Squanto: A Story of Compassion

CAPTURED by English Explorers, and later by slave traders, young Squanto experienced fear, loneliness, mistreatment, and disrespect. Spanish monks purchased him from the slave auction block, set him free, and cared for him. Years later, Squanto found passage on a ship to bring him home. He returned only to discover his village desolate and his entire tribe wiped out by smallpox. He wandered alone in the forest for months, and all seemed lost, yet God’s purpose for redemption began to unfold. Squanto chose to remember the compassion shown to him by the monks instead of the injustice of the Englishmen and slave traders. He came back to live with another tribe and show compassion to the Mayflower pilgrims, which saved them from starvation.