Movie Review: End of the Spear

End of the Spear is the true story of young missionaries meeting Waodani tribesmen in the jungles of Ecuador. Some reviewers noted that this tribe was the most violent known tribe in 1956, the time this story took place. The five missionaries were speared to death because the Waodani believed that all foreigners were cannibals.

A number of events culminated in the wives of these missionaries being instrumental in teaching the tribesmen about God. People speared him but he did not spear back. At one point late in the story, Mincayani admits to having killed the now-adult boy’s father and offers the spear to him acknowledging that revenge would be his right.

What struck me most about this story – aside from the fact that I don’t think I want to be that kind of missionary – was how western the tribe became. They wore western clothing, cut their hair, and sat at the table for dinner. Must salvation mean westernization?

When I think of my friends in Uganda, a far cry from the jungles of Ecuador, I wonder how economic development will both help and hurt their traditions and culture. I wonder how westernization will help or hinder their kind and gentle spirits, their love of Jesus, and their walk with the Holy Spirit. I remember what Kefa Sempangi said in his book, A Distant Grief.

The idea was that when we don’t know trouble, weakness, or insecurity…when life is good…grief is distant, and thus our reliance on the blood of Jesus is not what unites the body but instead intellectual debate. Does economic development or westernization make Jesus more remote?