Frank and Marie Drown – Missionaries to Ecuador and To First Nations In NW Ontario Canada

  “Knowing the need of a people that are lost and have no Bible or anyone telling them about the Gospel is enough to make you want to leave home, learn a language, and communicate the Gospel to the people who need it most.” – Missionary Frank Drown

“It’s not hard to love someone when you want to love them” Frank Drown 4-2015

“THAT WAS PROBABLY THE HARDEST DAY OF MY LIFE. (finding the martyred missionaries). I ASKED GOD, WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP IT? LATER I REALIZED GOD ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN. … THE GOAL OF OUR LIVES SHOULD NOT BE FOR OURSELVES BUT TO DO THE WILL OF GOD AND ENJOY IT. WE’RE NOT OUR OWN; WE’VE BEEN BOUGHT WITH A PRICE. WE SERVE HIM BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM. WE DO IT WITH ALL OUR HEARTS AND WITH JOY, AND HE’LL BRING JOY TO US.” Frank Drown.

Frank and Marie Drown Avant Ministry Missionaries 2012

link to the video

http://avantministries.org/media/i-am-avant/#PrettyPhoto/8/

scroll down to Frank and Marie Drown’s video testimonial

 Link to Amazon to find Frank Drown’s book.

Suspicion, hatred and killing was what marked the Shuar and Atshuar Indians. The first missionaries in the Ecuadorian Rainforest Frank & Marie were committed to bringing about life changes in these tribes by seeking to communicate forgiveness of sin and new life which could be found in Christ. Frank and Marie Drown prepared the way for Jim Elliott, Nate Saint and their colleagues. Frank was the person who discovered their bodies.

Some Internet Articles About Frank And Marie Drown

Frank Drown (born ca. 1920) is an American author and former missionary. He and his wife Marie were missionaries with Gospel Missionary Union and worked for 37 years with the Jivaro Indians of eastern Ecuador, who were known for their head shrinking.

The Drowns worked alongside missionary Roger Youderian and his family for three years in the 1950s. They had also been instrumental in directing them to the mission field. In 1955, Roger joined with four other missionaries in Operation Auca, an effort to reach the Huaorani, another Indian tribe in the area. When the five men turned up missing, Drown led the ground search party into Huaorani territory to locate the men. They discovered four of the bodies, including Roger’s and buried the men and a mass grave. Drown led a quick funeral service at the gravesite before a severe tropical storm blew in. Roger’s wife Barbara continued to work with the Drowns for many years after Roger’s death.

In 1959, after 15 years living in Ecuador, and three years after his fellow missionary had been killed, the Drowns were asked to write a book about their lives as missionaries. After the success Elisabeth Elliot’s best-seller Through Gates of Splendor, the publishers believed such a book would be in demand. And so the Drown’s co-authored a book which became the memoirs. It is called Mission to the Headhunters.

Drown was interviewed for the 2004 documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor where he described in detail what happened during the search party’s expedition.

The Drown’s son Ross became a missionary pilot and is now in business. He married Kathy Saint, the daughter of Nate Saint who was also killed during Operation Auca. Their daughter Laura is also a missionary. She serves in Guayaquil, the largest city in the nation her parents formerly served at. She lives with her husband, Dave Erdel.

Today the Drowns live near Kansas City, Missouri, and work with Avant Ministries. They reach the Canadian Aboriginal People of Northern Canada through radio ministry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Drown

Frank Drown recounts 1956 missionary slayings in Ecuador

OCTOBER 19, 2005 BY THE PATHWAY

December 16, 2002

Kansas City – One of the men who discovered the bodies of missionaries slain by Auca Indians in 1956 was a chapel speaker recently during World Mission Days at Midwestern Seminary.

Frank Drown, a Gospel Missionary Union missionary to Ecuador for 37 years, was ministering to Indians about 75 miles from where the bodies of five missionaries, including Jim Elliot, were found.

Drown said Elliot was in the north jungle, and he was in the south jungle, and Nate Saint was the link between them as a pilot. They started ministering to the Aucas by dropping gifts to them by plane. The Aucas responded and built a tower platform to watch for the plane. After several months of dropping gifts, they decided to make contact with the Aucas.

“I loaned them my radio, but I was unable to go because I had to preach on Sunday,” he said.

On the radio, he heard they had a good visit the first day, but they weren’t heard from for a few days. The wives asked him to go and check on them.

“It took three days to get there. We found the radio with slashed wires. We found two missionaries tangled in the brush, dead, and another one downstream.

“Here’s my good buddies, giving their lives to serve God, and now here they are dead.

“Why did this happen? I didn’t know. Only God knows what He’s doing. It was so sad when I arrived back. I did not fulfill the mission. I did not bring the husbands back to the wives who were waiting for them.”

Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel, Nate Saint’s sister, later lived among the Auca Indians. Many of those Indians are Christians today.

Before the slayings, Drown and one of the missionaries who later died had worked to reach a neighboring tribe, whose chief asked them to visit and bring medicine. They did, and the visit went so well that they were invited to come back and tell more about the way to heaven.

While Drown was gone to look for the missing missionaries, the people from the tribe where Drown ministered started a war by killing one of the women of the chief’s tribe.

“Here I had just opened the door for this tribe and the people right from where I live go there and just kill people. What will I do?”

Wycliffe let them use a pilot and plane to go back. They flew over to see if the Indians line up by the airstrip as they had in the past. They did. So the plane came back in for a landing, but the Indians were gone.

“This was after the missionaries had been killed. I had buried them, and now I am in a similar situation. What’s going to happen to me? I started down the airstrip, and the old chief came out of his house with two warriors on each side, and they all had .44 Winchesters. They started to yell, ‘Get out of here. We don’t want you.’”

Drown said his feet wanted to turn around, but God said to stay.

“The chief kept coming, and I kept going. I laid my gun down.”

Drown asked, “What are you yelling at me like this for? I’m your friend, I’ve come to tell you about the Gospel.” The chief said, ‘You said you were going to get soldiers and get us.’ I said, “No, that’s not true.”

The chief “took one jump and put his arm around me. He asked, ‘Why did you shoot at us from that plane?’” The plane had backfired.

“We need the guidance of God every day because we never know what’s going to happen to us.”

Many of that tribe came to Christ and there are many churches among them.

“It was difficult, but the men who gave their lives prepared my heart for possibly giving my life. Every one of us should be prepared to do what God wants us to do.”

Drown now lives in Kansas City.

http://www.mbcpathway.com/2005/10/19/article20291-htm/

The Frank Marie Drown Encore Episode   #002.   Frank Drown. It is my great privilege to introduce you to Frank and Marie Drown! They have been friends of my family for many years, and I am honored to have them as the first guests on Missionary on Fire!

Frank and Marie Drown went to the mission field in 1944, and have done great things for the Lord in these many years. Frank was influential in the call of God on the life of Roger Youderian. Frank and Roger worked side by side for several years. When Operation Auca seemed to have failed with the deaths of Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, and Roger Youderian, Frank was the one who was called to search for their bodies. It was Frank who prayed and read the Word of God over their hastily dug graves in the jungles of Ecuador. Frank and Marie worked closely with the wives of these men as they worked to reach the headhunters of Ecuador.

I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did!

Quote:

“Knowing the need of a people that are lost and have no Bible or anyone telling them about the Gospel is enough to make you want to leave home, learn a language, and communicate the Gospel to the people who need it most.” – Missionary Frank Drown

Failure and Lessons:

Listen as Missionary Frank Drown tells about his first attempt to preach the Gospel to a group of headhunters. He started to tell them about John 3:16 but could not keep their attention. He was able to reach them, but you have to hear him tell how he was able to communicate the Gospel to these people.

Memories:

He has fond memories of many experiences, and he tells us one of his favorites about Chief Santiago! Listen to Missionary Frank Drown tell us how the Gospel changed this man’s life.

Can you tell us about the moment you realized why God called you to the mission field?

Missionary Frank Drown thanks God for his childhood experiences of fox hunting and for being short.

Goals as a missionary:

Missionary Frank Drown tells about how the introduction of Missions Aviation greatly improved his ability to reach more people with the gospel. Marie tells us about their prayer that the headhunters would quit headhunting and how Chief Santiago was instrumental in the peace coming to the jungle!

What if you were a young person today and felt God calling you to the mission field?

Missionary Frank Drown tells about how he would prepare to go to the mission field.

http://www.missionaryonfire.com/encore-episode-002-frank-drown/

In 1959 Marie and I were encouraged to write our story.  The publishers of “Through Gates of Splendor” by Elisabeth Elliot said, “We want an account of regular missionary life.  You know what it is like to live as missionaries among a savage tribe of uncivilized Indians.  The books about the recent deaths of five missionaries by the spears of Waodani (Auca) Indians are in great demand.  We are sure that a book about your lives among a similar tribe would be well received also.”  Thus our book, “Mission to the Headhunters” by Frank and Marie Drown, was first published in 1961.

At that time we had been in Ecuador only 15 years.  It seemed to us that our life commitment to establish Christian churches among the revenge-killing tribes of the Shuar and Atshuar Indians had just begun.  Although there were a few small churches among the Shuar with believers who refused to carry on the traditional enmities, there were no Christian churches among the Atshuar.  We keep trusting God to use us and our fellow missionaries to do whatever it cost to bring the revenge warfare to en end before these tribes would be further decimated.

Now, after forty years, we are offering the true story of how God replaced the long, sad history of suspicion, hatred, and killing with forgiveness and peaceful living in the jungle.  To those who found forgiveness of sin and new life through faith in Christ’s death and resurrection, God also gave assurance of being with Him forever.

Our story includes glimpses into the individual lives of many of our Indian friends.  All are true accounts as seen through our eyes and understanding.  In order to avoid confusion caused by two persons having the same name or to protect the privacy of others, we have changed some of their real names.

The Indian people have taught us much about God’s abundant grace.  If we were in our twenties we would go again to live among them.  There is still much Bible teaching and church leadership training to do in this new millennium generation.  May our book inspire many to commit their lives to obey Christ’s command to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28: 19, 20).

Frank and Marie Drown

April 2001

We dedicate this book to our fellow missionaries who served with us during the 37 years we spent in Ecuador, South America, some of whom have moved to other fields or died and some who steadfastly continue serving the Shuar and the Atshuar jungle Indians.

With Avant Ministries, Ernest and Jean Johnson, Michael and Ella Ficke, *Dorothy Walker, Keith and Doris Austin, Ralph and Marian Stuck, Roger and Barbara Youderian, John Stuck and Ed and Joyce (Stuck) Grable, William and Gladis Gibson, *James and Norma Hedlund, Don and Maxine Caswell, Eldon and Phyllis Yoder, Nettie Buhler, Arlowe and Emma Becker, Billy Ogg and Irene (Ogg) Wiens, Steve Ditzler, Stanley and Irene Derksen, *Robert and *Janice Stuck, *Dwain and *Louis Holmes, *James and *Debby Shoberg.  Ecuadorian Fellow-workers, Marco and Maruja Diaz.

With Mission Aviation Fellowship, Nate Saint and Marjorie (Saint) Van deer Puy, Johnny and Ruth Keenan, Herbert and Olivia Lowrance, Dave and Carol Osterhus, and success MAF missionary personnel.

With Wycliff Bible Translators, *Dr. Glen and Jean Turner

With Missionary Tech Team, Ken and Irene Edgar

These all have served closely with us and have made major contributions toward establishing the Church of Jesus Christ among the Shuar and Atshuar.  We love and highly esteem them.  Our heartfelt prayers are with those still sharing their lives with these Indians.

Frank and Marie Drown

April 2001

http://missiontotheheadhunters.com/AboutTheAuthors.htm

Frank & Marie Drown

Frank and Marie Drown were missionaries in the Ecuadorian jungle for ten years before they were joined by Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCoully, and Roger Youderian. Nate Saint became their pilot. “He flew us all over the jungle and we did lots of things together. Before he came I walked on the land. One minute in the plane is worth one hour on the ground.” They ventured into the Eastern rain forests of eastern Ecuador where they made contact with the Waodani people also known as the Aucas.

In January of 1956, Frank led the search party to find the men’s bodies; he then performed the burial ceremony.

THAT WAS PROBABLY THE HARDEST DAY OF MY LIFE. I ASKED GOD, WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP IT? LATER I REALIZED GOD ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN. … THE GOAL OF OUR LIVES SHOULD NOT BE FOR OURSELVES BUT TO DO THE WILL OF GOD AND ENJOY IT. WE’RE NOT OUR OWN; WE’VE BEEN BOUGHT WITH A PRICE. WE SERVE HIM BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM. WE DO IT WITH ALL OUR HEARTS AND WITH JOY, AND HE’LL BRING JOY TO US.

Frank and Marie stayed a total of 37 years in the Ecuadorian jungle. Over time, they were able to reach the Shaura and other tribes with the Gospel, train up leaders in the church there, and turn over the established ministry to the native believers. The Shaura now have 50 churches among them, Frank estimated.

Frank and Marie were among the first to begin developing a written language for Ecuadorian tribes. When they first met the Shaura people, the tribe’s population was nearing extinction—as were many of the jungle tribes—mostly because of the “back and forth” revenge killing. Those who were once murderers and voluntarily controlled by evil spirits are now following Christ and taking His message to other tribes. “It’s a great blessing to see how God changed the people,” Frank said. “They used to be warring, and that’s gone. They used to shrink heads, and that’s gone.” Their population and lifespan has increased, and now many entire families name Christ as Savior.

They also helped improve the people’s way of life through better farming, health, and electricity. The Drowns returned to the States in 1982 and have continued to serve God.

Frank and Marie Drown of Avant Ministries had the original vision to reach the Canadian Aboriginal People of Northern Canada through the radio ministry.

It was in Ecuador that Frank saw the Gospel reaching remote native people through tropical band radio. It was the beginning of a dream to see the local Native people operate and maintain the radio ministry. Frank approached National Evangelical Fellowship of Canada Board to see if they would share God’s vision for their people through the FM radio ministry and they prayerfully excepted the challenge. Wah-ste-win Aboriginal Radio Network (WARN) was established by NEFC to carry on this radio ministry. Two FM Stations are up and running The main station is in Pickle Lake, Ontario, Canada. The Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada station is a repeater station. Gospel Messages will be presented in Oji-Cree, Ojibway, Cree and English

The Gospel by radio is a new exciting ministry that requires money, people, knowledge, gifts, talents and time. Pray that those appointed to serve in this ministry will be able to raise their support from contributing Canadian believers and churches.

http://ctbiblechurch.org/missions/frank-marie-drown.html