Beyond The Gates of Splendor

Kiasu. It has been quite a long time that I have used this word. Probably living in America, the general feeling is that most Westerners are rich and affluent so much so that they do not need to be kiasu. Haha... not like us Malaysians. But that is wrong especially the day after Thanksgiving, it marks the date every shoppaholic would never miss. All these avid fans of discounts, freebies, rebates will line up in the wee hours of the morning biting the cold until the store opens at 5am. Imagine the splendor of the ultimate must-have (limited X-BOX 360s, big screen plasma tvs) beyond the gates.

I for one is guilty of such idiosyncratic behavior. Getting a set of handsfree telephones for my family back in Malaysia is one of my priorities this year. Cheap recent DVDs at $4 (normal price is $15-20) is also one of my targets, even though that is much more expensive than those pirated DVDs back home. It is especially hard for me to buy some big heavy stuffs since my house is not ready yet and I would have to move it again from my 2nd floor apartment to my house when it is ready. I hate moving and carrying heavy stuffs. However the lure of a heavily discounted 32" lcd tv proved too hard to resist. The notion that it is the only one left fueled my inner gizmo lust which had dwindled long time ago. I had trouble deciding whether I should go for lcd, plasma, DLP, lcd projection, projector or LCOS or 20", 32", 37", 42", 50", 55", 60", whatever. There are just too many choices. Why can't things be simple? Without hesitating, I snapped up the last one and waited a total of 3 hours in line to pay for the tv and my other stuffs. The queue was so long but the good thing about buying stuffs in America is if you regret later, you can still return it and get back your money. Anyway, nowadays watching TV and DVD movies has never been the same again. Really, moving from my old 17" tv to this one certainly is worth it. Like the old saying, size does matter.

Whereas I was jostling beyond the gates of the store to get the things I want, actually there were a few who were eagerly awaiting to get beyond the gates of heaven. It was yesterday that the weather turned a few notches colder. It was church as usual and then we watched a touching and tears-inducing DVD documentary during adult sunday school called "Beyond The Gates of Splendor". The link to its website is attached in the Linkz list. It is a real life story about 5 missionaries in the 1950's who were martyred in Ecuador by the Auca Indians (also known as the Waodani tribe) whom they were bringing the gospel to. This tribe is famous for their brutality and homicide rate. If they don't like someone, they can just kill them and their family. Yeah, kinda like the Stone Age. The missionaries were all killed because of a lie and conflict within their tribe which has nothing to do with them. One of the 5 killed was Jim Elliot. He is someone whom I heard his name mentioned before but don't know what he did. Now I know. He had a famous quote, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose".

Most of the missionaries were around my age when they died. They were college educated, dedicated to do God's will, married, some with children, talented and it seems such a waste to have died like that. However good things can come out of bad because their deaths sowed the seeds of the gospel in that tribe. Elizabeth Elliot (Jim's wife) and one of the missionary's sister eventually went back to live with the tribe. Through God's power and forgiveness, the tribe was led to Christ. The murder rate dropped by 90% and even the murderers (and their offspring) became the elders and pastors of the church. Later, even one of the grandkids of the murdered missionary eventually embraced and called one of the murderer of his grandpa - Grandfather. This incident also spurred many American missionaries to go out in the '60s and a colleague's father was one of them who brought his whole family to Guatemala. One of the best quotes in the documentary was when a child asked his dad whether they will use their guns if attacked by the Indians. He replied, "We would never use it to kill them because they are not ready for heaven...we are." When the authorities flew in and recovered the 5 spear-ridden and machete-hacked bodies from the river, not one of the Indians were found hurt.