to the memories of some very real but very great people who were prepared to give everything so that others could hear the good news about Jesus. Parents with younger children may have to use some discretion as the interviews do talk about violent acts and there are a few pictures shown of the men's bodies lying face down. If you have heard something of this story before, are interested in missions, or simply want to be inspired and challenged to do more with your life, I would highly recommend this doco.