Almost every Christian knows at least the name Jim Elliot or Nate Saint. Most have heard an outline of the story somewhere.
It is a truly powerful story of 5 men who gave what they could not keep to gain what they could not lose, to paraphrase Elliot.
This video gives the main part of the story, and if you click through to YouTube you can find the 1st part. Steven Curtis Chapman's music and words are more poignant now given what happened in his family last year.
If you want to delve into the story further, I would highly recommend the documentary "Beyond the Gates of Splendor". On the 50th anniversary of the massacre that documentary and a feature film were released. A shortened and not quite as powerful version of the documentary was shown in many churches at that time. The film was called "End of the Spear" and was released around this time that year in honor the 50th anniversary.
The documentary is wonderful, well made, a great subject of course. The movie is not quite as good, something you would see on the Hallmark Channel or something. It suffers from some weak acting (the untrained Waodani who helped make it do a better job than some of the actors, including the lead unfortunately). The direction is adequate, but not particularly great. The message was dimmed to appeal to a wider audience, but the message is a heavy message by nature, and that tension hurts it as well.
While I wouldn't recommend it, if you know those things going in, it is a powerful story, and it isn't a waste of time. I'd definitely recommend the documentary.
If you really want to know more, definitely read the book "Through Gates of Splendor" by Elisabeth Elliot. Taken from Jim' journals, and the story of their relationship, it gives a portrait of a man who was truly sold out to God from the beginning.
It's the movie I would make of the story;)
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