Romans 15:20 – It has always been my ambition to preach the Gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.
21 – Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
I have discovered—usually the HARD way—that the best way to learn how to do something is to learn from someone who already knows how to do it…and do it well. In fact when possible it’s best to get this kind of help from someone who is so good at doing that particular thing that they have reached what we call, “professional status.” This is the reason we take golf lessons from golf pros…tennis lessons from tennis pros…and cornbread baking lessons from our own Tina Price.
It follows then that if we want to learn how better to fulfill the Great Commission given to us by Jesus—if we want to become more skilled in telling others the story of God’s great love…such that our hearers decide to follow Jesus themselves…we should study the examples of people down through the years who have shown by their example that they know what they are doin…people who are “PROS” when it comes to evangelism…people whom God has used in powerfully effective ways to tell His story.
I bring all this up because for the next several weeks that’s exactly what we’re going to be doing. In obedience to the vision for this year we’re going to try and learn how to do a better job of telling others the story of Jesus…by studying the lives of people who are pros when it comes to doing this.
- For example, next Sunday Dr. Dale Smith will preach on the life of C.S. Lewis—a man who was very gifted in sharing the Gospel.In fact, I would say that no one else has been better at helping ATHEISTS to come to see that there is a God—and that His Son is Jesus—than Clive Staples Lewis.
- On July 15th Bobby will preach on the life of Dr. Dwight Moody, whose evangelistic crusades at the end of the 19th century were used to lead thousands to become Christ-followers.
- On July 22nd, we’ll hear from a real-live professional, our own Cathie Burke, as she tells us about how God has used her to share His great love with the people of Nairobi, Kenya.
- July 29th the pros serving on our Ocean City Mission Trip Team will share the results of their work with vacationers and international students and life guards.
- August 5th, my son, Daniel will preach on the life of Dr. Ben Carson…an incredibly gifted neuro-surgeon that has used his medical practice as a way of pointing people to our Lord.
And this morning we BEGIN our series with a study of the life of an evangelistic pro named Rachel Saint, who bravely and boldly took the Gospel to a people isolated from civilization…a tribe who had never heard of Jesus—the Auca Indians of Equador.
Before I start I’ll say that my main sources for this message are three books, Rachel Saint: A Star in the Jungle by Janet and Geoff Benge, The Dayuma Story: Life Under Auca Spears by Ethel Wallis and End of the Spear by Steve Saint….who is Rachel’s nefew.
Rachel Saint was born January 2nd, 1914 in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. Rachel and her large family—she had seven brothers—they all lived in a cottage that was on the estate of her wealthy maternal grandparents, the Proctors. Rachel’s grandfather, Josiah Proctor, was a successful inventor who had created machinery used in textile mills. The company he founded eventually became known as Proctor Silex…which tells us that Rachel’s mother was from a very wealthy family—but her father was not. In fact, his family was on the opposite economic spectrum. Her dad, Lawrence Saint, was the son of a struggling artist and Lawrence followed in his father’s footsteps in that he became a struggling artist—or to be more specific, a struggling STAIN-GLASS WINDOW designing artist. So, basically it was your classic love story of a rich girl falling in love with a penniless artist. Lawrence had toured the great cathedrals of Europe as a young man and was inspired to create stain glass windows that were just as beautiful for use in the churches of America. He eventually became successful in this because when Rachel was still a young girl, he was hired to create stained-glass windows for two famous American cathedrals: Philadelphia’s Bryn Athyn Cathedral…and one closer to us…Washington D.C.’s National Cathedral. These jobs gave the family a steady income.
Rachel would often accompany her dad on his trips to both of these work sites and while on a trip to D.C. she met and befriended a very wealthy elderly couple…a Mr. and Mrs. Parmalee. The Parmalees had no children of their own and grew to love Rachel like their daughter. In 1931 Mrs. Parmalee suggested that she take Rachel with her on a trip to Great Britain for her upcoming 18th birthday. It was to be what was called back in those days, “a coming out” trip…something that many wealthy and eligible young women did back then…I suppose as a way of saying, “I’m wealthy and I’m available!”
Rachel thoroughly enjoyed both the cruise across the Atlantic in her first-class cabin and all the sights and sounds of Great Britain. While they were on the voyage home aboard the RMS Aquitainia Mrs. Parmalee made Rachel an amazing offer. She told Rachel that if she would take the job as her companion, helping her with light duties, then when she died, she would make Rachel her sole heir. This would mean Rachel would inherit well over a hundred million dollars…a lot of money in the 1930’s. Rachel was of course very grateful for this staggering offer—but asked if she could spent the night in prayer to help make her decision…and after doing so, she felt this was not God’s will for her life.
As she sat in her cabin rehearsing how best to tell Mrs. Parmalee, Rachel became aware that something strange was happening to her. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end—and suddenly it was as if she were not on the cruise ship anymore—but was instead standing in a jungle clearing, looking at a group of brown-skinned, half-naked people. In her vision, these people were beckoning for her to come to them. As quickly as the vision came it left—but Rachel knew this vision was from God…and she fell to her knees, closed her eyes and prayed, “God, I will give my whole life to You and go to be a missionary to those people if You want me to.”
From that moment on Rachel began to wonder who these brown-skinned people were and when she would meet them. Surprisingly it was not hard for Rachel to tell Mrs. Parmalee her decision. The elderly woman was disappointed but she respected Rachel’s commitment to do God’s will.
And at this point I have to say that one thing this part of Rachel’s life tells us is that nothing is more valuable than a life spent in obedience to our Heavenly Father—no matter what the earthly cost.
After all, the riches of this world will fade into dust but His kingdom is forever—so the best way to live out our days is in doing things of eternal significance…especially those things that enable us to be a part of leading someone to faith in Jesus. In fact, when you and I finally get to Heaven we will all wish we had witnessed more….we’ll all wish we had spent more of our time TELLING others about our Lord.
When the ship docked Rachel returned home and enrolled in the Philadelphia College of the Bible, graduating in 1936 at the age of 22. Next she applied to become a missionary but was turned down because they said she had a weak back—something Rachel found ironic—since her back had never stopped her from doing anything in the past. At first she was angry about this decision but she prayed and felt the next step God wanted her to take was to accept a job that had been offered her at the Keswick Colony of Mercy, a halfway house for alcoholics in rural New Jersey. With this job, Rachel began a life that was light years different from the way life would have been if she had accepted Mrs. Parmalee’s offer. But she loved her work at Keswick and often told friends that being raised with seven brothers was the best training she could have had for the job…job in which she confronted violent drunken men or talked such men out of committing suicide. After WWII began, the problem of alcohol abuse reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. and Keswick was flooded with patients. Rachel was eager to help these hurting people.
During the war Rachel’s brother Nate became a pilot and after the war he became a missionary flying planes for the MAF—the Missionary Aviation Fellowship, based in Equador. Another brother, Phil, became an evangelist and later a missionary to the people of Argentina. Rachel was proud of her siblings but she began to wonder if she would ever fulfill HER God-given vision. She thought she might have been mistaken about God’s calling in her own life. Then after 12 years of ministry at Keswick, Rachel heard of a man named Cameron Townsend. Townsend had started a program called the Summer Institute of Linguistics at the University of Oklahoma. He was passionate about missions and also headed up two other organizations: Wycliffe Bible Translators and JAARS, the Jungle Aviation and Radio Services. All three programs worked together to bring the gospel to groups of people who had never heard it before. After hearing about Townsend and his work Rachel once again felt God’s clear leading. God told her the next step she would need to take toward the people in her vision would be by becoming a Bible translator. So she applied and was accepted to the Summer Institute of Linguistics or “SIL” in 1948.
As part of her studies at SIL she was required to attend what was called JUNGLE CAMP in southern Mexico. The camp lasted three months and while there Rachel and her fellow classmates lived in crude mud huts with dirt floors and no running water. They learned how to grow their own food. They hiked miles through the jungle using machetes to blaze a trail. They paddled heavily laden canoes through white-water rapids. They learned how to treat snake bites and do first aid. It was basically one long test of survival…designed to prepare missionary translators to go to people in remote regions and work among them. By the way, Rachel’s back never gave her any trouble whatsoever! In fact, she thrived in this “missionary boot camp”and felt the grueling lifestyle was part of God’s preparing her in advance for the good work He had called her to do…bringing the Gospel message to the people in her vision. She claimed Romans 15:21 as her life verse, the verse I read a moment ago where it says, “Those who have never been told of Him shall see and those who have never heard shall understand.”
And at this point I see another lesson this pro can teach us. We must be sensitive to the unique ways God uses our life experiences to shape us into the vessel He has called us to be.
Our Heavenly Father wastes nothing—so the things you and I go through—good and bad—are things He uses to shape us and mold us and mature us so we will be prepared to tell His story.
You could say that God puts us all through our own unique “boot camp.” Rachel’s first assignment was to the Piro Indians in northeastern Peru. On her way she was able to stop off in Ecuador to visit her brother Nate and his wife Marj who you remember served as a pilot with the Missionary Aviation Fellowship and lived at a place once owned by the Shell oil company called Shell Mara. During her visit Nate told Rachel about all the missionary work among the various tribes in that region and he commented that there was one tribe no one was trying to reach with the Gospel…a tribe called THE AUCA’S. He explained that the reason no one was going to these people was because they had a reputation for killing any stranger who entered their territory. No one had been able to live with them long enough to share the Gospel because the Aucas speared anyone who entered their land. In fact, they were so warlike that Shell Oil gave up its drilling operations there. All attempts to find oil in that region had resulted in the death of their workers at the hands of the Aucas.
Well, despite the Auca’s fearsome reputation, as her brother spoke Rachel felt goose bumps forming on her arms. She began to hear God telling her that these were the people in her vision. These were the people she was to go to—the people with whom she was to share the Gospel. Rachel told her brother Nate about this. He even took her up in his plane and flew her over Auca territory so she could get a bird’s-eye view of the villages where the Aucas lived. Rachel began to pray that God would somehow bring together the circumstances that would make her vision of taking the Gospel to these people who had never been told of His great love…into a reality.
Rachel’s experience should remind us that as I said a couple weeks ago, GOD LOVES PEOPLE—ALL PEOPLE. He doesn’t want anyone to perish but for all to come to repentance. I was listening to an old recording of my dad preaching the other day. His text was John 3:16 and dad made the point that, in his opinion, God loves people so much that even if they reject His great love and spend eternity in Hell God will go on loving them forever. I would tend to agree because God is love and that great love is what prompts Him to send people like Rachel Saint to people groups like the savage Aucas.
After her visit with Nate Rachel left for her assignment in Peru where she worked among the Shapra Indians. The Shapras were vicious headhunters and had only recently allowed missionaries to come to their villages. In fact, the first successful missionaries had been TWO WOMEN: Doris Cox and Loretta Anderson, who had settled among the Shapras in 1950. Remember this because their example would inspire Rachel in the years to come. Doris and Loretta had been translating the New Testament into the Shapra language…and Rachel’s assignment was to continue their work while they were on furlough in the states. Rachel enjoyed the work of translation immensely and developed a special friendship with the tribal leader: Chief Tariri who was not a Christ-follower at the time. Once Chief Tariri proudly showed Rachel his collection of shrunken heads telling her that, “If two MEN had come to my village I would have killed them both and taken their heads. And if a man and woman had come, I would have speared him and taken her as a wife. But TWO WOMEN came, calling me ‘brother.’ What could I do but protect them and let them live among us?” Rachel felt strangely safe living among the Shapras. Her 12 years of working with vagrants and alcoholics at Keswick had taught her to see past a person’s behavior and value the person as a human being. She began to realize that her 12 years working in that half-way house was not a waste of time. It wasn’t a detour—but rather part of God’s plan—part of His preparing her to be a missionary.
Well, after two years of working in Peru, Rachel felt God saying it was finally time—time to go to Equador and seek a way to share the gospel with the Aucas. Cameron Townsend or “Uncle Cam” as he was called had just received a letter from the Ecuadorian Ambassador to the U.S. inviting SIL to work in Equador and Rachel saw this as God opening the way for her…so she moved to Quito and began to seek the next step….a way to learn their language. She mentioned her intentions to a government official who suggested she meet a man named don Carlos Sevilla. Sevilla was known of as “The Daniel Boone of Ecuador”and was reputed to know more about the Aucas than anyone else. Rachel arranged to meet don Carlos and when they did he ridiculed Rachel’s desire to go to the Aucas. He confirmed that they were vicious killers and then he pulled up his shirt so they could see his torso was a maze of scars. He said, “I have fought hand to hand with the Aucas and am lucky to have survived to tell about it. Once I walked eight days through the jungle to safety after being speared by an Auca warrior. These people are violent and evil and completely unpredictable. They don’t understand friendship. All they know is killing.” But this did not discourage Rachel in the least—she insisted she would find a way to share God’s love with those savage people…so don Carlos invited her to visit his plantation. It was called Hacienda Ila and was located on the border of Auca territory. Don Carlos told Rachel that he had a girl who worked on the plantation—an Auca girl named Dayuma—who might be able to help.
So on February 2nd, 1955, Rachel traveled to Hacienda Ila and met Dayuma who agreed to help her learn the Auca language. Every day after Dayuma finished her work she would meet with Rachel—often into the wee hours of the morning, and during their meetings Rachel would carefully compile a list of Auca words. It was a tedious process—but Rachel knew that in order to share the Gospel with these savage people she would first have to learn their language.
At this point I think there is another lesson this particular evangelistic pro can teach us…in every evangelistic encounter, God goes before us…preparing the way.
Our Heavenly Father—Who gave Rachel this vision—also led Dayuma out of the jungle to work for don Carlos. Then He made it possible for Rachel to meet this “Daniel Boone of Equador.” So…if you are ever afraid of sharing your faith when given the opportunity to do so—don’t be—God has orchestrated this opportunity. His Spirit is drawing that person with His love. He is already at work—so just join Him in it!
As their friendship deepened Dayuma told Rachel WHY she had left her people. She said that 9 years earlier her father, Tyaento, told her that he believed he was cursed. He believed this because he had fired his blowgun at a monkey but had not killed it. This made Tyaento believe the “spirits” of the forest were angry with him. And this belief that he was cursed was all it would take for a family enemy—an evil young man named Moipa—to decide to spear Tyaento to death. You see in the eyes of an Auca, what good was a hunter who could not hunt? The fear that Moipa would go on a spearing rampage caused Dayuma to decide to leave. She ran from the jungle and came to work for don Carlos. She later learned that Moipa had indeed attacked her family killing 20 of her relatives in one night. At this point she told Rachel she would never return because the Aucas would now consider her an outsider and so spearing her would make them happy.
In her conversations with Dayuma Rachel learned that the Aucas were a people enslaved by evil. Spearing one another was a very common practice…life meant little to them. In fact, there was one point in their history where even the Aucas realized something had to change. They saw that the population had been so reduced from spearing…that if they didn’t stop, there would soon be no Auca’s left. They did stop for a while but only long enough for the population to grow a bit—and then the murderous spearings continued.
As I read all this—it seemed to me as if these were a demon-tormented people…people enslaved to the adversary. I mean, evil was so profound in their culture. For example, when an Auca was near death they would bury him alive and they would throw any children he had living in to be buried alive with him. Can you imagine the evil horror of that? Rachel also learned that “Auca” was the name given to Dayuma’s people by others. It simply meant, “savage people.” The Aucas referred to themselves as “the Waorani” — “the people.”
At this point I have to point out something else that Rachel’s experience can teach us: people who don’t know Christ are enslaved. They are literally lost in their sin—separated from God—victims of the adversary. Our God-given calling is to share with them the only thing that will free them—the Gospel message.
I also have to say that in our evangelistic attempts we are indeed involved in a battle. I mean, the adversary does not want us to share the Gospel and when we do he will attack. Like don Carlos I have “scars” from my own battles with our enemy…scars from attacks that came in response to my involvement in some evangelistic endeavor…things like preaching the Easter story or going on a mission trip or building the ROC or sharing the Gospel with our RBC campers. So as we go about TELLING the story of Jesus, we must remember that, “…our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world…and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) One of Dayuma’s favorite Bible stories was when Jesus cast the demons out of the man from Gadera. This story gave her great hope and comfort…because it told her that the God Rachel served was more powerful than the demons that plagued her people.
As Christmas approached Rachel decided she had learned enough of the Waorani language to translate the Christmas story. She shared it with Dayuma who listened with rapt attention…and became more eager to hear more Bible stories as soon as Rachel could translate them. The translation work continued and everything was going very well until January of 1956 when tragedy hit. Rachel learned that her brother Nate and four other missionaries, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian had been killed by the Aucas. Rachel had no idea they had even been attempting to reach the Aucas and felt somewhat betrayed. She learned that their attempts at sharing the Gospel with these people had been going on for 13 weeks and that on January 8th after setting up camp on a huge sand bar deep in Auca territory, a sand bar they had named “Palm Beach,” the men had been brutally killed by Auca spears. Her brother’s widow gave her a note Nate had written in case of his death…a note in which Nate tried to explain why he and the others had kept this from her. In it Nate said it was hard to keep this secret…but that they did so because they thought Rachel would try to stop them since she knew the dangers involved. Rachel might even let the authorities know in the hopes that her brother and his four friends would not be able to make the attempt. He closed his note by saying, “Sis, since we know that you are already praying for the contacting of these people, we trust God to carry us forward in this effort and you in your effort to the end that Christ might be known among them.”
An armed expedition was sent into the area where the massacre happened. They found the bodies of the five men and buried them right there on Palm Beach. They found Nate’s plane—destroyed—and his camera with undeveloped film still inside. With her brother dead, killed by the very people she felt called to devote the rest of her life to…many thought Rachel would give up and come home. But she would not second guess her calling. She believed that God would work even in this tragedy…that something good would come from her brother’s death. So she returned to don Carlos’ hacienda and continued her work with Dayuma.
The widows of the five martyrs were constantly in the spotlight but not Rachel and this was good…because it enabled her to continue her translation work undisturbed. When the film from Nate’s camera was developed Rachel showed the pictures to Dayuma and she identified her Aunt Mintaka and her little sister Gimari…as two who had come to visit the five men before they were all speared. Dayuma apologized for her people’s actions in killing Nate and the others.
At this point I think one thing we can learn is that it is important for us to work together in TELLING the story of Jesus.
I know hindsight is 20-20 but I wonder if the men had waited and worked with Rachel if things might have turned out differently…I wonder if male pride kept them from doing so? I wonder if they might have been more effective if they had not been so independent. The fact is effective evangelism is almost always a TEAM effort. Many times it takes several different people to lead one person to faith in Jesus. One Christ-follower moves this person from a negative 10 to a negative 5. Another Christ follower comes along and moves him from a negative 5 to a positive 1…and so on. To lead this world to Christ—we have to respect and work with one another.
Well, about this time Elizabeth Elliot wrote a best-selling book about the massacre entitled, Through Gates of Splendor and as wonderful as a book it was…it caused problems. You see, the popularity of this book made everyone want to visit the area and meet Dayuma…which they did… and this took a great deal of her time which meant Rachel had less and less opportunity to study the Waorani language. The good news is that within that next year Dayuma understood the Gospel message and decided to ask Jesus to come into her heart and life. She was the first Auca convert! Then, in April of 1957 a very interesting thing happened. Rachel was invited to the states. She thought she was going to be a part of a television show about don Carlos, the “Daniel Boone of Equador” but it turned out SHE was to be featured on a very popular television show entitled, “This Is Your Life” hosted by Ralph Edwards. Some of you are young enough to remember that show.
She took Dayuma along with her and Edwards brought in people from Rachel’s past…her parents…don Carlos…and even Chief Tariri, who by this time had become a Christian. Then after the show Rachel and Dayuma spent a year in the states. On June 15th they both spoke at the Billy Graham crusade in New York. Before returning to Equador they were translating the story of the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8…and after hearing that story Dayuma asked what hindered her from being baptized. It was arranged that it would take place in Wheaton, Illinois at the Evanglical Free Church. I’ve been by that church numerous times! The next time I go I’m going inside for a tour! They decided to baptize Rachel in Wheaton because three of the martyrs had come from that area. I believe two had graduated from Wheaton College. So, on April 14, 1958, Rachel and Dayuma found themselves surrounded by friends of the cause of reaching the Waorani with the Gospel. Ed McCully’s mother was there as were Jim Elliot’s parents. I can only imagine the emotion of that moment as those parents saw an Auca symbolize her commitment to Jesus. After all, this is what their sons had died for.
When Rachel and Dayuma returned to Equador they met with three Waorani women who had come out of the jungle while they had been in the states. Dayuma knew them and after talking with them decided that she should ignore the danger and go back to her people to tell them the Gospel. Her plan included making preparations for two women—Rachel Saint and Elizabeth Elliot—to live among the Aucas. So the example of those two women who took the gospel to Chief Tariri’s people bore fruit in Equador as well. On September 2, 1958 Dayuma left and 23 days later she returned with several Waorani old and young following along behind her. As they came out of the jungle Dayuma was leading the way singing “Jesus Loves Me This I know” in English. She happily reported that all was in readiness. Rachel and Elizabeth had been invited to come. In fact, a house was being built for them. So, after gathering the necessary supplies including a shortwave radio, Rachel and Betty hiked into the jungle with Betty’s three-year-old daughter, Valerie, strapped to Betty’s back…taking five local Indians…Quicha men…along as porters. Three days later they arrived and found Dyuma’s relatives there waiting. Rachel felt her heart skip a beat as she looked at these brown-skinned people beckoning her to come into their village. The scene was the vision she had while standing on the deck of the cruse ship twenty-seven years before. Here she was seeing that vision come true. It was almost too much to take in.
Dayuma was thrilled because she had found her mother…and several of her family members alive. They had escaped Moipa’s rage. She also told Rachel that the men who had killed her brother Nate and the other four missionaries had been from Dayuma’s extended family. Their names were Gikita, KIMO, Nongo, Dyuwi and Minkayi.
Over the next months Dayuma became the central missionary of her tribe. She explained to her people things about the outside world…and shared the Bible stories she had learned. Then, on Easter Sunday Dayuma and Rachel led the Waoranis in a worship service. They shared the story of Jesus’ coming…His life, death, and resurrection in the Waorani language. Afterwards two of Dayuma’s family members decided to become Christians. Eventually KIMO and the other four killers became Christians as well.
Word spread about Rachel’s work and she was invited to meet the president of Equador. She took Kimo with her. The president was astounded that an Auca could change so much and he asked Kimo to explain his faith. Kimo said, “Jesus is the One Who came from Heaven and died for my sins. He is the One Who made me stop killing. Now I live happily with my brothers.” As Rachel’s work continued…an air strip was built and a church as well…a building the Waoranis called “God’s Speaking House.” The Waoranis’ of Dayuma’s family began to become missionaries themselves sharing the gospel with other Auca tribes down river…even at the risk of their own lives.
By 1965 Rachel had finished translating the Gospel of Mark into Waorani. Shortly thereafter Nates two sons and daughter came for a visit. They had recently become Christians and asked their aunt if they could be baptized in the river near where their father was killed. Kimo and Minkayi, Aucas who had participated in killing their father, were now elders in the Waorani church, and they baptized them. In the late 70’s it was decided that it would be best for Rachel and other SIL workers to withdraw from the Aucas to let them learn to stand on their own…and Rachel reluctantly left…moving to Quito where she finished translating the New Testament. She finished it two years before her death in 1994. Rachel Saint was buried next to the church built in Dayuma’s village…a short walk from her brother’s grave.
As we close I would just ask if God has given any of you a VISION of someone who is not a Christ-follower—someone He is calling you to go to and TELL the story of Jesus. I’d like us to take a few moments to pray that your vision would come true. Would you join me?
Father God,
Help each of us to see anew how important it is that we TELL Your story. Remind us that nothing is worth more than a human soul and that You have commissioned us to save souls by leading people to faith in Jesus. I do pray that You would give each of us visions—inspire us to share the Gospel story with a co-worker…a neighbor…a family member…a friend…people who don’t follow Jesus. Make us bolder evangelists father. Give us the kind of desire You gave Rachel and her brother and his four friends…people who gave their lives to TELL others about Your great love. I ask all this in Jesus’ name. AMEN
If you have other decisions to make, such as joining this church or professing your faith in Jesus, come speak to me or Bobby or Kevin as we stand now and sing.