About Me

Van Walton

Fun Facts about Van Walton

My favorite smell: The way the earth smells after it rains.

My favorite sound: The first notes of a grand symphony.

My favorite way to relax: Sitting anywhere outside - on my front porch, on my deck, or by the lake, early in the morning with my first cup of coffee.

My favorite birthday dessert: a Peach cobbler baked by my husband. He’s my fave chef!

I will not eat: Avocado. They turn my stomach into a volcano that never erupts.

Technology I couldn't live without and why: My laptop - it takes me anywhere I want to go.

One thing that makes me smile: My sons' faces!

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My Resources



My book, From the Pound to the Palace, is available for $10
from Proverbs 31 Ministries.


Pound to Palace


My book, Little Halos, is available for $5.99 from Proverbs
31 Ministries.


Little Halos


Proverbs 31 Ministries












Links




Sponsor a Child in Jesus Name with Compassion

Monday, September 29, 2008

MOVIN' ON AFTER MOVIN' IN MONDAYS

Have you treated yourself to the movie, The End of the Spear?

Talk about a move! Five young men in 1956 risked their lives to introduce an unreached people to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I copied and pasted this review in case you are not familiar with the story:

This amazing story of forgiveness is a deep in the heart of the jungles of Ecuador, along the Amazon River basin, the Waodani Indians are murdering each other to the point of near-extinction. Tribal conflicts (internal and external) have led to a staggering 60 percent mortality rate, and the average Waodani male lives to be just over 30 years old. In response, the Ecuadorian government plans to send in troops to stop the killings and "reclaim" the land, essentially wiping out the Waodani.
It's the early 1950s and Nate Saint, along with four other young American Christian missionaries, sense the urgency of this crisis and set out to befriend the Waodani people. Nate establishes contact with the remote tribe using a revolutionary aeronautical technique that he invents. Flying his small yellow craft in a tight circular pattern, he dangles a bucket on a rope (which centers itself due to centrifugal force), using it to lower gifts. Then, on Jan. 3, 1956, after weeks of what seems to be a progressing relationship (the Waodani have begun to place gifts of their own in the bucket), Nate and his friends, Jim Elliot, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming and Ed McCully, land the plane on a sandbar and make face-to-face contact with the Waodani.


Five days later, their speared and hacked bodies lay in the Curaray River. must see for every Christian family.


A must-read is another story, the tale of a young native girl who grew up in the midst of the violent culture that dictated- kill or be killed. Know someone who died at the end of a spear? = Take revenge at all costs.

I bring this up because I am reading the story of this girl – Dayuma.

She fled the violence of the vicious Waodani when she realized her life would probably be terminated by the end of a spear if she didn’t leave the jungle where constant retributions took place.

Eventually she wound her way into a Spanish plantation where she found work. At the hacienda (farm) she met Rachel Saint, sister to one of the men who was killed by the spears of the Waodani warriors. A friendship began as Rachel painstakenly learned the language of the murderous tribe.
To stand back and observe the mighty hand of God move in order to get His story into the hearts of a remote tribe is an amazing experience!

The first Bible verse we all memorized, John 3:16 teaches us –
God loved the world so much that He sent His only Son so that anyone who would believe in Him would have everlasting life.

God means what He says – He loves everyone in the world – even the remote, non-seen tribesman and woman. He moved into the hearts of 5 missionaries and their families with a call to carry the gospel into the jungle.

We may not always understand God’s calling on our lives. It may seem dangerous or foolhardy to step into circumstances that don’t make sense. We may reason and justify our actions or lack thereof. One thing I do know – God loves us and His will for our salvation extends beyond anything we can ever imagine.

Are you available to God and His plan for some one else’s salvation?
Where is God moving you today to go with His message of love and forgiveness?

4 comments:

Laurie said...

Thanks so much for the comment on my blog. I feel like a celebrity stopped by. I attended the She Speaks conference last year, so I know you are on the P31 Speaker team. I totally agree with your comment that we should be both enjoying leftovers and hungry for what God has in store for us.

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

One of my favorite stories Van. A couple of years ago, my sons attended a youth rally where Steve Saint (Nate's son) and Mincaye (one of the warriors responsible for his father's death) stood and gave witness to the power of God's grace and forgiveness. It's a powerful story with so much depth.

Thank you for the reminder of it today. I will revisit the movie sometime soon.

Also, Elisabeth Elliott (Jim Elliott's widow) is one of my favorite writers. She is profound and deep and a wonderful seeker of God. I just love love her.

peace~elaine

Dorothy Champagne said...

Thank you for stopping by my blog, I also love to make new friends! I have not yet watched "End of the Spear" - honestly - I know I'll just sit and cry through the whole thing! It's a wonderful story and such a testimony to how God uses us for His miraculous purpose. Thanks for the reminder!

Kathleen said...

It is a fabulous story, and the movie is incredibly well done, especially when you turn "on" the sub-titles. We watched it with friends and it was half done before we figured that out. We still laugh about it.

The part that stirred me the most was when Mincaye admitted that he'd seen the white man (Nate) "jump the Boa" (go from life in this world to life in the next) while still alive, with angels accompanying him. Powerful!

Kathleen