The End of the Spear - How I Met the Characters Behind the Movie

Last night, this movie opened to a packed crowd in our local theater. I was riveted. Check it out for yourself at www.endofthespear.com.

In 2001, when I worked as the managing editor of a newsletter for RBC Ministries, I had the opportunity to meet and interview Steve Saint, Mincaye (one of the men who killed Steve's dad) and an Ecuadorian church elder, Tementa. I will never forget it. (see short articles below)

An article I wrote after meeting Steve Saint and Mincaye in 2001:
http://www.rbc.org/td/02-2001/aucastory.html
An article I wrote after interviewing Marj Saint-Vanderpuy by phone:
http://www.rbc.org/td/02-2001/jpilot.html

I remember sitting down with this threesome in a carpeted lobby, and noting how out of place Mincaye appeared, with his pierced lobes. You knew by looking at him that he belonged in the jungle--that this was not his home. He had a twinkle in his eye and a joy in his spirit that could be felt across the room. I felt a deep bond existed between Steve and Mincaye, and I marveled at their friendship, and the forgiveness that had birthed it.

Through Steve, I was able to talk with both Mincaye and Tementa, the church elder. I asked Mincaye what he liked about the US, and he said he really liked the flat ground the plane had landed on. I asked him what one thing he would like to take home with him to Ecuador. He said "a grass-cutter." Steve informed me that at present Mincaye and the others cut their airstrip with a machete. I was transfixed.

Just that week Mincaye had witnessed his first snowfall. It was only a light dusting, but when he touched it on their car, he insisted he was burning up. Everything was new--and in fact, these gentlemen were over-stimulated from the chaos of our country.

I wanted all at once to give them a hug, but I didn't dare. We did part with a handshake, and I wondered what Mincaye and Tementa thought of our workplace--men and women buzzing around, hovering over gray screens and tap-tap-tapping on keyboards as if something very important, but quite mundane, is underway. I remember Mincaye commented on there being so many things (pictures) on the walls.

Steve Saint's mission and ministry in traveling with these men was to gather fellow-Christians who would help indigenous people through his organization I-TEC. Ever since 1956, it seems we thoughtless Americans had been shipping handouts to the Waodani. This became a harmful practice that stripped them of their ability to sustain themselves. (Give a man a fish he eats for a day; teach him to fish, he eats for a lifetime.)

Using the same engineering savvy and know-how passed on to him through his father, Steve was changing things for them. I could tell his heart was in the Ecuadorian jungle...where his father had tragically been killed, where he and his family met the Waodani themselves, where his Aunt Rachel served her entire life alongside the tribe.

Examples of Steve's scientific contributions:
-One weekend he attended a dental seminar and concocted a way to make a power drill kit into a dental kit; Mincaye said they took these to various parts of the jungle, working on people's teeth--he said while their mouths were open, they would talk about Jesus
-Steve said he was also working on a backpack that would literally power someone up into the air and could drop them in the jungle.
-Steve used solar-powered TVs and VCRS to bring the Jesus film into the deep jungle. He said the natives would sit around commenting on the movie...telling each other these weren't the real people, they were just people who looked like them (imagine seeing a video image for the first time!)
-they also had a go-cart/parachute machine that could land in different places in the jungle as well

Later, by phone, Steve shared with me the endearing stories of traveling with Mincaye and Tementa. There was the time that he took Mincaye fishing and stopped in a building to buy a fishing license. Mincaye insisted that "he does not pay to fish." (Being the typical hunter-gatherer.) Steve told him they must pay or they would go to prison and be locked up. He asked if there was food there and when Steve said yes, he said "OK. Let's do it."

Another time, the three of them were in a hotel room with the TV on. As they flipped through the cable changes, M&T landed on ice hockey, their eyes glued to the action on the screen. Their comment: "That thing must be very good to eat." They were referring to the puck. They figured the men most be vying for it.
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Marj Saint
Following the meeting with Steve, I talked with Marj Saint-Vanderpuy (his mother) a few times by phone. She was charming and gracious, and told the story of how they had moved to the city after the deaths. After living in a guest house for awhile, her children and a widower's children decided the two of them should marry. And they finally agreed. The result brought stability and joy to the family and led the family back to the states.

Marj was elderly at that time, but she was still involved in caring for others. Helping women in the 90s at her retirement facility get exercise in the water. She asked me for water exercise pointers, and I was struck by her vivacity and that she still had a desire to learn.

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Hard Times
I can't remember how much time went by before I received the sad news that Steve's 19-year-old daughter had died tragically of a brain aneurysm. Having just returned from a lengthy overseas missions trip, she was home when seized by a violent headache.

An ambulance rushed her to a hospital where she died shortly thereafter. Mincaye was staying with Steve and Ginny Saint at that time and was under the impression that the ambulance had killed her.

What unexpected pain...and I wondered why God allowed it to happen to this family. Later, when I talked to Steve's wife, Ginny, she was hurting but finding her strength in looking to God.

They were real about their pain, but so hopeful knowing they would see their daughter again someday. Since that time, Marj Saint-Vanderpuy has also passed away. Imagine the welcoming committee in heaven!

An Eternal Impression
I'm sure I'll never forget meeting up with these people and watching how the power of God can enter a tribe who has never heard about Jesus, and that they were drawn to learn about "God's carvings." I learned something profound about forgiveness that day--and that God uses terrible things for incredible good.
Hope you've enjoyed my thoughts. Would love to hear what you think of the movie!