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| Auca Indian huts |
The Aucas had no word for God in their language, only words for devils and spirits. They had killed every white man they had met.
Jim and four other men discovered the first Auca huts by plane. For four months they flew regular missions to the Aucas, dropping gifts and shouting words of greeting. The missionaries then made a base camp along the Curry River. Four Aucas soon visited them. After an encouraging meeting with these first visitors, they decided to enter their village. They radioed their wives to inform them that “Operation Auca” was under way. When the missionaries did not radio at the appointed time, the Ecuadorian and US military began an extensive search for them. Their bodies were found brutally pierced with spears and hacked by machetes. Their wives responded to the news by saying, “The Lord has closed our hearts to grief and hysteria, and filled in with His perfect peace.”
Two years after Elliot's death, his wife and daughter moved to work with the Auca Indians. Many of the Aucas received Christ, including one of Elliot’s murderers, who later became the pastor in the village.
Elliot’s life and death, and his wife’s subsequent writings, have been the catalyst for sending thousands into the mission fields.
Scott Wesley Brown wrote this song after reading Elliot’s biography.
HE IS NO FOOL
I've lost track of all the Sundays
The offering plates gone by
And as I gave my hard earned dollars
I felt free to keep my life
I talk about commitment
And the need to count the cost
But the words of a martyr show me
I don't really know His cross
Chorus:
For he is no fool
Who gives what he cannot keep
To gain what he cannot lose
Yes, he is no fool
Who lays his own life down
I must make this the path I choose
Obedience and servanthood
Are traits I've rarely shown
And the fellowship of His sufferings
Is a joy I've barely known
There are riches in surrendering
That can't be gained for free
God will share all heaven's wonders
But the price He asks is me.
(Song excerpted from the Cross Cultural Missions International website. www.ccminternational.org)
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