Wheaton Archives & Special Collections Digital Exhibits

Introduction

Peter and Olive Fleming; Ed, Marilou, and Mike McCully; Elisabeth, Jim, and Valerie Elliot, December 1955.

On January 3, 1956, five American missionaries—Jim Elliot, Peter Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian— embarked on a long-cherished project: to make contact with the Waorani people. An indigenous people group from the Amazonian region of Ecuador, the Waorani were renowned for their fierce independence and isolationist stance toward outsiders. Called “Auca” by their enemies, a Quichua word meaning “savage,” the Waorani were both feared by neighboring people groups and decimated by internal warfare.

After months of planning and careful preparation, the five men launched “Operation Auca,” a dangerous and daring mission to be the first Westerners to contact the Waorani, document their language, and share the Christian message of forgiveness, hope with Waorani men and women trapped in cycles of violence and despair. Fortified with a few Wao phrases, camping supplies, and conviction in their call to go, the five men boarded a small yellow plane bound for the interior of Ecuador’s dense rainforests while their wives and small children looked on.

They never returned. Six days later, all five men were dead, speared to death in a surprise attack by Waorani warriors.

Naenkiwi inspects model of Nate Saint's plane during visit to five missionaries at Palm Beach, January 6, 1956. One frame from filmstrip titled "Unforgettable Friday," which tells the story of Nate Saint and his family, missionary work with Mission Aviation Fellowship and involvement in Operation Auca. Filmstrip was developed by Marj Saint and MAF around 1956. — Waorani man Naenkiwi inspects plane model during visit to Palm Beach, January 6, 1956.

This exhibit explores the story of “Operation Auca.” What began as an isolated tragedy in the remote jungles of Ecuador became a media firestorm, reverberating through the American cultural imagination as a gripping narrative of devastating loss and inspiring faith.

In commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Operation Auca, To Carry the Light Further narrates the details of the mission — the individuals and institutions who played a part in the operation, the immediate aftermath of the murders —and its long-term effects, especially for the Waorani people.