Nate Saint
Nate Saint (1923–1956) was an aviator whose courage, skill, and devotion to Christ helped take the gospel to one of the most isolated peoples on earth. As the missionary pilot who gave his life alongside Jim Elliot and four others in Ecuador, his story continues to inspire believers to risk everything for the sake of the Great Commission.
Nathaniel “Nate” Saint was born in 1923 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, one of seven children. From the time he was young, he was fascinated with flight. At just seven years old, he built model airplanes and dreamed of becoming a pilot. His adventurous spirit and mechanical mind were matched by a deep, growing faith in God.
During World War II, Nate joined the U.S. Army Air Force and trained as a pilot. However, a chronic leg infection prevented him from flying in combat. Though disappointed, Nate came to see God’s hand in the redirection of his life. After the war, he used his skills for a higher purpose—serving as a missionary pilot with the newly founded Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF). His mission was to bring supplies, mail, and medical help to remote missionaries scattered across South America.
In 1948, Nate and his wife, Marge, moved to Ecuador, where he became the primary pilot supporting missionaries in the rugged jungle regions. His small yellow Piper Cruiser, which he affectionately named The Spirit of Ecuador, became a lifeline for dozens of mission stations. But Nate’s heart was drawn especially to the Huaorani (then called the Auca) people—an isolated and feared tribe deep in the rainforest known for their hostility toward outsiders.
Nate believed that his airplane could be a bridge of peace. He developed an ingenious system for delivering gifts from the air: he flew in tight circles, lowering a bucket on a rope so it would hover motionless over the ground. The Huaorani soon began taking the gifts and even sent items back in return, signaling a willingness to communicate.
Together with missionaries Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian, Nate helped organize a plan to make peaceful contact. In January 1956, the men established a camp on a sandbar along the Curaray River. After several friendly encounters, they were suddenly attacked and killed by Huaorani warriors on January 8, 1956. Nate was thirty-two years old.
Their deaths sent shockwaves around the world—but the story didn’t end there. Nate’s sister, Rachel Saint, later went to live among the Huaorani, along with Jim Elliot’s widow, Elisabeth. Over time, many of the very men who had speared Nate and his friends came to faith in Christ. What seemed like a tragedy became one of the greatest missionary testimonies of the twentieth century.
Nate’s courage was rooted in his belief that no sacrifice made for Christ was too great. Before his death, he wrote: “People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives… and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for it.”
Nate Saint lived—and died—for what lasts forever. His wings carried the gospel where no one else could go, and his faith helped open a door that no one could shut.