Nathan and I watched End of the Spear on DVD last night.

I am a bit of a movie snob, so I'm not going to rave about this movie, but I do think the story itself is amazing. I read Through the Gates of Splendor and watched the documentary, so I knew the story going into the movie, however, my husband didn't know the story, so for him it was a bit confusing at first.

The director did not do a very good job of explaining who was who, what they were doing, etc. Some of the narration was a bit mumbled and hard to understand. So for someone unfamiliar with this missionary story, I thought it could be a bit confusing. My husband had to pause it a couple times to clarify what was going on (and hubby is no dumb bunny).  Of course, it probably doesn't help when you are eating tacos, slicing strawberries, and whipping cream during the movie.  Had we watched it on the big screen, maybe it would have made perfect sense??  Also, it tended to jump from scene to scene sometimes without flow.  One scene Nate lands his plane on the beach (presumably out in the jungle), next scene he is saying goodbye to his family (presumably at their house.)

The acting was OK, not Oscar contenders by any means, but not cheesy soap-opera acting either. The fighting scenes, although not "Hollywoodized", were probably more real-to-life than most movies, in my opinion (although I admit to never witnessing a spearing in real life).   And there is some nudity, although a nude Waodani woman doesn't seem to bother me much, as long as she's not played by J. Lo.

Overall, it was the story that made the movie. A story about grace, about forgiving the very people that murdered your husbands and father.  A story about reaching out to a tribe filled with violence, and giving them hope and something more to live for. Although Jesus was never mentioned, it was a story about sharing the gospel of Jesus to those He died for.  It was truly amazing that these missionary wives were willing to risk their lives to continue to try to reach these people, that Steve Saint was able to forgive and later on have such a close relationship with the very man who killed his father.   Although perhaps a little foolhearty or naive, these missionaries truly gave their lives for the Waodoni, and God used this tragedy to reach these people, to bring an end to the spear.