This week on Fresh Ground Theology’s The Weekend Cup, Nate Saint arrives in Ecuador and discovers what missionary aviation really means. Flying from Shell Mera into the Oriente, Nate carries missionaries, supplies, and medicine across terrain where a relatively short distance could otherwise become an exhausting journey through rivers and rainforest. His mechanical ingenuity also begins to shine as he adapts aircraft and develops new techniques for the unusual problems of jungle aviation.

But beyond Nate’s ordinary flights lies another possibility. Deep within the rainforest live the Waorani, an indigenous people largely isolated from the outside world. As Nate and several fellow missionaries begin considering peaceful contact, he develops an ingenious method of lowering gifts from his circling airplane. Eventually, something comes back up the line. The Waorani are returning gifts—and what began as an idea is becoming Operation Auca. (Mission Aviation Fellowship)

Listen to Part 1: Called to the Sky: Nate Saint Part 1 – Fresh Ground Theology

Sources

• Russell T. Hitt, Jungle Pilot
• Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor
• Kathryn T. Long, God in the Rainforest: A Tale of Martyrdom and Redemption in Amazonian Ecuador
• Wheaton College Archives & Special Collections, To Carry the Light Further
• Mission Aviation Fellowship, “Nate Saint”
• Mission Aviation Fellowship, “The Story of Operation Auca”

Music: Adventure Beyond by Alexander Nakarada (https://creatorchords.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0