Thursday, April 20, 2006

End of the Spear (2)

I'm reading The End of the Spear, written by Steve Saint. His father was among the missionaries killed by the Aucas, a native tribe in Equador, back in 1956. Steve's mother, along with some of the other widows, decided to still attempt to reach the Aucas and minister to them -- so Steve grew up among them.

At some point, he came back to the states and became a successful businessman. However, he returned to Equador for the funeral of his aunt who had stayed for 40 years to minister to these people. While there, the Aucas talked Steve into returning to work with them. So, he took his family with him (wife, 3 teenager) to live among this primitive tribe.

After staying with them for a stint, he decided that to remain with them would actually hinder them from being independent of him. So, he moved back to the States (Ocala, Florida). He talks about the difficulties the family had in reentering our culture. For instance, paying $6,000 in auto insurance for his family -- which was more than they had lived on in Equador for over a year.

One funny story he tells: He tells of a lady who was at the grocery store picking out some TV dinners. Suddenly, she put them back and said, "I don't think I want to cook this evening."

The book is really interesting. I would recommend it. It is not the same as the movie. In fact, it kind of picks up where the movie ended.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Yeah, it's interesting to see the "needs" in different cultures.
More complexity leads to more complexity. I believe it was Edgar Allen Poe: "My, what a tangled web we weave," or something to that extent.

Anonymous said...

That which you own will eventually own you.