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Dayuma: Life Under Waorani Spears : A Tragedy That Shocked The World : A Vision That Refused To Die
"On every continent, in every nation, God is at work in and through the lives of believers. From the streets of Amsterdam to remote Pacific islands to the jungles of Ecuador and beyond, each international adventure that emerges is a dramatic episode that could be directed only by the hand of God. The story of the five missionary martyrs in Ecuador comes full circle in the breathtaking true story of Dayuma, who left her tribe on a desperate odyssey into the unknown.
204 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 17, 2017
This is an amazing story. A whole culture is saved from probable annihilation by a return to the Creator. But how will they hear when they kill everyone that comes close? Could their fear of each other be the opening God uses? This is the story of God reaching out to offer salvation.
Dayuma fled in terror of her life into the unknown world of ‘down-river’. There she found safety but was still wasn’t free of constant fear. Then she met Rachel Saint. Rachel had spent years preparing and praying for a way to reach the isolated Aucas of Ecuador. God had found a way to reach a lost tribe.
Why the low rating? It starts out as if it’s going to be told by Dayuma, but then it gets interrupted and the point of view switches. The rest is told from Rachel Saint’s point of view with the odd addition of Dayuma’s thoughts here or there. That gave it a rather choppy feel at times. Then the horrific lifestyle of the tribe makes this a book for a mature audience, but the writing is geared for a younger audience. I think that was the most jarring part of the whole book.
Dayuma fled in terror of her life into the unknown world of ‘down-river’. There she found safety but was still wasn’t free of constant fear. Then she met Rachel Saint. Rachel had spent years preparing and praying for a way to reach the isolated Aucas of Ecuador. God had found a way to reach a lost tribe.
Why the low rating? It starts out as if it’s going to be told by Dayuma, but then it gets interrupted and the point of view switches. The rest is told from Rachel Saint’s point of view with the odd addition of Dayuma’s thoughts here or there. That gave it a rather choppy feel at times. Then the horrific lifestyle of the tribe makes this a book for a mature audience, but the writing is geared for a younger audience. I think that was the most jarring part of the whole book.
October 6, 2023
How do you rate a true story with stars? I feel like it is almost unfair to do so. This is a powerful story of Christ's overwhelming love and forgiveness. A true account of what happened after the spearings of the missionaries in the jungle. Proof that God can work everything out for good and in His own timing.
The writing itself is a bit jumbled at times. I did not care for the writing itself very much.
The writing itself is a bit jumbled at times. I did not care for the writing itself very much.
November 22, 2015
The story of a primitive girl (Dayuma) who escaped from the spears of a member of her tribe who had killed several of her family members. She was instrumental in teaching the Auca language to Rachel Saint who was the sister to one of the five missionaries who were killed by the Aucas. The killings took place subsequently to Dayuma escaping and in spite of the killings, Rachel Saint continued to learn the language from Dayuma and they along with others brought the Gospel to the tribe and many came to Christ. Great book. I just got a little confused with the many names and relationships to Dayuma in the last part of the book.
March 23, 2016
An enthralling story- the first quarter or so sets the scene and context of the tribal way of life; their outlook, morals, traditions etc.
Throughout the whole book God's sovereign and providential hand can be seen clearly- I found this to be a great encouragement, and testimony to our command in making disciples from the world.
Throughout the whole book God's sovereign and providential hand can be seen clearly- I found this to be a great encouragement, and testimony to our command in making disciples from the world.
August 10, 2015
Post-murder of 5 missionaries in the jungles of Ecuador in the 50's and how the truth of their death was told by the killers. They lived to revenge wrongs. After one of their members escaped for fear of her own life she was selected to teach Auca language to Rachel, a sister of one of the five killed. In the process of she evangelized the girl and together they returned to the tribe and the tribe stopped revenge spearing and started to fear God. Interestingly some of their own folk stories past down were on line with stories from the bible.
March 11, 2013
It was amazing to read read the "behind-the-scenes" story of what went on in the jungles of Ecuador at the time of the spearing of the five missionaries in the 1950's. Great read!
October 11, 2020
Wow- the power of Jesus to change ingrained thought and belief patterns really shines so clearly in this book. Hearing the Gospel message put into context for their tribal way of life was beautiful.
September 8, 2024
This book was really inspiring and the story was incredible. It was written in a bit of a slow way which made it hard to get through quickly but the stories in it were fantastic. I did not finish the whole thing because of travel but I was inspired by the parts I read.
September 21, 2024
Wallis Way #1
Missions biography has some interest, but is told in a fairly dull style, and doesn't really ever engage you or connect with you emotionally or spiritually.
A missed opportunity I feel.
Missions biography has some interest, but is told in a fairly dull style, and doesn't really ever engage you or connect with you emotionally or spiritually.
A missed opportunity I feel.
July 13, 2022
Not the best piece of this story but a good piece nonetheless. Each and every part forms a more complete story and this is one of the most amazing stories ever!
July 30, 2024
A wonderful telling of how "God's Carving" was finally brought to the Waorani people!
March 8, 2018
I had read ‘Through Gates of Splendor’ and ‘End of the Spear’ and the other missionaries’ biographies so I wondered if it would be ‘worth it’ to read this book too. It is very much worth it! It fills in so many blanks and acquaints the reader more with the Indians, learning their names and family relationships and culture. The book is very straight forward and a quick read, sometimes I felt it could have included a bit more emotional building up but also appreciated the succinctness of the storyline.
June 9, 2012
Very good book but I must say, understanding the story is much aided by the fact that I've already seen the movie End of the Spear.
The book is about a young woman from a primitive tribe in Ecuador who helped a group of missionaries learn the language of her people so they could share The Gospel. While she was working with the women as a translator, her tribe killed 5 missionary men who had gone into the jungles to make contact with them.
I had heard the story of the men killed and the tribe that was eventually reached, but never the story of Dayuma- the young Waorani woman who helped bring Christianity to her people. It's a very powerful and moving tale of a newly discovered love for the Lord, persistence on the part of the women working together, and the trials of trying to take the Word of God into a place no outsiders had ever been welcomed.
The book is about a young woman from a primitive tribe in Ecuador who helped a group of missionaries learn the language of her people so they could share The Gospel. While she was working with the women as a translator, her tribe killed 5 missionary men who had gone into the jungles to make contact with them.
I had heard the story of the men killed and the tribe that was eventually reached, but never the story of Dayuma- the young Waorani woman who helped bring Christianity to her people. It's a very powerful and moving tale of a newly discovered love for the Lord, persistence on the part of the women working together, and the trials of trying to take the Word of God into a place no outsiders had ever been welcomed.
August 16, 2007
There are better missions books out there on this topic (Through Gates of Splendor, for starters), and certainly in general, but this one presents a unique view in that it chronicles the life of Dayuma. The idea of Dayuma herself and Rachel Saint being the primary sources makes me wary (one being from a culture where the written word was of no value, and the other defensive about her life work), so it's hard for me to take this at face value. Furthermore, the writing quality was subpar, and the book itself felt long.
April 9, 2013
April 2013 - It's been years since I first read this book as a teenager, but I think it was even more impacting on me now than it was then. Coming to biographies like this one with the altered perspective of someone who has spent significant time overseas, I find the story more compelling and overwhelming as I consider the God of wonders who brings life out of death and miracles out of tragedy. I've already passed this on to Hannah, and I'm thinking of putting on the reading list for my highschoolers next year.
September 11, 2009
I love having different perspectives of the same story, so this book was wonderful! Dayuma escaped from her violent Indian tribe and ended up taking the gospel message back to her people with Rachel Saint, sister of murdered missionary Nate Saint. The awesomeness? Nate Saint was murdered by Dayuma's family. How amazing God is!!
May 23, 2013
This story is amazing! Absolutely amazing! It caused me to make a new shelf, missionary, for my GoodReads account. Just WOW! Read it for yourself :D
April 2, 2015
I think this was the first book I read as a child about the 5 missionaries and the Waorani story.
August 13, 2015
Great story of God's good out of tragedy, life from death, hope from hopelessness, meaning and purpose from ashes. Sometimes difficult to follow the storyline.
January 12, 2018
I read this as a teenager and completely forgot about it until a Goodreads friend recently reviewed it. I don't remember much about it, but I'm sure I appreciated it at the time.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews