Know, Go, Show, Blow

On Saturday we went to the Missions Fest at Smoketown Airport. Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), Jungle Aviation and Radio Service (JAARS), New Tribes Mission, and other groups which work in remote areas came together to share information about their work. For a price, people could go for a ride in the JAARS helicopter or Wycliff Bible Translator's new Kodiak plane. The main attraction (for me) was Steve Saint, son of Nate Saint who was martyred in Equador along with four other men in January 1956. Steve flew a replica of his father's plane which was made for the filming of a documentary, The End of the Spear, produced to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the murder of the five missionaries. Here he is taking off in the plane to demonstrate the bucket drop his father used to make contact with the Waodani (Auca) Indians.

I bought a copy of Steve's book, also called The End of the Spear, in which he tells about his experiences living with the Waodani in Equador when he was a child and later as an adult. He signed it G.W.T. Story I.J.W.T. Book. (God wrote the story, I just wrote the book.)

The story of the Waodani is a powerful example of the power of forgiveness. The murder of five men seemed to be a terrible tragedy at the time, but their sacrifice was not wasted. As a result, the Waodani people are now thriving Christians who are reaching out to become missionaries themselves.

After the flying demonstration, Steve gave a talk in a tent behind the airport. He said we have not been commissioned to go out and evangelize the world, but to make disciples. People who have been discipled are then able to go out and make more disciples. That is the ultimate goal of missions; not merely to convert people to Christianity but to disciple them so they can repeat the process with others. As an illustration, he said his children were taught (discipled) to tie their shoes. He did not have to teach his grandchildren to tie their shoes; his children did that. They were able to pass on to the next generation what he had taught them. His shoebox formula for missions is Know, Go, Show, Blow. Know God and what you believe, Go tell others who have not heard, Show them how to live the Christian life, and then Blow out and let them disciple others while you go and start over somewhere else.