To the Ends of the Earth

Whit and his son Jason fly over the jungles of Papua with Jeff Lewis, a Mission Aviation Fellowship pilot, on their way to the remote village of Tinjil. Years earlier, Jason found the village when no Westerner had visited it in years, and its people, weary of living in fear of spirits, secret words, and charms, welcomed the good news of a God who loved them. Now Whit and Jason are bringing the villagers something long awaited: Bibles newly translated into their own language. Their only regret is that Jody James, the missionary translator who has served in Tinjil for years, cannot join them; she is in the hospital recovering from malaria. When a call comes over the radio, Jeff drops off his passengers and their supplies, promising to return in two weeks and praying for them before they land.

The village leader Basu, the first Christian in the tribe, welcomes them warmly and shows off the new well, which he uses as a picture of the living water of Christ. Then the whole village gathers for a joyful ceremony. Jason presents the Bibles to Basu, who passes them to the elders, who pass them to the younger people, who pass them to the children, a picture of God's Word moving from generation to generation. But the celebration is interrupted by Kayin, a man who clings to the old ways and calls the books evil. When Basu answers that no one has ever seen the spirits' power, Kayin defiantly shouts the forbidden secret initiation words aloud to arouse the spirits' anger. He warns that failed crops and sick children will follow, and that the worst judgment will fall on those who brought the Bibles.

That night, as a storm rolls in, a crash of shattering glass wakes Whit and Jason in their hut. They find Kayin unconscious on the floor; he has fallen on his own machete and punctured a lung. As they fight to stop the bleeding, they discover the room ransacked and the radio smashed beyond repair. Kayin, it seems, broke in to destroy it and hurt himself trying to escape. With Jeff not due back for two weeks and rain-soaked hillsides sliding down to bury the airstrip in mud, the only hope of saving Kayin's life is the village of Lido, a full day's walk through the jungle, where there is another airstrip and a radio. But the frightened villagers refuse to help carry the man who cursed them, and even Basu wonders aloud whether this is God's judgment on Kayin. Whit gently reminds him that Jesus told his followers to love their enemies and show mercy, just as God showed mercy to them. Basu, who has heard such words but never seen them lived out, agrees to help, and the three men set off into the night with Kayin on a homemade stretcher.

The trek is brutal. Mosquitoes swarm, the malaria pill bottle turns up mysteriously empty, and the bug repellent is gone. When the path dead-ends at a canyon, Jason climbs a tree to get their bearings and spots Lido only a couple of hours away, but he slips on the way down and lands hard, breaking a bone in his ankle. Unable to walk and unwilling to be carried, Jason insists that Whit and Basu hurry on without him while he stays behind with Kayin.

Alone in the dark, Kayin wakes and accuses Jason of taking him prisoner. As they talk, Kayin lets slip that he knows about the missing malaria pills, and the truth comes out: he stole them, just as he once stole Jody's pills to make her sick. "No pills, no Christian woman," he says, and he smashed the radio so no one could call for help. He tells Jason plainly that he wanted him, his father, and Jody dead. Jason's answer stuns him: "I'm doing it. I'm forgiving you." Kayin protests that he never said he was sorry, but Jason forgives him anyway, admitting that he too was once the kind of man who might have left an enemy to die, until God changed his heart. Growing pale from an injury worse than he realized, Jason keeps them both awake by answering Kayin's astonished questions about a God who tells his people to forgive their killers. Jason explains that Jesus calls his followers not slaves but friends, even children. "The spirits want slaves, not friends," Kayin says, bewildered, and Jason suggests it may be time to rethink whom he follows.

Meanwhile, Whit and Basu spot a windsock through the trees and find a call box near the Lido airstrip. Whit reaches MAF dispatch and then Jeff, who scrambles a rescue and medical evacuation. When the rescue party reaches Jason and Kayin, Kayin observes that Jason's God has chosen to save him, and wonders whether the same might be true for himself.

Some time later, Jeff visits the hospital, where Kayin is recovering from his punctured lung and Jason, who ruptured his spleen in the fall, faces months off his feet while his ankle heals, though that doesn't stop him from wheeling his chair around the halls. Kayin is in the next room, full of questions about Jesus. The news from Tinjil is good: despite the secret words, the people and crops are healthy, and the villagers, knowing the mischief was Kayin's own doing, have decided his spirits have no real power. A new missionary is coming to disciple the tribe, and there is hope the village will welcome Kayin back when they see his changed heart. Jeff calls it a happy ending, but Whit corrects him: it's more like a happy beginning. Remembering the ceremony, Whit reflects that just as the people of Tinjil passed the Bible from generation to generation, believers must pass on what it means to follow Jesus, and shine a light for people like Kayin who still live in darkness.