The Dayuma Story: Life Under Auca Spears

I just read The Dayuma Story (1961) by Ethel E. Wallis. Dayuma was a young, had been very confused, but eventually became a good evangelist for her people, the Aucas (meaning savages). I saw one video on YouTube that said they speared one another to death—perhaps as many as 70% of their own people were thus murdered. Dayuma was afraid that she would be speared by her own people. Her own mother threatened that she would kill her, and the mother “had seen the spear-killing of her father, two sisters, a brother, husband, son, daughter, son-in-law, plus many other relatives” (p222). When an adult died, sometimes living child/children were buried with him, and Dayuma thought foreigners (outside people) would eat her. Kimo confessed to having killed four but said, “But I did that when my heart was black. Now Jesus’ blood has dripped and dripped and washed my heart clean. I don’t live like that any more. Loving the Lord I live” (p268). Gikita speared “at least twelve men. ‘I did not do well. That was before I knew God,’ he said. There were tears in his eyes” (p270). Also, “Amaewo—for the last time—I killed. We did not understand that your men wanted to help us. I killed the first one [on Palm Beach].” The Gospel eventually came, and Jesus entered sinful hearts.You can watch Missionary Rachel Saint, who was with Dayuma, appearing on TV for about an hour. The program is called “This Is Your Life,” and it was aired on June 5, 1957. I watched it; good. If you would like to see it and need a link, just ask. There are good pictures in the middle part of the book—with maps in the back.

I am finding it a helpful book. Did you know that there are still approximately 3 330 ethnic groups who are not only unreached but also unengaged (that is no one seems to have actually decided to send missionary teams amongst them)? And yet, if we as the body of Christ were to be willing to sacrifice our time and money and send 3300 small cross cultural teams willing to sacrifice and lovingly approach those different from others following the "orality approach" which Rachel Saint followed so many years ago, it could be done. I am finding it a significant book and I tell you it can be done, it must be done....

This book tells the story of how God brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Auca people. The Aucas were a violent people, killing one another in family feuds, and then retaliating, back and forth. Dayuma, a young Auca girl, fled her people in fear of her life, and came to live in "civilization." Years later, in the early 1950s, Rachel Saint, a single woman preparing to be a missionary to the Aucas came to learn the language from Dayuma in preparation for going as a missionary to the Auca people. Partway through this process, Rachel Saint's brother Nate, Jim Elliot, and three other young men were killed by the Aucas (not dealt with directly as it's not the focus of the book), and still Rachel continued on, still desiring to reach these people with the gospel.It's interesting hearing what life was like among the Aucas. It's fascinating to read how Dayuma reacts to the gospel as she comes to understand it, and the enthusiasm she comes to have for going back to her people and sharing it with them. It's encouraging to see the commitment Rachel Saint has to reaching the Auca people, even after they have killed her brother, and to see how Elisabeth Elliot joins the effort after being widowed with a young daughter. This book is a wonderful story of God's working to bring salvation to the Auca people. This story is told mainly from Rachel's (3rd-person) perspective and focuses on Dayuma. There are the occasional references to the martyrdom of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, etc, but it is not a central focus of the book.I borrowed this book, and I will definitely acquire a copy of my own. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ.