When I became a Christian at age fifteen one of the first stories I read was about the five missionary martyrs. As it did hundreds of thousands of others, this story inspired me and taught me that there is often a price to pay in order to spread the good news of salvation in Christ. Little did I know that many years later I would connect with the family members of three of those men, as well as one of their killers, now beautifully transformed.

When I was a brand new Christian in 1969 I heard the story of the five missionary martyrs in Ecuador. Some years ago Steve Saint (Nate Saint’s son) and I became friends. He came to my home church and I interviewed him and Mincaye, the former warrior who speared to death both Nate Saint and Ed McCully. Mincaye came to Christ, and for many years now he has been a transformed man.

We won’t all, in this life, meet someone whose story will suddenly shed light on God’s purpose in our loved one’s suffering or death. But I think most of us will have that very experience one day on the New Earth.