Heroes for Young Readers; Illustrated by Bryan Pollard

The new school year is upon us, which means I’m back to waking my kids up in the morning, not with the constant reminders and prods that eventually turn into yelling and sour mornings, but with a good book and a calm atmosphere. I highly recommend this process!

My only rule is that we begin with a Christian author—and something that puts our minds on things above is always a bonus. It’s been a long while since I’ve read my kids (ages 10 and 12) anything close to a picture book, but this fantastic series by YWAM makes it worth our stepping back in time a bit.

These books are fully illustrated and short, maybe 30-40 page each. They each cover the life of a famous Christian (many of them missionaries) in a lyrical style matched with beautiful watercolor illustrations of the events depicted. My kids’ eyes are still closed when I begin reading to them, but by the end of the book, they both want to review the pictures that capture the story I just read, and they devour them.

Heavenbound covers the life of Nate Saint, missionary-pilot to Ecuador with his buddy Jim Elliot and others. Of course, these are the men who first befriended the Auca Indians from the sky, as Saint flew his yellow plane over the jungle and shared gifts with the people. But they’re also the men who later met these same natives on the river’s beach and were ultimately murdered despite their friendship.

What’s amazing about this account is the detail Meloche gives for why the men were killed. Many years ago, I read the fantastic book by Jim Elliot’s widow, Elizabeth, Through Gates of Splendor, yet I don’t recall these details from her account of the tragedy. Meloche tells us that of the three natives who met the men on the beach, one woman ran to the village first, while George and the second woman stayed behind and spent the night together. When challenged about this at the village the next morning, George lied and said that the white men had attacked them, so he and the young woman fled for their lives into the jungle (as opposed to doing anything nefarious in the bushes). This news set the whole village in an uproar, which is why the warriors rushed to the beach and speared the peaceful missionaries to death.

Maybe these details were in Elliot’s book, and maybe they’re also in the film, The End of the Spear. They might even be in Nate Saint’s other biography that I’ve got on my shelf but haven’t read, Jungle Pilot. I just don’t remember this side of the story, and it puts the whole tragedy into a new light for me.

I really love these books. I think they’d make fantastic reads in Sunday School or Jr. Church, opening the kids up for some serious conversations about what it means to find purpose in life and follow Christ even to the death. Missionary biographies should be essential reading for every serious believer, and these books could be a great way to start kids off on that path.

©2023 E.T.