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Movie Review – End
of the Spear |
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End
of the Spear -
the movie
review by Tom Gilbert
Every Tribe Entertainment
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Official movie website – www.endofthespear.com
www.foxfaith.com for additional information
 There
are still areas of our planet where people live completely
isolated from civilization. Their world, values and beliefs
may seem primitive by modern standards and very different
from ours. Even so, God is the Creator of all and big
enough to reach all people. How the message of God is
carried and how our greater appreciation of the mystery
of God is revealed can be beyond our limited human expectations.
End of the Spear is a movie now
available on DVD that
explores the contact between a missionary group and a
primitive and fiercely violent tribe, the Waodani, who
live deep in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador. The movie
is based on a true story.
In 1956 five young missionaries made contact with this
tribe. It started when they would drop gifts in a bucket
from a small plane. The missionaries hope to bring to
these people the message of God’s love through
Jesus Christ and the story of redemption through love.
For the Waodani this would be a completely foreign concept.
Their culture is one of survival through physical power
and violence. The warriors are quite adept at the use
of spears in their battles. They use them for hunting
and for fighting with other tribes and among themselves.
It was very unusual for any of the warriors to live long
and nearly half of the tribe died at the hands of their
fellow tribesmen. Unfortunately, they use the spears
to kill five young missionary men they meet in the jungle.
Clearly they misunderstand the intent of the foreign
visitors to their land and the killing is a powerful
and sad scene. One of the missionaries, Nathan Saint,
had learned a few rudimentary words of the tribe’s
language. As he lies dying from the spear Mincayani,
the Waodani warrior leader has pierced him with he utters
his last words and tells him he came to be their good
friend. This visibly affects Mincayani, but it is a long
journey from there for the warrior to eventually learn
why this man would tell him this.
Much of the story in the rest of the movie revolves around
Mincayani (played by Louie Leonardo in a powerful performance),
and Nathan Saint’s young son. The boy was only
eight when his father and the other missionaries were
murdered. Surviving wives and sisters of the missionaries
make the bold decision to move to Ecuador and live among
the Waodani, providing medical help and to attempt to
win them over with the message of the love of God’s
son. They also have provided a home, love and education
to Mincayani’s sister who previously had been befriended
by foreigners, although Mincayani believed at the time
that she was captured and murdered.
The spiritual beliefs of the Waodani are different, of
course, from the missionaries Christian beliefs. However,
I was struck how compassion, persistence, forgiveness
and love eventually win over. There is a powerful message
in this movie about how to evangelize and at its core
is the power of Christian love in action over emphasis
on dogma and missionary “techniques”.
End of the Spear is beautifully filmed and has a beautiful
ending. The movie reminds us that our world and the humans
who inhabit it are often mean and violent. But they are
also capable of transformation brought about through
the power of love.
There is a documentary, Beyond the Gates, that explores
the real life story of End of the Spear. At the end of
the DVD we are treated to a few excerpts that show a
happy older Mincayani who has visited modern culture
and remarks on the differences between our world and
his.
Order the DVD
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Scripture taken from the Holy
Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International
Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
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