A Mission-Minded Thanksgiving: Featuring two Christian heroes from the same family - Nate Saint and Rachel Saint

- Imagine sitting down for a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner with all of your relatives. Everyone is eager to eat; but as you survey grandma's extra-long dining room table, complete with all the extension-pieces brought in from the back of the entry closet, you can't help but notice the lop-sided food layout. All of the delicious-smelling dishes are on the opposite end of the table.

After joining hands and thankin' the Lord for His bounty, you wait patiently for one of those cousins to pass that basket of yummy-looking homemade rolls your direction . . . but for some reason, they don't seem to hear you. In fact, it's almost like you're not at the table. It's as if no one can hear you, or even see you. As the other side continues to heap their plates with second- and even third-helpings, everyone at your end is still waiting . . . with empty plates.

No one's being mean, of course; it's just that everybody is distracted. Grandpa's stories are so hilarious this year; everyone's laughing; and Aunt Polly's turkey is more delicious than ever.

A Mission-Minded Thanksgiving!

As we gather with our families to celebrate Thanksgiving, we need to remember our brothers and sisters in Christ from across the world, and precious unsaved friends-to-be who are still waiting . . . and waiting . . . for their first chance to hear of God's love. We need to realize that God's Great Commision to "go into all the world to preach the gospel" (Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:19) is not just an optional consideration to "tag-on" to our Christian faith or our parenting priorities.

I say, "Missions is not just for missionaries; God's call is for ALL!"

Two "Saints" in One Family

In my all-time favorite missionary biographies, YWAM's Christian Heroes Then & Now series, I find it remarkable that two separate books highlight siblings from ONE family: Nate Saint (a missionary pilot to Ecuador, martyred in 1956) and Rachel Saint (a missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators). I wanted to know, How did this family do it? How did these parents train their children, especially in spiritual matters? True, it could be a bit of an advantage to have a houseful of little "Saints" running around the kitchen and backyard; but was there anything significantly different in the life of this family to raise not only one, but TWO world-renown missionary heroes?

Nate and Rachel's parents weren't preachers, but they were definitely mission-minded. Their dad, Lawrence Saint (pictured here) was an artist; and their mom, Katherine Wright Proctor Saint, enjoyed writing poetry and playing the piano. Their home was strong in spiritual heritage with frequent church attendance, family prayer, and Bible study; yet it was also full of fun and daring adventure. At the height of Mr. Saint's artistic career, he was placed in charge of the stained glass windows of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington D.C..

And guess what?

In the St. John's Chapel of the Washington National Cathedral, Lawrence Saint designed a series of stained glass windows which pictured the miracles of Jesus; and in one of the panels, labeled "GIVE YE" (illustrating the story of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes), the child he used for his model was his young son, Nate Saint.

I found this fascinating!

Of all the kids who "could" have been chosen for this role-model example of surrendering "all he had" to Jesus, the one selected was Nate Saint. And Nate definitely grew up with this "GIVE YE" attitude in his heart. Nate Saint gave his life to Jesus as a missionary martyr to reach an unreached people group with the Gospel.

I did an online search to try to find that particular stained-glass window at the Washington National Cathedral. In the process, I found a few interesting mission-minded family facts on Wikepedia:

Lawrence Bradford Saint (January 30, 1885 - June 22, 1961) was an American stained glass artist. His work is most notably featured in the Washington National Cathedral where he served as the head of the stained glass department.

Lawrence Saint was . . . well-known for his dedication to the Christian faith. . . . He and his wife Katherine had eight children - seven boys and one girl. As parents, the Saints were described as being religiously strict, but generally permissive in other areas. Four of his children grew up to work in full-time Christian ministry. Phil was the only child of the family to follow his father as an artist. He used chalk drawings in connection with his preaching ministry. Saint's only daughter, Rachel, was a missionary to Peru and later to Ecuador where she was instrumental in reaching the Huaorani tribe with the gospel. Nate was a missionary pilot who also went to Ecuador. In 1956, Nate was killed during Operation Auca, an earlier attempt to reach the Huaorani.

I found a public domain photo of the exact stained glass window I was looking for. Below is a photo of one of Mr. Saint's stained glass windows from St. John's Chapel in the Washington National Cathedral. The lower two panels illustrate the story of the loaves and the fishes. The wording says, "GIVE YE" (lower left) and "THEM TO EAT" (lower right).

Here's a close-up of the panel where Lawrence Saint illustrated his five-year-old son, Nate Saint, as the little boy who gave his lunch to Jesus:

And here's a picture from Wikepedia of Nate Saint, as an adult missionary. He followed that fatherly advice to GIVE YE . . . so that the unreached Auca/Waoriani people in Ecuador could EAT of the true Living Bread, our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Let's Share Our Bounty . . . and all be "Saints"!

As American Christians, God has abundantly blessed us, not only with food and financial provision, but with the priceless gift of His salvation through Jesus Christ. Just as our Pilgrim fathers and mothers shared their bounty and their faith with their First Nation friends, we need to always remember that God has blessed us . . . to be a blessing to the nations.

Please pass the turkey and mashed potatoes, and the BREAD of LIFE.

"Give Ye . . . Them to Eat!"

From my family to yours, and through all of us . . . to others, let's enjoy and SHARE a blessed and mission-minded Thanksgiving!

God bless you!

Ann Dunagan - International Minister, Homeschooling mother of 7, Author of Hand Commands, The Mission-Minded Child, Teaching With God's Heart for the World, The Mission-Minded Family

(Click here for a FREE Sample of The Mission-Minded Family!)

Related Mission-Minded Thanksgiving article by Joshua Dunagan, written at age 13, excerpted from The Mission-Minded Child:

"Grasshoppers for Thanksgiving?"