God in the Rainforest: A Tale of Martyrdom and Redemption in Amazonian Ecuador

by Kathryn T. Long

In January of 1956, five young evangelical missionaries were speared to death by a band of the Waorani people in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Two years later, two missionary women--the widow of one of the slain men and the sister of another--with the help of a Wao woman were able to establish peaceful relations with the same people who had killed their loved ones. The highly publicized deaths of the five men and the subsequent efforts to Christianize the Waorani quickly became the defining missionary narrative for American evangelicals during the second half of the twentieth century.

God in the Rainforest traces the formation of this story and shows how Protestant missionary work among the Waorani came to be one of the missions most celebrated by Evangelicals and most severely criticized by anthropologists and others who accused missionaries of destroying the indigenous culture. Kathryn T. Long offers a study of the complexities of world Christianity at the ground level for indigenous peoples and for missionaries, anthropologists, environmentalists, and other outsiders. For the first time, Long brings together these competing actors and agendas to reveal one example of an indigenous people caught in the cross-hairs of globalization.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Christian, Biography, Christianity, Church History

480 pages, Hardcover

Published February 26, 2019

About the author

Kathryn Teresa Long is a former Associate Professor and Chair of the History Department at Wheaton College. Her first book, The Revival of 1857-58: Interpreting an American Religious Awakening, was awarded the Brewer Prize for outstanding scholarship in church history by a first-time author from the American Society of Church History.

Reviews

[Todd Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

God in the Rainforest is a tough but rewarding read. Long chronicles the attempts to evangelize the Waorani people in Ecuador, beginning with the martyrdom of Elliot, Saint, et al. I found the book to be very evenhanded in its historiography. Long impressed me by saying tough and critical things, but with great charity and nuance. For those interested in missions or missiology, this is an important book.

[Michelle Ule · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long has written an excellent and comprehensive history of a story I thought I knew.

I learned a lot from this well-documents (57 pages!) tale of the Waorani's encounters with "civlization" for the last 60 years.

If you're interested in the 5 martyrs from 1956, Elisabeth Elliot, SIL, Rachel Saint, Steve Saint, Aucas/Waorani, this is the book for you.

[Sue Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very important book for anyone who remembers the killing of five missionaries by Aucas in Ecuador in the fifties. The author follows the history to the present detailing the difficulty of reaching an unreached group. Missionaries, both Protestant and Catholic; oil companies; anthropologists; Marxists; and changing politics as well as the family groups in the rainforest who have differing opinions of the "outside world" all play a part. Well worth reading. One note: the book is heavily footnoted because the author has access to material from all sides over the years. The book itself is only about 2/3 text, so the 400 or so pages is a little deceiving.

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting perspective on the impact of Christian mission on an indigenous tribe and its culture, and the impact of that tribe on American evangelicalism - all in the context of oil exploration, anti-colonialism, anthropological studies and the story of Jim Elliot and his fellow Ecuadorian martyrs.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quite a book. Detailed, thoroughly researched, well written and well edited, it took me a couple of weeks to get through it. This is the story of the Waorani (Aucas) from the time of the martyrdom of the five missionaries in 1956, until now. Long writes as an objective observer, presenting all sides of the story. At times it is not pretty. Long almost goes too far in presenting the opposite side of almost every decision, every personality, and every problem that was encountered in this incredibly complex situation. The government, SIL/Wycliffe, the oil companies, the environmentalists, the anthropologists, the Bible translators, the early missionaries and the later ones as well - all have a part to play in this huge story, which is further complicated by the way it became the face of missions for many years. I was affected in my thinking about the entire story by the details given in this book. There are many facets to it - many that are not represented in the average book written about it, of which there are scores.

[Zach Hollifield · Rating 4 out of 5]

A colossal accomplishment that tells the incredibly complicated story of what flowed out of one of evangelicalism’s all time favorite and most inspiring events: the martyrdom of Jim Eliot, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Nate Saint. This story, though, is far more about the tribe they were trying to, and briefly did, reach: the Waorani. It’s the story of their agency and their grappling with the outside influences–both good and ill–which came along with those five young missionaries.

The writing is dense, but that’s because this has to be one of the most well documented and researched pieces of missionary history I have ever read. Some chapters and many parts of chapters are also sort of boring. But that may just have been because my primary interest in reading was missiological.

Long is less enthusiastic and charitable than I am about the role of evangelical missionaries among the Waorani. But writing academically she perhaps needed to be.

Well done overall.

[Catherine Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up practically worshiping Jim Elliot and the other missionaries to the Waorani people. They were our very own, Evangelical missionaries. In the last ten years or so, I had been hearing rumblings about how their contact with the tribe had been culturally insensitive and a bad idea. This book does a good job of bringing out all perspectives on the modernization of the Amazonian rainforest in Ecuador, especially as concerns the Protestant missionaries. I learned a lot about mission work in general, but about the Summer Language Institute in particular. Highly recommend this book.

[Wendy Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

To quote Paul Harvey, “This is the rest of the story” of the Waorani people. This book dives deep into the history of the Waorani from the martyrdom of the 5 to what happened next. It looks at the influence of Christianity on the tribe and the encroachment of the modern world. It’s a non-fiction book that reads like a story. It’s hard to put it down.

[andrew y · Rating 5 out of 5]

A triumph in histiography. This book will teach you more about missionaries, cultural imperialism, indigenous cultures and pure human nature than you can imagine. I firmly believe this should be required reading for anyone who ever heard any form of the story of the five missionaries martyred by the “Aucas”. Truly blown away.

[William Orr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much more objective than I expected. Jim Yost is a hero. Rachel Saint is complicated. The Waorani seem to be destined for the short end of the stick.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me 1 year and 3 months to finish this extensively detailed historical book describing the Waorani tribe, the people who lived among them, and the understanding that outsiders had of them. Although portions of the book were more difficult to read than other parts, as a whole I found the narrative entirely fascinating and thought-provoking.

I especially appreciated the realistic and often thorough examination of topics such as tangible issues like sickness and food supply, women in ministry, dealing with financial and prayer supporters, cross-cultural misunderstanding, language learning and barriers, elevation of certain types of ministry and cross-cultural work over others, dealing with sending organizations and churches, advancements in technology and how this affect missions work, cultures within a culture (that is the Waorani tribe and others inside of Amazonian Ecuador), secular influences such as the anthropologists and oil companies, medical missions, missionaries from various sending countries and organizations working together, conflict on the teams, and much more, including small glimpses into dealing with aging parents and educating children on the field. I only wish there had been more on the Alliance Academy in Quito as well as the care of the children of the martyrs.

A few of my qualms with the book are that the author seemed to spend an exorbitant number of pages on factors that didn’t seem to be significantly important to the narrative that she was writing. I wish there had been less about the land feuds, including with the oil companies, and I wish there had been more on the widows and children of the men who made initial contact. I also found that the author was quite negative regarding Rachel Saint and her attitudes and behaviors, and although it didn’t seem unwarranted, it seemed excessive. No offense to the author, but the narrative was so incredibly thorough that I often read the book while suffering from insomnia during my pregnancy!

One quote that impacted me personally and professionally was this:
“‘Learning to ‘believe’ is such hard work,’ Jim Yost jotted in his notebook in 1979. “It takes a long time, lots of practice, many mistakes in learning.” That was true for those Waorani who accepted Christianity. Something similar might be said of those who arrived to live among them. Learning to be a missionary, too, was hard work. It also took a long time, lots of practice, many mistakes in learning.”

[Sarah Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa. Fascinating and so good.

Before I move forward, this is really a history book that explores the pros and cons and all the complications and intricacies of missionary work with the most isolated tribes of Ecuador (and a case could be made for them being some of the most isolated tribes in the world). This isn’t a typical missionary biography or story where everything is clearly done to the glory of God and wrapped up in a simple bow neat and organized. It’s messy and part of humanity….and that is exactly what is portrayed. And that’s a GOOD thing. We don’t need more stories where only one side of the story is presented.

Furthermore, while it’s not a hard read, it’s also not an easy read. It reads like a well done history textbook that is engaging and captures a story…but also is still clearly a history book. It’s both broad and deep in its scope which further adds to the technicality of reading.

But it’s worth reading. It brings to light the good the missionaries did, but also the not so good. It brings to light the beautiful changes in the Woarani tribes, but also doesn’t conceal reality of some of the really sad, disingenuous, and & ugly things that came with those changes…which many missionary stories (esp. regarding Jim Elliot and his fellow missionaries) do.

If you know anything about Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and the others…this book should be read too. It really gives a much more complete picture and prompts soooo much food for thought. This book does cover Elliot & co., but for the most part really covers the events AFTER their deaths at the hands of the Waorani tribes from the 1950s to the 21st century. It was interesting to read more about so many common household names from my childhood, including missionaries that my family knew and supported growing up through the Brethren assemblies and CMML.

Excellently researched and well presented with grace and honesty. I was concerned that it would take either the “missionaries do no wrong” or “missionaries only do wrong” stance and it did neither. Kathryn Long showed the humanity - the good and bad - in missional work, and this book should be read by any Christian who appreciates the honest history and inner workings of such work.

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fascinated by this history because as a teenager I read three of the "missionary as heroes" accounts of the five missionaries killed by the Waorani, and planned on becoming a missionary linguist myself and (I hoped) working for SIL. For various reasons I came to believe that God was not leading me in that direction after all, and knowing more about the complex situation there (rather than the somewhat idealized picture I got from the books I read) might have helped me figure it out sooner. Some of the detailed history about every single aspect of interactions between the Waorani and different groups of outsiders made parts of this book slow going, but it is very thorough and even-handed in discussing the various conflicts that I didn't even know about. It is a reminder of how much our perspective on indigenous people groups has changed just during my lifetime.

[haley whitaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is one of the wildest books I've ever read. Kathryn Long did a fantastic and thorough job, presenting a vastly different picture of a story that many of us thought we knew. Maybe different isn't the right word. It takes the things we've known and finally sets them into their context, replacing the neatly truncated version that is often shared with the long, troublesome, confusing, and fascinating context - spanning many decades and involving multiple denominations, international government agencies, environmentalist organizations, journalists, filmmakers, tourists, mega-corporations, and of course the various ethnic groups within living distance of the Waorani themselves.
There is no way to sum up this book. Though its complexity made it a bit dense, it's worth the read.

[Linn Beall · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are fascinated with the deaths of Elliot, Saint and all in 1956 you will be interested in this book. After reading the new Elisabeth Elliot biography I saw that this book was referenced quite a bit. I found it very interesting to hear what all happened with the Waorani ("Aucas") after Elisabeth and Rachel moved in with them. It really shows the difficulties in planting churches in primitive tribes and the dangers to watch out for. This book shares the good and the bad. I found it all very interesting. If you aren't familiar with the whole story it would probably be slow and dry to you.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Amazing research with information and analysis not available anywhere else. This is a very fair treatment and thorough appraisal of perhaps the most famous missionary story of the 20th century and its aftermath, which continues to resonate today. Having read a few of the early and stirring “Auca” books decades ago and even met some of the original participants written about in Long’s book, I feel now that I’ve been sufficiently and satisfyingly updated.

[Rhonda Shrader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched and organized, but a little too much detail for me. I was more interested in the story of what happened to the Waorani and successive missionary efforts coupled with increased oil drilling activity in the area. That story is there, but there's also a ton of other less interesting information on the passive/aggressive in-fighting of multiple groups (religious and secular) determined to be the "first" to claim conversion credit.

[Peggy Yeager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathryn seems to take an unbiased view of the indians in Ecuador as she tells the story of the tribe from their first encounters with the outside world (missionaries) in the 1950's through the 1990's with the oil companies, priests, the various presidents of Ecuador and organizations all either wanting a piece of the fame of the tribe or to protect them.

[Kari McDowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an extremely scholarly account of the missions to the Waorani, filling in what happened after the deaths of the five martyrs. Love the emphasis on thoroughness and objectivity as opposed to the traditional hagiography.

[Hope Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

fascinating book

[Stephen Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough research, excellent analysis, this is superb historiography.

[Adam Omelianchuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most thorough and fair-minded take on the missionary endeavors in Ecuador (beginning with Eliott et al.).

[Stephen Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding account of the events and personalities surrounding and touched by the death of the "Auca martyrs".

[Marcy W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful and complicated. Great information on the Yosts who have are family friends and church family.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long's book is not your typical or stereotypical missionary narrative, where the missionaries are the heroes, and the gospel targets are fortunate recipients, especially a story that began in 1956 with the killings of five American missionaries who became icons of Christian service and devotion to the Evangelicals and the wider public. Long instead applies all her skills as a historian the peel back the many complicated layers, showing the imperfect missionaries who even have difficulty getting along with one another, the Waorani who become agents and active participants in their own story of emergence from isolation into the modern world, the mission and government agencies that are also actors in the story, and the anthropologists, environmentalists, petroleum companies, and journalists who add their own perspectives and agendas to the mix. She teases out the nuances at the intersections of the relationships among the principle characters, especially relationships and tensions with missionary Rachel Saint, and the complicated interactions between the Waorani and , North American linguists, missionaries and their agencies, anthropologists, tourists, the neighboring Quichuas, and the Ecuadorean government and its officials. She especially helps illuminate the narrative of an obscure Amazonian tribe emerging into the wider world, being equipped through education and language development (alphabet, reading, translated New Testament) to hold their own as the tribe adapts and determines its own future. The book is so insightful and well written. Long also responds to some of the more recent criticism leveled against the missionaries by anthropologist and journalists.

The maps, abbreviations, extensive notes, and list of frequently-used sources were especially helpful to the full reading experience.

It took me a long time to hit my post-COVID-reading stride, but resuming half way through was well worth it.

[Timothy Hoiland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it was from the legendary bibliophile John Wilson that I first heard about Kathryn T. Long’s God in the Rainforest. In this meticulously researched book, Long narrates one of the stories missionary kids like me grow up knowing by heart: the story of the five young Americans who were speared to death in the Ecuadorian jungle while trying to make contact with the Waoroni tribe. She reassesses this tragedy, as well as everything that led up to it and everything that happened afterward. A little over 100 pages in, I’m enthralled.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long & detailed! Well-researched. From 1950s through 2017 or so