"PALM BEACH IMPACTS A YOUNG BOY"
"PALM BEACH IMPACTS A YOUNG BOY" - Chuck Howard
Our Saviour Lutheran is happy to bring you an interview with Chuck Howard, presently the Field Director of HCJB missionary radio station in Ecuador. A child of missionaries, Chuck grew up in Ecuador with missions in his heart since a youth.
Nate Saint and the Palm Beach story greatly impressed Chuck as a young boy. He flew with Nate as a toddler then embraced him as his "childhood hero". As a youngster, Chuck watched Nate take off in his little "yellow MAF bird" from a small airstrip near his home at Shell Mera.
Later, Chuck listened to HCJB radio reports as each martyr's body was found after the massacre at Palm Beach. Chuck was only nine years old then. His hero was gone but through that "tragedy" Christ impacted him for missions.
c You will read words below from a man whose heart was touched by those who went before him... Meet Chuck Howard.
CHUCK: "I was born in the Chicago area while my parents were on furlough and then they brought me back to Ecuador when I was but six months old. So Ecuador has been my home since I can remember. We had furlos about every four years in Wheaton, IL, and I attended Wheaton College from 1964-1968. Then I had one year of graduate work at Northern Illinois University. To answer your question, I grew up right here at HCJB in Quito. Some of the highlights were involvement on children's weekly radio programs and serving as a radio control operator during my high school years."
Our Saviour Lutheran: AT WHAT AGE CAN YOU REMEMBER SAYING, "I WANT TO BE A MISSIONARY."
CHUCK: "I can't remember any age at which I said: "I want to be a missionary," but it seems to me that I have always felt a desire to return to Ecuador in some mission capacity. For many years, I thought I would want to fly with MAF* in this country. I'd still like to fly but the best I do is build and fly radio controlled sailplanes. I've never forgotten that Nate Saint used to build and fly model planes!"
Our Saviour Lutheran: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A MISSIONARY, PROFESSIONALLY?
CHUCK: "I married Anita Christiansen right after graduate school in 1969. We came to Ecuador in June, 1969 - nearly 28 years ago. Anita and I had been next door neighbors here at HCJB for a number of years. She was one year behind me in school. We are both third generation missionaries. Anita's mother was born in India where her parents served, and her father was born in Venezuela where he and her mother were missionaries. Then they came to work with HCJB in 1958. My father was born in Canton, China, of missionary parents and my mother was the daughter of a Baptist minister in the U.S. We have six of our own children, and all of them were born in Ecuador - three in Quito and three in Shell Mera."
Our Saviour Lutheran: CHUCK, CAN YOU TELL US WHAT YOU DO FOR HCJB RADIO IN ECUADOR?
CHUCK: "I have been the field director of HCJB for the past eight years. That involves "being the person behind the desk where the buck stops" and that "buck" is not generally financial in nature. We have 430 Ecuadorian employees, 250 missionaries and 160 missionary kids with us here. Personnel issues, financial issues, public relations, legal affairs and ministry supervision have been high on my list of responsibilities. The Lord has provided us with a tremendous team of His people. My ministry here has been both a challenge and a spiritually stretching experience. I am also involved in a local church ministry and sing regularly with the HCJB ensemble.
I have had several responsibilities over the years. My preparation was for high school classroom teaching and I taught physics, chemistry, math and Bible. I also served as the administrator of our HCJB Shell Hospital for six years. Anita enjoyed serving as circulation and scrub nurse in the hospital operating room. I also had the privilege to serve as manager of our Quito Business Office for two years, when we had no CPAs available."
Our Saviour Lutheran: SINCE GIKINTA DIED IN FEBRUARY [1997], THERE SEEMS TO BE A RENEWED INTEREST IN THE "PALM BEACH" STORY. AT WHAT AGE DID YOU BECOME AWARE OF THIS STORY?
CHUCK: "The mission community was small and very close in the 1950s. I remember meeting at different times all five of the men involved in the Waorani story. Shortly before the men were killed, Olive Fleming had been ill and spent a couple of weeks in our home in Quito as she recovered. The MAF pilot Nate Saint was my earliest and I think only childhood hero. Of course, "Operation Auca", was a secret and we knew nothing while it was taking place. However, I remember vividly as a nine-year-old boy sitting on my parents' bed, listening to radio reports over HCJB and directly from the Amazon region. This was as the search party went into Waorani territory to find out what had happened to the men. I shall never forget hearing those radio reports as one by one the men were found martyred. Two of the actual spears used to kill the men were left at our home in Quito for safe-keeping. My father took a picture of me holding them when I was still 9 years old.
I remember the utter shock among the missionary community, the tears, the grief. . . I had lost my hero! I felt bewildered but the challenge of that moment still lives on within me. These men had given their lives trying to bring the Good News about Jesus Christ to a language group who had never heard of Him. Deep within, I felt God was going to honor their effort in some way. In spite of the grief, we expected him to act."
Our Saviour Lutheran: YOU HAD SAID ONCE THAT YOU HAD FLOWN IN THE MAF PLANE WITH NATE SAINT. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT?
CHUCK: "My first memory dates from when I was two years old. Our family was taking a vacation in the jungle community of Pano. We took the bus to Shell Mera. From there Nate Saint flew us to Pano to spend several days. That would have been August, 1949. I remember the date only because the tragic earthquake of 1949 took place while we were in Pano. About 6,000 people died in the quake and the road from Shell to Quito was destroyed. We had to fly by commercial plane back to Quito. I've often wondered why my earliest memory was of flying with Nate in that little yellow Piper plane. I can also remember struggling as a little two-year-old to climb a small rise of ground to watch Nate taxi that plane across the road in Shell to get from the old hangar to the airstrip. That little hump is still there and every time I walk by it, memories from long ago flood back. Perhaps that is one reason why we felt so much at home when we worked in Shell those six years."
Our Saviour Lutheran: DID THE "PALM BEACH" EVENT PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR PERSONAL CALL TO MISSION WORK?
CHUCK: "I have no doubt that the Palm Beach story helped to shape my own young life and gave me the determination to serve the Lord as a missionary. Not only did I admire the spiritual commitment of the five men, but was also able to watch and experience the lives of their widows. Several of them remained in Ecuador, continuing the work they had begun with their husbands.
Marilou McCully with her children Steve, Mike and Matthew [born after Ed died], ran a mission home for children attending school in Quito whose parents were missionaries in the jungle. Marilou also directed the "Miniature Male Quartet" that sang on HCJB Saturday morning programs. I was one of the "Miniatures."
Barbara Youderian, with her children Beth and Jerry returned to their mission station at Macuma among the Shuar [Jivaro] people, later coming up to Quito to be a dorm parent.
Marj Saint served as a nurse at the Voice of the Andes Hospital in Quito, while bringing up Steve, Cathy and Phil. Ten years after Nate died, Marj married HCJB President Dr Abe Van der Puy and their ministry became worldwide.
Betty [Elisabeth] Elliot continued serving among the Quichuas in Shandia. Then at the end of 1957, Maengamo Gikita's wife and Mintaka who had met the five men on Palm Beach came out to Oglan. There Elisabeth and Dr Tidmarsh began to learn the Wao language from these two women who had left their people to seek the kind foreigners.
There was no airstrip at Oglan. Hobey Lowrance (See Interview One) flew over the village dropped a telephone in Nate's bucket on a quarter mile long line attached to another phone in his circling plane. Hobey spoke to Elisabeth air to ground to find out how she was and what she needed.
Then, in late September 1958, Elisabeth, her three-year-old daughter Valerie and Rachel Saint entered Waorani Territory. Through Dayuma, Gikita's group had invited the two cuwoody women and child to live with them by the Tewaeno River.
Elisabeth's stay among the Waorani made an impact on them. Valerie learnt their language and played with the children as though she had grown up there. The Lord has since used Elisabeth all over the world as a speaker and writer of many books. Valerie is now a pastor's wife and mother of seven children.
Olive Fleming returned to the US and married again later. In 1989, Olive visited the Waorani with her husband and daughter Holly and has written a book, "Unfolding Destinies" [see "Further Reading" at the end.]
We missionaries and kids who lived in Quito were all part of one big family. These widows kept on faithfully serving the Lord Jesus and the strength they drew from Him always impressed me. They were a great encouragement to me and still are."
Our Saviour Lutheran: DID YOU EVER VISIT THE WAORANI VILLAGE?
CHUCK: "It was hard to enter Waorani territory. The incident at Palm Beach became world news. Many people wanted to visit that area. This hindered the missionaries serving the Waorani and so they did not encourage visitors. Twice, I almost visited there when we lived in Shell but in both cases, the weather prevented the MAF plane from flying. I felt disappointed but always believed that when the Lord wanted me to enter, He would open the door.
The opportunity finally came in September, 1995. One of our HCJB Board members from the U.S. wanted to fly to Waorani Territory. Our president asked me to arrange a direct flight from Quito! I was able to take my wife and our youngest son, Marc, along as well. What a pleasant surprise we had to find that Steve Saint had just returned to the Waorani! He had opened up a new airstrip in a central part of their area and our flight was MAF's first into this particular strip. That was thrilling but it got even better. Marj and Abe Van Der Puy were visiting Steve and his family. Best of all, two or three of the original Palm Beach Waorani men were there, including dear Gikita! We had a wonderful time of fellowship. I asked Gikita and the others to tell us how they had come to know the Lord Jesus. They in turn asked us to give our testimonies. I had met Gikita several times before this but it was special to be with him in his own neighborhood. Steve, by the way, is doing an excellent job. He is training the Waorani in practical projects, helping them towards independance and encouraging Waorani believers in their church life."
Our Saviour Lutheran: DID YOU GET TO "PALM BEACH?"
CHUCK: "On the flight back to Shell we stopped at the Waorani community closest to Palm Beach and walked to the river edge. It looked just like any other Amazon river bank but to me it had greatmeaning. I could hardly keep back the tears as I thought of what had happened there so many years before and how God had worked among the Waorani since. I thanked the Lord Jesus for allowing me to stand there and praise His name. Rachel Saint, Nate's sister, who gave most of her working life to the Waorani, had been buried at that same community just the previous year. How moved I felt to see her grave and talk with Dayuma about "Nemo"! The Waorani had given Rachel that name in memory of Dayuma's little sister whom Moipa had killed. "Nemo" means "star." I had been asked to speak at Rachel's memorial service in Quito and it was especially significant to me to be there at her very simple grave site."
Our Saviour Lutheran: HOW HAS THE OUTREACH IN ECUADOR CHANGED SINCE THE EARLY '50s? IS THE WORK NEARLY COMPLETED?
CHUCK: "There is still much to do here in Ecuador to reach the lost, but I believe it is safe to say there is not an unreached ethnic group in this country. Even so, the evangelical community forms perhaps only about 5-6% of the population. I have heard estimates as high as 10%, but it is difficult to tell. Accurate statistics are rare. Even though the Lord has done a wonderful work among the Waorani, there are still Waorani communities that are largely unreached and a group of about sixty, the Tagaeidi, who have not yet been peacefully contacted. Much remains to be done. The largest movement of the Lord has been among the highland Quichua Indians. This has been a thrilling development to watch since the sixties. How we long to see the same sort of people movement take place among other ethnic groups! However, God's timing is perfect and we look to Him. Meanwhile, it is our responsibility to share faithfully the Good News."
Our Saviour Lutheran: TELL US ABOUT THE JUNGLE HOSPITAL YOU OPERATE, WOULD YOU?
CHUCK: "HCJB inaugurated our Shell Hospital in 1958, just two years after Nate Saint was killed. It was Nate who had the vision for the hospital. He purchased the property from the Shell Oil Company when they left the area in the late 40's. Then he offered it to HCJB if we would establish a health-care ministry there. He and Marj were deeply burdened by the great medical needs of folk living in the jungles around the Amazon headwaters.
Nate and the other four martyrs actually helped construct the original building which was financed by a generous donation from Dr. Epp of the Back to the Bible Broadcast. For many years the hospital was known as the Epp Memorial Hospital.
When we lived and worked there from 1975-1981, we were still in the original simple wooden structure with about 25 inpatient beds. During those years the Lord gave us the vision to expand. Through a grant from the Swedish Government, we built a new cement block building in the early 80's with a 35-bed capacity. I had the joy of purchasing the property and leading the design team for this facility but the Lord moved us back to Quito to run the mission business office just as the funding was secured and the construction phase began.
About 25% of the patients are flown in by MAF from settlements scattered over about 30,000 square miles of Rain Forest and yes, it is Rain Forest. I have personally measured over 22 feet of rain a year at Shell and the weather makes flying particularly hazardous for MAF.
Typical health problems include snake bites, machete wounds, simple infections left unattended, deliveries and dynamite wounds from fishing accidents! We had one patient come in with his right hand and ear blown off from a fishing accident, then six months later he returned with his left hand and ear blown off. Of course fishing with dynamite is illegal in Ecuador. We also have a very busy outpatient clinic, which continually gives us great opportunities to share the Good News.
Jesus Montero, who has been our chaplain since 1977, has won many hundreds of men, women and children to the Lord over the years. We are also very active in training Indian paramedics and working in community health. We have found that a trained paramedic can handle about 80% of the health needs of the people right in the jungle community without having to fly them to the hospital for help. That is another wonderful story. Our greastest need at the Shell Hospital right now is for a general staff surgeon."
Our Saviour Lutheran: HCJB IS A LANDMARK MISSION OUTREACH. YOUR BROADCAST WAS EVEN HEARD BY RAY RISING DURING HIS CAPTIVITY AS A HOSTAGE IN COLOMBIA. THAT BRAODCAST HELPED SUSTAIN RAY. DO YOU GET MUCH FEEDBACK FROM LISTENERS?
CHUCK: "HCJB receives thousands of letters each year from all over the world. Many write just because they are excited about hearing a station from so far away. But many also write to tell us that they have found faith in Christ through our programs. It is especially thrilling to hear from people in countries closed to the Gospel, who depend on HCJB for their spiritual food every day. Many write from Russia thanking us for the strength we provided daily during the dark days in that great nation.
We have seen handwritten hymn books and whole Bibles, copied word for word by Russian believers as they have listened to our Russian programmers literally dictate the words slowly and repeatedly night after night after night. I remember as a kid listening to this dictation while I ran the control rooms here at HCJB. Even then, I would pray that the Lord would use the programs, help His children far away to hear distinctly and be able to copy down the words. Now we have clear evidence that that work was not in vain. We still receive letters from Russia and other closed areas begging us to keep the broadcasts alive. Currently we are broadcasting in 16 major languages and several dozen local dialects from our facilities in Quito. We have a growing burden for the Muslim world and are increasing our air time in Arabic."
Our Saviour Lutheran: TELL US ABOUT THE HCJB PRINTSHOP. THE WAORANI NEW TESTAMENT WAS PRINTED THERE AND YOU WERE AT THE DEDICATION. TELL US ABOUT THAT.
CHUCK: "Our HCJB Print Shop handles about 3 million pieces of literature a year. Most of these are program schedules, missionary prayer letters, calendars to be sent to listeners, forms that we use throughout the mission, etc. We also print books from time to time.
It was especially meaningful to have the opportunity to print the first Waorani New Testament in 1992. There were two dedications for that New Testament: one out among the Waorani and also one at the evangelical church in Shell Mera. I made it a priority to be in Shell for that dedication - a very exciting experience! The joy on the faces of the Waorani representatives will never really fade from my memory.
One older Wao believer got up and said: "When I was younger they told me that this day would come sometime and here it is. Now I can hold 'God's carving' in my own hands and read it for myself in my own language." Yes, Gikita was there - all smiles. I especially enjoyed listening to the Waorani sing for joy in their very distinctive way, using a three-note scale. Once you hear their singing you'll always recognize it again.
I recorded much of the service on video and then got some shots of three of the Palm Beach men: Gikita, Kimo and Dyuwi with Steve Saint after the service. I think what most impressed me was this thought: "We have so many good translations of the whole Bible in English and we keep coming out with new ones every few years yet here, after so many years, is a whole language group receiving their very first copy of just the New Testament." It was an exciting time but I felt keenly the great responsibilies which the Lord has placed in our hands."
Our Saviour Lutheran: DID YOU EVER MEET GIKITA?
CHUCK: "Yes, as I mentioned earlier, I have met Gikita on several occasions but I can't say that I knew him well. There are many others who knew him intimately, so what I say here is simply my impression more from a distance. Gikita was a very likeable fellow and never seemed to me as old as he was. Wearing a perennial grin of amusement, he always looked fully alive and alert. He gesticulated constantly while pouring out his nasal speech - totally unintelligible to me. However, it was clear that he loved the Lord and had become a patriarch among the Waorani who respected him. I look forward to having a good "heart to heart" with Gikita up in glory some day. I know he has very much to teach me and that will be superb."
Our Saviour Lutheran: AS YOU LOOK BACK, HAVE YOU SEEN THE LORD LEAD YOU?
CHUCK: "There are many things that I wish I could do differently if I had my life to live over again. However, interestingly enough, none of the major decisions such as marriage or career choice would change at all. I am sure that the Lord led me (yes, I have no problem using the term "called me") to a missionary career and to Ecuador. I also thank Him daily for the dear wife that he drew to my side and for the six children that he has brought into our lives.
However, it is in the little day-to-day decisions where I have sometimes allowed the distractions of this life to take my time and energy. That is where I have some regrets. God deserves to have full control in our lives, not only in the "big" areas but also in the small almost unnoticed day-to-day decisions. Even there, as I look back over nearly 28 years of missionary service, I praise Him for blessing me and my family with the privilege of serving Him and making our lives count both for here and now and for eternity.
I often tell my office staff here at HCJB in Quito, as we meet for morning devotions, that even though much of what we do is routine and often unnoticed, everything we do for the Lord has eternal consequences and eternal rewards. As Jim Elliot stated so eloquently: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Nate Saint also wrote: "If we could but comprehend the significance of the incarnation, the word "sacrifice' would disappear from our vocabulary." Pretty good statements upon which to base a life and a future, I think."
Chuck Howard
* MAF is Mission Aviation Fellowship
Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador, also known as the Voice of the Andes, broadcasts to more than 80 percent of the world's landmass with programs in more than 40 major languages and dialects, aired on shortwave transmitters simultaneously around the clock. Their hydroelectric powered transmitters and antennas carefully target needy areas worldwide with a strong, clear signal, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.