Nathanael Saint had a knack for all things mechanical from the time he was young. He loved building new things and taking existing things apart to see how they work, then putting them back together again. It isn’t too surprising that he eventually became an aircraft mechanic. But only God could see the twists and turns his life would take as Nate put those skills to work serving his Savior.
Nate, as he was known, was born in Pennsylvania in 1923. He was raised by parents who lived whole-heartedly for God and faithfully attended and served their church. Nate grew up hearing missionary stories and his conviction to follow and serve God, wherever He lead, steadily grew.
“When life’s flight is over, and we unload our cargo at the other end,
Nate Saint
the fellow who got rid of unnecessary weight will have
the most valuable cargo to present the Lord.”
The first hint of God’s direction came when, at the age of seven, Nate took his first flight. He became enchanted with airplanes. To that end, he enrolled in the U.S. Army after high school, intent on learning to fly and one day be a commercial pilot. While serving in the Army, he learned missionary aviators were needed to reach remote areas of the world with the gospel. Rather than becoming a commercial pilot, Nate decided to fly for God’s glory.
Serving with MAF
By 1948, Nate and his wife Marjorie were serving with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in Ecuador. They opened a base in Shell Mera and, for the next eight years, flew medical supplies where they were needed, supported missionaries on the field, and helped isolated villages whenever possible.
In 1955, he joined forces with four missionaries trying to reach the Auca Indians (now known as the Waodani) living deep in the Amazon jungles, who had never been in contact with the outside world. Nate and the others began making contact by dropping a bucket of gifts from the plane from time to time, a system Nate developed. The Waodani people seemed very receptive. At one point, they cleared space for Nate’s airplane to land and left small, handcrafted gifts where the buckets had been.
On January 5, 1956, the small mission team successfully made contact with three tribal members while camping near the village. It looked like God was opening the door. Three days later, Nate Saint and four other missionaries (including Jim Elliot) were killed.
Despite his martyrdom, Nate’s work had only begun. God was opening a door. Nate’s sister, Rachel, and Jim Elliot’s wife, Elisabeth, went back and lived among the Waodani. Many came to faith in Christ, including the six warriors who had killed those pioneer missionaries. Elisabeth and her daughter stayed for two years, while Rachel continued on many more years doing valuable translation work.
The sacrifices made by this small group of faithful servants has inspired many to lay down their lives for the cause of God’s kingdom, knowing their eternal rewards would far outweigh anything this world has to offer. No doubt, Nate Saint was greeted with this words from Matthew 25:23: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
The 2005 movie, “End of the Spear,” is a dramatization of the events surrounding Nate Saint’s death and the following years – told from the perspective of Mincayani, one to the young warriors involved.
