Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. Psalm 116:15
Arthur Tylee, Marian Tylee, Mildred Kratz
and three Brazilians (1930)
Tribal Missionaries
“I have nothing to do with how long I shall live. I am in the will of God. If He sees fit to let me live to complete the language and to present the Lord Jesus and His power to save, I shall be happy. If not, His will be done. Do you not know … that a grave often speaks louder than life?”
This was Arthur’s faith-filled response to concerns that the Amerindians he was trying to reach in Brazil would kill him. He felt called to take the Gospel to the Nhambiquara tribe, deep in the heart of the Amazon jungle, after leaving law school to complete missionary training. He made two arduous forays into the jungle with another missionary, but on both occasions was forced to turn back.
Arthur married Ethel Canary in 1925, and a week after their wedding the couple set out to establish a mission station in Nhambiquara territory. They suffered hardship, severe illness and near starvation during a year spent befriending the tribe. The couple returned in 1928 with their baby Marian and nurse Mildred Kratz, with whom they had studied, to continue the work.
In 1930, an influential tribal leader died following an outbreak of flu and the missionaries, who had tended him and other patients, were blamed for the death. For months the Nhambiquara stayed away from the mission station but they returned – to the missionaries’ delight – on 2 November offering to help build a road. The next day, however, they launched an assault on the small team. Arthur was knocked unconscious then shot dead with arrows; Mildred was killed by an arrow to her chest. Ethel, who was pregnant with her second child, was struck on the back of the head and left for dead but incredibly she – and her unborn baby – survived. However little Marian was killed by an arrow, and three of their Brazilian co-workers were also slain.
It is not far to go
for you are near,
It is not far to go
for you are here
And not by travelling, Lord,
men come to you,
but by the way of love,
and we love you.
Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)