End of the Spear – Story of Sacrifice, Forgiveness, Redemption

NEW YORK – The most violent tribe in recorded history found redemption and salvation when five men entered the Amazon jungle 51 years ago to save them from their "Stone Age world" of violence and revenge but were speared to death instead.

When six howling members of the Waodani tribe attacked the five American missionaries, one spear sunk deep into the stomach of Nate Saint. Falling backward onto the sand, Saint’s face grimaced in horror, fear, and betrayal. His hand stretched towards the crackling radio from where the voice of his son anxiously asked, "Where are you? Dad, are you okay? Come in."

Years later, Saint’s son discovered the identity of his father's killer and, face-to-face, the two men overcame the darkest sins of humanity.

With a spear in hand, just centimeters from the heart of Waodani tribesman Mincayani, Steve Saint refused to kill his father's killer but instead stepped back and said, "Nobody killed my father. My father chose to give his life."

On Jan. 18, 2006, the two stood side by side at the AMC Theater in Times Square, N.Y., with the love and affection of father and son as photographers flashed away two nights before the opening of the film based on the true story.

"People always want to know how I forgave Mincayani," said Steve Saint at a special screening Wednesday night. "My father thought these people were so precious and so special that he was willing to die for them."

Life Magazine first publicized the story in the 1950s, and Saint later wrote a book titled "End of the Spear," detailing the true account of how the gospel message changed a society.

Now a motion picture, End of the Spear has attracted the acclaim of international ambassadors, who held the recent private screening in New York City, along with the cast and crew.

According to the film’s co-producer and originator Mart Green, Mincayani said, "We acted badly badly until they brought us God's carvings, and now we walk His trail."

Christian critics from John Maxwell to Ted Haggard have applauded the film, but there are those who lament over the absence of Jesus’ name.

Green said he does not understand them.

The film captures a perfect example of the Gospel in action, he stated. "You have five guys who have guns [and] who could've defended themselves but chose not to."

The issues in this culture are real and the church should engage the culture, said Green.

"It's easy to live your faith out inside church walls," he continued. "But what do you do when you get out in culture and you have to face the issues?"

Controversy also arose over the casting of Chad Allen, a practicing homosexual, for the role of the two Saints.

"I knew that if I had 200 people down there, they weren't always going to be Christian, so I gotta live my faith out," said Green. "Our challenge to the team was to hire the best people. We didn't ask what their religious preference was, their sexual preference…"

According to Green, Allen's phenomenal acting raised the bar for the entire cast, but he didn't control the story.

Allen meanwhile admitted to the crew that the film transformed him but did not change his sexuality.

Louie Leonardo, who plays Mincayani, said, "We are still praying for him."

"The whole experience was amazing," said Jack Guzman, who plays Kimo, the first Waodani to have the courage to lay down his spear. "It taught me a lot as an actor, but a lot more as a human being."

"I've never been so touched by a movie before in my life," commented Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. “It took me an hour to recover from End of the Spear.”

John C. Maxwell, founder of Injoy and EQUIP Ministries, said, "Without question, this is one of the most compelling stories of the 20th century."

For the Waodani tribe, which had a homicide rate of 60 percent, a grandchild was unheard of because no one lived to be a grandparent. But after the Gospel message was introduced by the sister of Nate Saint and the widow of slain missionary Jim Elliot years after the men died, and the homicide rate fell by 90 percent.

Steve Saint recounted a scene in the film where Kimo, one of the tribesman who attacked the missionaries, asks a member of his tribe, Dayumae (played by Christina Souza), why the foreigners didn't retaliate.

"This is something he absolutely couldn't understand," commmented Saint. "It didn't make any sense in human [practical] terms."

In the film, Dayumae said, "No. They came to tell you that the Creator has a son, and when he was speared, he didn't spear back so that those spearing him could learn to live well."

This story is believable because it is true, said Saint.

"God is the Author who does that with people's lives. I think the most fundamental issue is … whether we're going to write our own story and assert our own will, or whether we're going to submit to God's Will and let Him write the story."

"Five people gave the ultimate sacrifice to tell this story," wrote Joseph Farah, founder, editor and CEO of WorldNetDaily News and a nationally syndicated columnist. “The least we can do is to ensure that it gets the widest possible audience.”