Nate Saint

Nathanael "Nate" Saint (August 30, 1923 – January 8, 1956) was an evangelical Christian missionary pilot to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people through efforts known as Operation Auca.

Nate Saint was born in 1923. When he was seven he took his first plane ride with his brother Sam, who would eventually become a commercial pilot for American Airlines. While in the airplane he discovered a love of flying. His family was somewhat unusual. His brothers made a sleeping patio on the roof of their home, and his dad built a roller coaster in the backyard. When he joined the army he was stationed in Las Vegas NV, but was transferred to several other locations over the years. A leg injury from a sledding accident caused him some problems while he was in the army. About a year before he was discharged, he almost died while climbing a mountain in Yosemite National Park. After that incident he learned to live life to the fullest.

End of the Spear

End of the Spear is a 2005 docudrama film that recounts the story of Operation Auca, in which five American Christian missionaries attempted to evangelize the Huaorani (Waodani) people of the tropical rain forest of Eastern Ecuador. Based on actual events from 1956 in which five male missionaries were speared by a group of the Waodani tribe, the movie tells the story from the perspective of Steve Saint (the son of Nate Saint, one of the missionaries killed in the encounter), and Mincayani, one of the tribesmen who took part in the attack. The two eventually form a bond that continues to this day.

Concerns

Some secular critics believed the story may be seen as presenting an uncritical view of a situation where native peoples were eventually exploited regardless of "good intentions" such as concerns about SIL International.

There was some concern among various Christian groups that lead actor Chad Allen, who portrays aviator missionary Nate Saint in the movie (and his son Steve Saint as an adult), is openly gay. Some Christian groups that had initially planned to promote the film began to question whether they should. The real Steve Saint, who was heavily involved in the production of the film, has stated in interviews that he himself had reservations, but that God indicated to him that Allen was the proper choice. In the end, he couldn't see a better actor filling the role of his father. His public pronouncements did much to quell the controversy.

Steve Saint

Stephen Farris Saint (born January 30, 1951) is an Ecuadorian-born business entrepreneur, pilot, and author. He is known for being the son of Nate Saint, a famous missionary pilot, as well as for his own work among indigenous tribes.

Early life

Saint was born in Quito, Ecuador, at a mission hospital. He was the second of Nate and Marj Saint's three children. He has an older sister, Kathy, and a younger brother, Philip. The family lived in Quito where his father was a missionary pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship. In 1956, his father and four other missionaries were killed by Waodani Indians during Operation Auca, during an effort to make peaceful contact with them.

After the death of Saint's father, the family moved to Quito where Saint attended school. It was during this time that his aunt, Rachel Saint, and Elisabeth Elliot successfully made peaceful contact with the Waodani and were living with them in the jungle. At 10 years of age, Saint first went to live with the Waodani, staying with them during the summers. He learned about living in the jungle, and also developed relationships with many members of the tribe. In June 1965, "Babae", as he was called by the tribe, was baptized in the Curaray River by Kimo and Dyuwi, two of his father's killers who had since converted to Christianity.

Saint

A saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, or likeness to God. While the English term "saint" originated in Christianity, historians of religion now use the appellation "in a more general way to refer to the state of special holiness that many religions attribute to certain people," with the Jewish Tzadik, the Islamic Mu'min, the Hindu rishi or Sikh guru, and the Buddhist arhat or bodhisattva also being referred to as "saints". Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official ecclesiastical declaration/denomination or by popular acclamation (see folk saints).

In Christianity, "saint" has a wide variety of meanings, depending on the context and denomination. The original Christian denotation was any believer who is "in Christ" and in whom Christ dwells, whether in Heaven or on earth. In Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic doctrine, all of their faithful deceased in Heaven are considered to be saints, but some are considered worthy of greater honor, emulation, or veneration, with official ecclesiastical recognition given to some saints by canonization or glorification.