of seeds and spears

"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."-John 12:24

So concludes a biography on Jim Elliot, a missionary to the Auca people of Ecuador back in the 1960s, who was killed along with 4 other men in their initial attempts to befriend the tribe. By a series of miraculous events, the leadership of this violent tribe which had for centuries relied on the spear to protect themselves and avenge wrongs has been radically transformed by the love of God demonstrated to them through the widows and children of the men who were killed.

A new movie chronicling this amazing sequence of events opens Friday, called The End of the Spear.