Saint, Nate

Nate" Saint (August 30, 1923 – January 8, 1956) was an evangelical Christian missionary pilot to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Waodani people through efforts known as Operation Auca.

Nate was born and raised near Philadelphia. His father was a designer of stained glass windows. The family attended prayer meetings and Sunday school every week.Nate was an avid flier from his childhood on, and he took flying lessons in high school. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army, but was forced to leave the army because of an infection in his leg. He graduated from Wheaton College in 1941. In 1948, with his wife, Marjorie Farris, he began working in Ecuador, establishing an air base, and delivering supplies to local missionaries. In September 1955, Nate was joined by his teammates Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian. Saint finally found a Huaorani settlement while searching by air. In order to reach the tribe, Saint and the team lowered gifts to the Huaorani in a bucket tied to the plane. The Huaorani were a widely feared tribe, because of their chronic fear and anger. They attacked and killed any outsiders without provocation. Nevertheless, the tribe was excited on receiving the gifts, and soon gave some gifts back. Finally, the missionaries decided to attempt to meet the people on the ground, and on January 3, 1956, they set up camp four miles from the Auca settlement, using the beach as a landing strip. Their initial contact with the Huaorani started out encouraging; however, on Sunday, January 8, 1956 the entire team was killed on the beach when armed Huaorani met them. (wikipedia, 2010-09-13)