| The story of five modern-day American Christians dying because of their desire to preach the Gospel where it had never before been heard had a permanent impact on American Evangelicals. There was massive press coverage of the killing, the later evangelization of the Waorani, and growth of the church in the Amazon tribe. Many Christian magazines covered the event, numerous books were written, and several Waorani converts to Christianity (including Dayuma and the killers) also traveled to Christian conferences in the United States in Europe. Especially influential (although there were many others) were Elisabeth Elliot's Through Gates of Splendor and The Savage My Kinsman, as well as her husband’s journals, which she edited—and the biography of Nate Saint by Russell Hitt, Jungle Pilot. There were also visits by groups of American Christians to sites in Ecuador connected to the story. For many, the lives and deaths of Jim Elliot, Peter Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian inspired renewed faith and a commitment to Christian service in domestic and foreign missions. |
