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God Planted Five Seeds
Five men traveled deep into the Bolivian jungle to bring the gospel of grace to the Ayore people. This is the story of how their martyrdom blazed the trail for future missionaries to win the Ayores to Christ.
God Planted Five Seeds was written by Jean Dye Johnson, the widow of one of the five martyrs. She explains how she and others established a permanent contact with the Ayores, and how she learned the truth concerning the death of the five men.
God Planted Five Seeds was written by Jean Dye Johnson, the widow of one of the five martyrs. She explains how she and others established a permanent contact with the Ayores, and how she learned the truth concerning the death of the five men.
235 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1966
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 12, 2017
As others have observed, this story is very similar to the one immortalized in Elizabeth Elliott's classic, Through Gates of Splendor. I'm indebted to GR friend Natalie for bringing this lesser-known account to my attention. Although it is definitely written in a 1950's style, which I don't personally find riveting, it is nonetheless a compelling and very worthwhile read, about a handful of Americans who literally laid down their lives to follow Christ and preach His Gospel. We sure could use some of that zeal in the western Church today!
January 27, 2017
All of the best true-adventure stories are about missionaries.
"God Planted Five Seeds" is not only an adventure, it's also a mystery.
It tells the story of 11 young Christian missionaries who came to Bolivia in the 1940s with the desire to reach a previously unreached people group known as the Ayore. (There should be an accent over that 'e'.) After careful preparation, five of the men in the group journeyed into the jungle, seeking to make friendly contact with any Ayore settlement they could find. They carried gifts, but no weapons.
The five disappeared and were never seen again. It wasn't until five years later that reports from witnesses confirmed that the missionaries were killed by fearful Ayore warriors at first contact.
When the men failed to return, the three wives who were left behind demanded that the Bolivian military search for them and extract vengeance if their husbands had been harmed. Right?
Wrong. From the start the women, including the author of this book, had as their first priority introducing their friend Jesus to the Ayore people, including any who might have harmed their husbands. They grieved when they learned that a member of an early independent search party panicked and shot and killed an Ayore man during an encounter. When the Bolivian military did plan a search party of its own, the women interceded with their commander, concerned that the search would result in dead Ayore who hadn't gotten the chance to know Jesus. The commander agreed to cancel the search.
Make no mistake, the women did very much want to know what happened to their husbands, but that was never the main thing.
Eventually, their perseverance and faithfulness paid off.
To my mind, there are a couple of particular heroes in this story. One is Joe Moreno, a member of the original group, who never considered himself anything more than a missionary assistant. But in the wake of the disappearance of the five, he was appointed acting director, and he doggedly and courageously followed every trail that might lead to contact with the Ayore.
The other is the author, who quite rightly considered herself a missionary, not merely the wife of a missionary, and who advanced more quickly than the others in picking up the Ayore language. In the early contacts, the Ayore saw her as spiritual leader, doctor and den mother. In one amusing scene, 11 naked Ayore youth invite themselves into the small mud home the author shares with another female missionary, sleeping on the floor between their hammocks. She tells the first-person parts of her story in an unassuming way, but two qualities come across in her: extraordinary faith in God and extraordinary pluck.
There's also a villain in the story, Senor Fulano. He also wants to befriend the Ayore. But he wants to befriend them to enslave them, a not uncommon practice in Bolivia at the time, even though it was illegal. Fortunately, he was somewhat incompetent -- at one point tromping off into the jungle without bringing along any water -- and he was on the wrong side of God. He managed to make things difficult at times, however.
In the end, Jean Dye Johnson could say, "It had been worth everything to trust God to do it His way ... in His time." And she could quote one of the other widows, who said to the Ayore: "It was worth my husband's death to see you come to know Jesus Christ."
The story is gripping, inspirational and well-told. I think it would be an especially good book for Christian parents and their teenage kids to read. I'm not sure how easy it is to find, though. I borrowed my copy, via interlibrary loan, from the Minneapolis Public Library.
"God Planted Five Seeds" is not only an adventure, it's also a mystery.
It tells the story of 11 young Christian missionaries who came to Bolivia in the 1940s with the desire to reach a previously unreached people group known as the Ayore. (There should be an accent over that 'e'.) After careful preparation, five of the men in the group journeyed into the jungle, seeking to make friendly contact with any Ayore settlement they could find. They carried gifts, but no weapons.
The five disappeared and were never seen again. It wasn't until five years later that reports from witnesses confirmed that the missionaries were killed by fearful Ayore warriors at first contact.
When the men failed to return, the three wives who were left behind demanded that the Bolivian military search for them and extract vengeance if their husbands had been harmed. Right?
Wrong. From the start the women, including the author of this book, had as their first priority introducing their friend Jesus to the Ayore people, including any who might have harmed their husbands. They grieved when they learned that a member of an early independent search party panicked and shot and killed an Ayore man during an encounter. When the Bolivian military did plan a search party of its own, the women interceded with their commander, concerned that the search would result in dead Ayore who hadn't gotten the chance to know Jesus. The commander agreed to cancel the search.
Make no mistake, the women did very much want to know what happened to their husbands, but that was never the main thing.
Eventually, their perseverance and faithfulness paid off.
To my mind, there are a couple of particular heroes in this story. One is Joe Moreno, a member of the original group, who never considered himself anything more than a missionary assistant. But in the wake of the disappearance of the five, he was appointed acting director, and he doggedly and courageously followed every trail that might lead to contact with the Ayore.
The other is the author, who quite rightly considered herself a missionary, not merely the wife of a missionary, and who advanced more quickly than the others in picking up the Ayore language. In the early contacts, the Ayore saw her as spiritual leader, doctor and den mother. In one amusing scene, 11 naked Ayore youth invite themselves into the small mud home the author shares with another female missionary, sleeping on the floor between their hammocks. She tells the first-person parts of her story in an unassuming way, but two qualities come across in her: extraordinary faith in God and extraordinary pluck.
There's also a villain in the story, Senor Fulano. He also wants to befriend the Ayore. But he wants to befriend them to enslave them, a not uncommon practice in Bolivia at the time, even though it was illegal. Fortunately, he was somewhat incompetent -- at one point tromping off into the jungle without bringing along any water -- and he was on the wrong side of God. He managed to make things difficult at times, however.
In the end, Jean Dye Johnson could say, "It had been worth everything to trust God to do it His way ... in His time." And she could quote one of the other widows, who said to the Ayore: "It was worth my husband's death to see you come to know Jesus Christ."
The story is gripping, inspirational and well-told. I think it would be an especially good book for Christian parents and their teenage kids to read. I'm not sure how easy it is to find, though. I borrowed my copy, via interlibrary loan, from the Minneapolis Public Library.
August 24, 2017
“Here I am,” he began in understandable Spanish, “a báraro (barbarian) that has come from the jungles to tell you people who are civilized about Jesus Christ.”…
Ecarai went on, “God’s Word is written in your language so that you can clearly understand it. And yet you do not receive it. We haven’t known the Gospel very long; yet what I do know I want to share with you of this wonderful truth.” Then in a few sentences Ecarai urged them to believe that Christ died to save them from their sins.
It took me a while to get interested in this story. It just seemed to be moving so slowly. Then all of a sudden, I couldn’t put it down. It was amazing. Like everyone else, I’m very surprised that this book is not more famous. How did people forget? Was it because there were more years between sacrifice and results? Was it because of the slower communication times? Who knows…
I read most of this book without really connecting the dots. I didn’t see the quiet heroism, selfless love, incredible forgiveness, and loving obedience they were all demonstrating on every page. Johnson writes about it all so matter-of-factly. As she tells it, it’s perfectly normal for the one surviving man to go back immediately after the disappearance to stop an Army search part out of fear for the suspected killers. And of course, the children of the lost men should try to reach out and evangelize them as well. Once it started to dawn on me what was really happening I was amazed. It’s all so matter of fact. This and that happened; the Lord intervened here and there and there and there; we just kept doing what God told us to do, and a tribe was won for the Lord. See why I say it was amazing?
It’s not really the story of the first five missionaries. It’s the story of their families and their continuing attempts to reach the Ayóres with the Gospel. It covers several years so you can really see the full work of the mission.
I appreciated the delicate manner the photographer and the author handled the customs of the tribe.
You really should read it.
Ecarai went on, “God’s Word is written in your language so that you can clearly understand it. And yet you do not receive it. We haven’t known the Gospel very long; yet what I do know I want to share with you of this wonderful truth.” Then in a few sentences Ecarai urged them to believe that Christ died to save them from their sins.
It took me a while to get interested in this story. It just seemed to be moving so slowly. Then all of a sudden, I couldn’t put it down. It was amazing. Like everyone else, I’m very surprised that this book is not more famous. How did people forget? Was it because there were more years between sacrifice and results? Was it because of the slower communication times? Who knows…
I read most of this book without really connecting the dots. I didn’t see the quiet heroism, selfless love, incredible forgiveness, and loving obedience they were all demonstrating on every page. Johnson writes about it all so matter-of-factly. As she tells it, it’s perfectly normal for the one surviving man to go back immediately after the disappearance to stop an Army search part out of fear for the suspected killers. And of course, the children of the lost men should try to reach out and evangelize them as well. Once it started to dawn on me what was really happening I was amazed. It’s all so matter of fact. This and that happened; the Lord intervened here and there and there and there; we just kept doing what God told us to do, and a tribe was won for the Lord. See why I say it was amazing?
It’s not really the story of the first five missionaries. It’s the story of their families and their continuing attempts to reach the Ayóres with the Gospel. It covers several years so you can really see the full work of the mission.
I appreciated the delicate manner the photographer and the author handled the customs of the tribe.
You really should read it.
February 17, 2022
As a resident of Bolivia, this book felt very alive to me. I loved reading of places and people groups that I know. I came close to tears in several places in the end of the book from the beauty of the Gospel coming to bear in the Ayore people. There were several times throughout the story when my heart swelled with thanksgiving to God for how He worked in this country and among these people.
This book was written simply but easy to read. I recommend it to those who enjoy missionary stories, or want to learn a little bit more about Bolivia!
This book was written simply but easy to read. I recommend it to those who enjoy missionary stories, or want to learn a little bit more about Bolivia!
June 17, 2015
I read this book as a child - it made such an impression on my, I remember it as a favorite book - now about 50 years later!
April 8, 2025
Number of pages: 214
Genre: Non-fiction Missionary Biography
Series: N/A
Age recommendation: 14+
Summary: Jean Dye accompanied her husband to Bolivia to bring the gospel to unreached tribes in the jungle. One day, he and four other missionaries set out to make contact with the Ayoré tribe in order to share the gospel with them. They never came home. God Planted Five Seeds tells the firsthand account of finally reaching the Ayoré tribe and discovering the truth of the missing husbands.
My thoughts: This is very similar to Through Gates of Splendor – five missionaries go to reach an uncontacted tribe in South America and are murdered – though in some ways the situation is even worse. In the case of the missionaries in Ecuador, their wives knew within days that their husbands were gone. While this is tragic and incredibly difficult to deal with, it’s still better than the full year Jean waited, not knowing whether her husband was dead or alive. She also had to deal with many false stories of people having supposedly seen her husband in various locations. I’m not saying that any of these women had it easy or good, but it must've been easier for them to move on knowing what happened to their husbands, than to live in uncertainty each day, not knowing where they were or what they’re doing. I think Jean and her fellow missionaries were incredibly brave to keep going until and even after the confirmation of their husbands’ deaths.
The book is well-written – I wouldn’t say it’s anything special, but I have no complaints. I found the story really interesting, and I did want to keep reading to find out what happened next.
One part I found really incredible was when someone asked Jean as she was going away to be a missionary if it was just for her husband that she was going. She replied that God had called her to be a missionary, and even if her husband died, she would remain as a missionary. I think that’s an incredible testimony and really a God-orchestrated moment; He knew what was going to happen, and he made sure that Jean was prepared for it.
My personal rating: 4/5 stars.
Link to blog: https://karinaschristianreads.wordpre...
Genre: Non-fiction Missionary Biography
Series: N/A
Age recommendation: 14+
Summary: Jean Dye accompanied her husband to Bolivia to bring the gospel to unreached tribes in the jungle. One day, he and four other missionaries set out to make contact with the Ayoré tribe in order to share the gospel with them. They never came home. God Planted Five Seeds tells the firsthand account of finally reaching the Ayoré tribe and discovering the truth of the missing husbands.
My thoughts: This is very similar to Through Gates of Splendor – five missionaries go to reach an uncontacted tribe in South America and are murdered – though in some ways the situation is even worse. In the case of the missionaries in Ecuador, their wives knew within days that their husbands were gone. While this is tragic and incredibly difficult to deal with, it’s still better than the full year Jean waited, not knowing whether her husband was dead or alive. She also had to deal with many false stories of people having supposedly seen her husband in various locations. I’m not saying that any of these women had it easy or good, but it must've been easier for them to move on knowing what happened to their husbands, than to live in uncertainty each day, not knowing where they were or what they’re doing. I think Jean and her fellow missionaries were incredibly brave to keep going until and even after the confirmation of their husbands’ deaths.
The book is well-written – I wouldn’t say it’s anything special, but I have no complaints. I found the story really interesting, and I did want to keep reading to find out what happened next.
One part I found really incredible was when someone asked Jean as she was going away to be a missionary if it was just for her husband that she was going. She replied that God had called her to be a missionary, and even if her husband died, she would remain as a missionary. I think that’s an incredible testimony and really a God-orchestrated moment; He knew what was going to happen, and he made sure that Jean was prepared for it.
My personal rating: 4/5 stars.
Link to blog: https://karinaschristianreads.wordpre...
December 31, 2019
This is a heart-warming story of five lesser-known martyrs for the faith. Millions know the story of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and their companions who were killed by the Aucas of South America, but far fewer know the story of Cecil Dye and his companions, who set out on a very similar mission to the unreached Ayore tribe of the Bolivian jungle some years earlier.
The writing style is simple and homespun. Jean Dye Johnson, the widow of one of the missionaries, tells the story in a very straightforward and unadorned fashion, describing the disappearance of her husband and his colleagues, the quest for closure, and her continuing eagerness to see an unreached people group brought to Christ.
In Jean's account, all of the participants stand out for the earnestness of their faith. The ordinary means of grace - Scripture reading, prayer, and fellowship - are on display, not consciously but organically, as a constant source of steadiness and support for all involved. Throughout the book, various Scripture passages are referenced and the missionaries seem to have absorbed a depth of meaning and richness from them that should be the envy of most Christians today.
Here are people who took the gospel seriously, lived it out, and found the gift of being carried through life's trials by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
The writing style is simple and homespun. Jean Dye Johnson, the widow of one of the missionaries, tells the story in a very straightforward and unadorned fashion, describing the disappearance of her husband and his colleagues, the quest for closure, and her continuing eagerness to see an unreached people group brought to Christ.
In Jean's account, all of the participants stand out for the earnestness of their faith. The ordinary means of grace - Scripture reading, prayer, and fellowship - are on display, not consciously but organically, as a constant source of steadiness and support for all involved. Throughout the book, various Scripture passages are referenced and the missionaries seem to have absorbed a depth of meaning and richness from them that should be the envy of most Christians today.
Here are people who took the gospel seriously, lived it out, and found the gift of being carried through life's trials by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
October 9, 2018
A simple but well-written memoir of the first contact between New Tribes Mission missionaries and the Ayoré people of Bolivia. Written by the wife of one of the five men killed, the story shares the early days before contact to five years later when the women finally heard the full story of how the five men died. A courageous story of bravery in light of death.
March 5, 2026
this is a book that sticks with you. The dedication of the missionaries to seeing the Aypre hear the gospel and accept Christ as humbling and challenging. The depth of their forgiveness and eternal perspective is not often seen.
January 12, 2020
The true story told in this book is powerful. The writing is not so great.
March 12, 2017
Great story of missionary service. Don't know how I had missed ever reading this book. But I have and I loved it.
August 7, 2011
This is a great book. Easy to read and v inspiring.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews