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Christian Heroes: Then & Now #27
Rachel Saint: A Star in the Jungle
Against all odds, God led Rachel Saint to Ecuador's Waorani Indians---known as Aucas, or savages, and infamous for murder. Despite the martyrdom of five missionaries by Waorani spears, Rachel boldly persisted in following God. In one of the greatest testimonies in our time, this pioneering Bible translator lived for two decades with her own brother's killers, for the joy of seeing them become brothers and sisters in Christ (1914-1994).
207 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
18 people are currently reading
438 people want to read
About the author
Janet Benge
175 books307 followersJanet and Geoff Benge are a husband and wife writing team with twenty years of writing experience. They are best known for the books in the two series Christian Heroes: Then & Now series and Heroes of History. Janet is a former elementary school teacher. Geoff holds a degree in history. Together they have a passion to make history come alive for a new generation. Originally from New Zealand, the Benges make their home in the Orlando, Florida, area.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
March 17, 2025
This one’s really good. Rachel was the older sister of Nate Saint. Nate was killed along with Jim Elliot and 3 other missionaries by an Ecuador barbarian tribe. It became an international story in 1956. This one picks up where their story left off as she continued to make friendly contact with the tribe that killed her brother and the others. And convince them that they meant no harm.
April 27, 2017
In this book I heard for the first time something about Rachel Saint, and I never knew she played such an important part in bringing the Waoroni (Auca) Indians of Ecuador to Jesus. She grew up in a poor family and had seven brothers. They all lived in a cottage that was on the estate of her mother's parents. I liked how her mother gave up her wealthy heritage to marry Rachel's father, who was a struggling stain-glass-window designing artist. It's like a fairy tale of a rich girl falling in love with a poor artist. He finally became successful in his job, because he was hired to create stained-glass windows for Washington D.C.’s National Cathedral. As Rachel traveled to visit her father she met a very wealthy elderly woman who didn't have any children. She took Rachel to the UK and she offered her to make Rachel her sole heir if she would be her companion. Rachel was staggered and wanted to pray about it. As she was doing that suddenly she felt like she wasn't on the ship anymore, but in the jungle seeing a group of half-naked brown-skinned people in front of her beckoning her to go to them. That's when she knew, she wasn't meant to cruise around the world and sip tea with wealthy people. She knew it was a vision from God and she prayed: “God, I will give my whole life to You and go to be a missionary to those people if You want me to." Ironically after finishing college, she wanted to be a missionary, but she was turned down, because of some back problems. I find it interesting that the enemy always tries to hold us back from what our call from God is.
Rachel started working at a recovery house for alcoholics. Two of her brothers became missionaries and she was asking herself if it wasn't meant for her, when after 12 years of ministry at the rehab center, Rachel heard of a man named Cameron Townsend (Wycliffe Bible Translators). God led her to becoming a Bible translator, that she may reach the people in her vision. After a while she visited her bother Nate, who told her that there was one tribe (Waorani) no one was trying to reach with the Gospel, because they killed every stranger who entered their territory. As she listened she heard God telling her that these were the people from her vision.
Her first missionary assignment was to the Piro and Shapra in Peru, where she learned a lot of things about Indians, but she had an interest in the Waorani in Ecuador. Rachel started to learn their language with the help of Dayuma, a Huaorani woman who fled her people after a dispute and was working on a ranch.
Rachel was sent away for a time to help with teaching kids in a village and she only learned afterwards that her brother Nate and four other missionaries, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian had been killed by "her people" (the Waoranis). She didn't know they had even been attempting to reach those and felt somewhat betrayed. I wonder if the things would've turned out differently if the men would've told Rachel about their plan.
I have been moved by the fact that she was determined to do what God called her to do and that she remained all along single serving that cause. Her passion was great while she worked with the Waoroni Indians in Ecuador. I was touched to tears at the end of the book, where Rachel went back to Ecuador to her people and died there. I've seen the movie End of the Spear, but I don't remember her being mentioned there, although God has particularly called her to the people for which her brother, Jim Elliot and the others died.
Rachel started working at a recovery house for alcoholics. Two of her brothers became missionaries and she was asking herself if it wasn't meant for her, when after 12 years of ministry at the rehab center, Rachel heard of a man named Cameron Townsend (Wycliffe Bible Translators). God led her to becoming a Bible translator, that she may reach the people in her vision. After a while she visited her bother Nate, who told her that there was one tribe (Waorani) no one was trying to reach with the Gospel, because they killed every stranger who entered their territory. As she listened she heard God telling her that these were the people from her vision.
Her first missionary assignment was to the Piro and Shapra in Peru, where she learned a lot of things about Indians, but she had an interest in the Waorani in Ecuador. Rachel started to learn their language with the help of Dayuma, a Huaorani woman who fled her people after a dispute and was working on a ranch.
Rachel was sent away for a time to help with teaching kids in a village and she only learned afterwards that her brother Nate and four other missionaries, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian had been killed by "her people" (the Waoranis). She didn't know they had even been attempting to reach those and felt somewhat betrayed. I wonder if the things would've turned out differently if the men would've told Rachel about their plan.
I have been moved by the fact that she was determined to do what God called her to do and that she remained all along single serving that cause. Her passion was great while she worked with the Waoroni Indians in Ecuador. I was touched to tears at the end of the book, where Rachel went back to Ecuador to her people and died there. I've seen the movie End of the Spear, but I don't remember her being mentioned there, although God has particularly called her to the people for which her brother, Jim Elliot and the others died.
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January 9, 2021A remarkable woman with a heart for the lost. She helped bring the gospel to the tribe her brother and his friends died trying to reach.
November 10, 2020
We really enjoyed this story. We read Nate Saint's story before this, so Rachel Saint's story seemed like a natural next choice.
I find it amazing how she could imagine working with a native people when she was only 18, but she didn't get her chance until over 20 years later. She waited patiently, confident that she would work with the Waorani, even after five Waorani murdered her brother and four other men. While she waited, she met a Waorani woman, Dayuma, who taught her the Waorani language.
The book mentioned that Rachel and Dayuma came to the United States and appeared on an episode of This Is Your Life to honor Rachel. My children and I had fun watching that specific episode of This Is Your Life on YouTube.
Rachel ended up spending the majority of her life with the Waorani, change a people who had been resistant to outsiders for as long as anyone can remember. Indeed, Rachel and Nate worked together; Nate paved the way for his sister through his murder.
I find it amazing how she could imagine working with a native people when she was only 18, but she didn't get her chance until over 20 years later. She waited patiently, confident that she would work with the Waorani, even after five Waorani murdered her brother and four other men. While she waited, she met a Waorani woman, Dayuma, who taught her the Waorani language.
The book mentioned that Rachel and Dayuma came to the United States and appeared on an episode of This Is Your Life to honor Rachel. My children and I had fun watching that specific episode of This Is Your Life on YouTube.
Rachel ended up spending the majority of her life with the Waorani, change a people who had been resistant to outsiders for as long as anyone can remember. Indeed, Rachel and Nate worked together; Nate paved the way for his sister through his murder.
June 22, 2024
I read this with my daughter for her book club. What an extraordinary story of faith and service!
December 7, 2024
Rachel Saint is best known as the sister to Nate Saint, one of five missionary martyrs whose lives ended by the spears of those they were attempting to evangelize in the Amazon jungle. Rachel persisted in living with the tribe, learning their language and translating the New Testament into the language. She became friends and traveling companions with one of the Waoroni women, Dayuma, who gave Rachel a new name: “I will call you Nimu. It means star, and it was the name of my little sister…That will make you my sister, and being my sister, you are also their relative. [The Waorani] will not spear their relative.”
“In a sense Dayuma became the central missionary to her tribe. She began to explain to the group things about the outside world…she held a church service in Kimo and Dawa's hut .People would lounge in their hammocks or sit on the floor or on a log outside as Dayuma told them Bible stories and about ‘God's Carving’ (the Bible)...One day Akawo asked Rachel, ‘Does God stay in his hammock away up there in the sky?’...Why not think of there being hammocks in the house God is thatching for them up there?”
Rachel perceived the Waorani as “her people” and evangelizing them as her life’s mission. When presented with the notion that the Waorani would be better off if she had never gone into the tribe, Rachel replied, "There is no way that the Auca were going to be left alone. That is a lovely fairy story thought up by preservationists. With oilmen and settlers in the jungle, there would have been a bloodbath, and I know who would have come off the worst. Within a decade there would have been no Aucas and no language to preserve. These so-called do-gooders just don't know what they're talking about…They fly in, do a lightning so-called investigation, then fly out, talking nonsense. You have to live in the jungle and live with the day-to-day problems to know what the problems are."
Half a century later, however, Nemonte Nenquimo’s We Will Not Be Saved holds up a broken mirror of the biased, colonialist, evangelical notion of salvation and its devastating aftermath on an individual, on a people, and on the environment. If you want to hear both sides of the story, I would recommend pairing Janet and Geoff Benge’s Rachel Saint with Nenquimo’s brilliant memoir.
“In a sense Dayuma became the central missionary to her tribe. She began to explain to the group things about the outside world…she held a church service in Kimo and Dawa's hut .People would lounge in their hammocks or sit on the floor or on a log outside as Dayuma told them Bible stories and about ‘God's Carving’ (the Bible)...One day Akawo asked Rachel, ‘Does God stay in his hammock away up there in the sky?’...Why not think of there being hammocks in the house God is thatching for them up there?”
Rachel perceived the Waorani as “her people” and evangelizing them as her life’s mission. When presented with the notion that the Waorani would be better off if she had never gone into the tribe, Rachel replied, "There is no way that the Auca were going to be left alone. That is a lovely fairy story thought up by preservationists. With oilmen and settlers in the jungle, there would have been a bloodbath, and I know who would have come off the worst. Within a decade there would have been no Aucas and no language to preserve. These so-called do-gooders just don't know what they're talking about…They fly in, do a lightning so-called investigation, then fly out, talking nonsense. You have to live in the jungle and live with the day-to-day problems to know what the problems are."
Half a century later, however, Nemonte Nenquimo’s We Will Not Be Saved holds up a broken mirror of the biased, colonialist, evangelical notion of salvation and its devastating aftermath on an individual, on a people, and on the environment. If you want to hear both sides of the story, I would recommend pairing Janet and Geoff Benge’s Rachel Saint with Nenquimo’s brilliant memoir.
July 31, 2025
I am not enjoying and following this book as well as the other ones. I decided to read it since I'd just read the one on Elisabeth Elliot and the one on Jim Elliot. Having read other biographies of Elisabeth, I read that Rachel was not an easy person to work or live with. This is not in the book, of course. It's good to see her focused, dedicated side. So interesting how she had sort of a vision of the people that she would serve while she was on that tour with her aunt or family friend. She turned down being the companion of this woman because of the vision.
August 22, 2021
Wow. Wow. Wow.
I cried a bunch through this book. Mostly happy tears.
I didn’t realize that Rachel was actually called to the Auca people in 1932. God gave her a vision of them, although she did not know who they were in the vision. Her vision came to pass in 1958.
Her brother was killed by the Aucas in 1956.
Oh and she turned down the offer to be a millionaire heiress in 1932. Amazing testimony all around.
Well worth reading.
I cried a bunch through this book. Mostly happy tears.
I didn’t realize that Rachel was actually called to the Auca people in 1932. God gave her a vision of them, although she did not know who they were in the vision. Her vision came to pass in 1958.
Her brother was killed by the Aucas in 1956.
Oh and she turned down the offer to be a millionaire heiress in 1932. Amazing testimony all around.
Well worth reading.
February 8, 2023
Love Rachel’s desire to live out God’s purpose for her life, especially considering it involved a trade-off between a life filled worldly riches and luxury and a as life filled with danger and physical poverty. Rachel is an example of the spiritual wealth that is a result of living in obedience to God’s plan!!
May 23, 2023
This was not given 5 stars because it was so well written, but because Rachel Saint has always been my personal missionary hero. She went to Ecuador, the country of my heart, and she made it her mission to reach the Waorani Indians (the ones who killed her brother). I only hope that one day the Shuar Indians of my heart in Shaime village will know Jesus like the Waorani.
August 4, 2018
I think this biography of Rachel Saint is a really good story about her faithfulness in God. Even though her brother and four other friends were killed by the Indians, Rachel stayed back to live with the Indians and tell them about the gospel. Her story was really encouraging.
June 24, 2019
I'm amazed at Rachel's ability to forgive and show the love of God. We enjoy this series as a family read aloud and are always strengthened by the testimonies. There is also a cartoon movie and several documentaries featuring this story. I suggest watching one or two after reading.
January 31, 2023
I have long known about the story of the missionaries reaching the Auca Indians in the 1950's. However, the perspective from Rachel's life was mostly new to me. I gained a greater understanding of the Huaorani (the Aucas' actual name) and their part in the story.
January 12, 2024
What an inspiring read! The courage and willingness that Rachel Saint had in reaching the Aucas is an encouragement. Even after the bloody death of her brother and four other friends, she still persisted. I definitely recommend it. All glory be to God.
May 13, 2024
Rachel Saint's story is an encouragement. She received a vision at 18 years old, turned down wealth, and set out on a path that would take more than two decades to get to. It just goes to show, God's timing is perfect.
What an amazing story of faith, forgiveness, and sacrifice.
What an amazing story of faith, forgiveness, and sacrifice.
October 2, 2025
I didn’t know much about her, though more about her famous brother Nate who went with Jim Elliot to reach the Auka’s and got killed. Amazing what Rachel did and how God changed lives and culture through her relentless gospels and translation work…
April 4, 2019
The woman and her life story are fantastic. The writing is not terribly engaging.
December 2, 2020
It was interesting to hear her perspective after reading about her brother. And finding out more about Dayuma and what happened to the Waorani was really interesting.
October 24, 2021
Amazing woman; uplifting book!!!
January 5, 2022
Of all the biographies in this series, so far this is my favourite. Fantastic story showing the power and grace of God at work!
April 25, 2022
A moving story. We fully enjoyed it.
June 27, 2023
A wonderful story of forgiveness & love.
May 2, 2024
Beautiful story to wrap up Nate Saint's story.
August 27, 2024
Biography that outlines Rachel's life and her ministry in Ecuador, including struggles and challenges.
October 4, 2024
A good biography about this Christian heroine for readers of all ages.
January 24, 2025
Great YA factual telling of the life of Rachel Saint
October 11, 2025
Jim Elliot's 'Shadow of the Almighty' is one of my favorite books, so reading another missionary's account from Ecuador at that time was amazing.
Another very inspiring testimony of the work of God.
Another very inspiring testimony of the work of God.
December 3, 2025
4* Audible - I found this one sad.
March 25, 2025
This book discussed the life of Rachel Saint, a missionary in Ecuador. Saint was the sister of Nate Saint, a fellow missionary killed along with four other missionaries. Rachel pursued a career as a linguist and evangelized to the same unreached people who killed her brother.
The audiobook narrator was Rebecca Gallagher.
The audiobook narrator was Rebecca Gallagher.
October 25, 2024
“I thank you for your concern and warning. I am aware of the great danger that lies ahead. Be that as it may, I cannot turn back from this course because it is dangerous, when God has so clearly called me to it and arranged the circumstances for me to come.”
Ecuador, late 20th century
Ecuador, late 20th century
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews