Gifts from the Sky

“How can they believe in him if they have not heard of him? And how can they hear unless someone tells them?” — from Romans 10

Deep in the forest, beyond the Quichua villages, lived a people called the Waorani. Their name means “the people.” They had always lived apart, and they were very afraid of outsiders. For many years, anyone who came into their land was in danger, and their neighbours were afraid of them. No one had ever been able to visit them as a friend.

Jim longed for the Waorani to hear about Jesus. Four friends felt the same: Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, and Nate Saint, a missionary pilot with a small yellow plane. In September 1955, Nate and Ed flew over the forest and spotted some Waorani houses.

Nate had a clever idea. He lowered a bucket on a very long rope while his plane flew round and round in tight circles, so the bucket hung almost still over one spot. Week after week, the men sent down presents: cooking pots, cloth, beads and big knives, and called out friendly words through a loudspeaker. After a while, the Waorani began to tie presents of their own to the rope, like a headband made of feathers! It looked like friendship.

On 3 January 1956, Nate landed his plane on a sandbar beside the Curaray River, not far from the Waorani houses. The men built a little house up in a tree and called the place Palm Beach. They waited, and called out greetings towards the forest.

On Friday, 6 January, three Waorani came out of the trees: a young man, a young woman and an older woman. They stayed most of the day, ate the missionaries’ food, and the young man even went for a ride in the plane! The five men were full of joy and hope.

Jim and his friends wanted the Waorani to hear about Jesus, because nobody had ever told them. There are still people who have never heard. We can pray for them, and we can tell others too.

Dear Jesus, thank you for people who go far away to tell others about you. Please help everyone in the world to hear about your love. Amen.