Description
Book SynopsisIn January of 1956, five young evangelical missionaries were speared to death by a band of the Waorani people in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Two years later, two missionary women--the widow of one of the slain men and the sister of another--with the help of a Wao woman were able to establish peaceful relations with the same people who had killed their loved ones. The highly publicized deaths of the five men and the subsequent efforts to Christianize the Waorani quickly became the defining missionary narrative for American evangelicals during the second half of the twentieth century.God in the Rainforest traces the formation of this story and shows how Protestant missionary work among the Waorani came to be one of the missions most celebrated by Evangelicals and most severely criticized by anthropologists and others who accused missionaries of destroying the indigenous culture. Kathryn T. Long offers a study of the complexities of world Christianity at the ground level for indigenous peoples
Trade ReviewGod in the Rainforest offers a thorough and clear-eyed account of missionary interactions with the Waorani, an Amazonian tribe which became symbolic of the missionary movement to 'unreached' peoples in the twentieth century ... an outstanding example of mission history. * Hannah Malcolm, Modern Believing *
This book would be an excellent read for several audiences. For those preparing to engage in efforts to bring the gospel to unreached people groups, the book forces one to grapple with the question, "What am I bringing to the people beyond just the gospel of Jesus Christ?" For those already engaged in missions ministry, it highlights the difficulties of cross-cultural ministry. Finally, for every believer, it shines light on a world that has often been glamorized, celebrating victories but also raising questions concerning motivation and means, questions that are relevant to every cross-cultural situation. Without a doubt, I would highly recommend getting this book and reading it cover to cover. * Terry Gugger, Wheaton College, EMQ *
God in the Rainforest is a truly wonderful book, which I enjoyed and appreciated enormously.... This is a very fine piece of historical writing. Long has trawled through a wide range of sources, many of them in Spanish, and conducted interviews with many of the surviving key figures in her story. As an Evangelical herself, she writes about them with obvious sympathy, but also with critical discernment and academic rigour. God in the Rainforest is a model of mission history. * Brian Stanley, University Of Edinburgh *
[A] truly excellent book...Accessible, fair, and excellent value - as a model of good history-writing, this book sets the bar very high indeed, in one of the most highly contested arenas of human encounter. It deserves to be widely read. * Revd Duncan Dormor, Church Times *
This riveting book brings fresh insight into the oft-told story of the five American missionaries who in 1956 died at the hand of Amazonian Indians. It then becomes even more compelling as it stays with the missionaries, the Waorani tribespeople, and a world-wide audience of interested observers for the next half century. It is a gem of a book, full of captivating human awareness, vivid cross-cultural wisdom, and extraordinarily winsome empathy for all parties involved. * Mark Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame *
Kathryn Long has offered a scrupulous narrative history of the Summer Institute of Linguistics through the work and lives of key personalities involved in evangelical missions in Ecuador in the 1950s and following decades. The book unravels the complex strands of religion, politics, public relations, ethnic identity and violence, and the collision with Western economic and technological influences that disrupted and realigned local ideas and options. The intervention of international human rights organizations concerned with ethnic and environmental survival raised the stakes for all sides. The book shows that, ultimately, martyrdom and redemption affect and are affected by a much wider circle of actors and influences than their individualist nature would suggest. * Lamin Sanneh, D. Willis James Professor of Mission and World Christianity, Yale Divinity School *
Long's study of the American evangelical missionary encounter with the Waorni Indians in Ecuador in the 1950s and beyond forms the definitive narrative of that sprawling, complicated, seemingly remote endeavor. It also ranks among the most impressive studies of the entire American missionary impulse. God in the Rain Forest reveals Long's eye for the telling quotation, insight into the ironies that marked the Waorni story, and appreciation for humor in the midst of heroism, conflict, tragedy, and pain. Mercifully free of jargon, Long's elegant prose shows us what history writing ought to look like * Grant Wacker, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Christian History, Duke Divinity School *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction I. A Missionary Legend Takes Shape, 1956-1959 Chapter 1 "Palm Beach" on the Curaray River Chapter 2 Impact on the Home Front II. Entry and a Reunion with Kin, 1956-1958 Chapter 3 Tensions and Competition Chapter 4 Dayumæ, Rachel, and Betty Chapter 5 An Invitation to Meet the Family III. Life in Tewæno, 1958-1966 Chapter 6 Peaceful Contact Chapter 7 A Parting of the Ways Chapter 8 The (Apparently) Idyllic Years IV. Pacification, 1967-1973 Chapter 9 Big Oil, Waorani Relocation, and Polio Chapter 10 Early Anti-Mission Sentiment V. Access, 1974-1982 Chapter 11 An Anthropologist Arrives Chapter 12 Breaking a Pattern of Dependence Chapter 13 Ethnocide: the SIL Response Chapter 14 Land, Literacy, and "Quichua-ization" Chapter 15 Catholics and the Waorani Chapter 16 Exit from Ecuador VI. Transitions, 1982-1994 Chapter 17 The New Testament in Wao tededo Chapter 18 The Aguarico Martyrs Chapter 19 David and Goliath Chapter 20 Saving the Rainforest Epilogue: The Twenty-first Century Maps Glossary Abbreviations Maps
