"An American
missionary who was shot dead with arrows by a tribe he wanted to
convert on a remote Indian island wrote a letter to his parents asking
them not to be 'mad at them or at God' if he was killed.
John
Allen Chau, 26, was shot dead with arrows last week by tribesman when
he arrived at North Sentinel Island - one of the world's most isolated
regions in India's Andaman islands that is off-limits to visitors.
He
had paid local fishermen to take him there before venturing alone in a
kayak to the shore on November 15. Chau was shot by the Sentinelese
tribe after arriving on the island, according to a fisherman who helped
him get there.
Chau was able to safely
return to the boat but made his way back to the island the following
day, which is when the fishermen said they later saw the tribe dragging
his body away."
Part of me thinks, *face-palm*. What about this scenario could possibly go wrong?
This guy goes to an island which is off limits to everyone, which has no contact with the outside world. There is no mention in the article of a sponsoring organization, he is apparently doing this on his own. He put himself in mortal danger, and also put the islanders in danger because of the possibility of bringing disease which they have no immunity to.
But another part of me thinks, is there no longer a place for missionary zeal? Could anyone write the Acts of the Apostles in the 21st century?
My dad turned the hose on a couple of Mormon guys once. Kind of a shock, as Dad was usually pretty mellow.
ReplyDeleteBut that day he was watering his flowers and sucking down a cig and a highball, and was at the end of his tether with my mother, and the Mormons were insistent.
If he'd been receptive, the Mormons might have got him off the booze and cigs, and maybe helped him with my mother's "issues," and today he'd be on Planet Jesus with the Lost Tribe of Israel.
But the Mormons happened to show up on a bad day, uninvited, telling him how wrong he was, and they wouldn't leave when asked to move along.
It was bound to end badly.
We are talking about this on a day when the Mass is a memorial for St.Andrew Dung-Luc and 117 martyrs of Vietnam, from the mid-1800s.
ReplyDeleteChau does seem to have had a sponsor. All Nations Family Inc., which describes itself as a Christian missions training and sending organization issued a statement:
https://allnations.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/All-Nations-Nov-21-2018-News-Release.pdf
All Nations is based in Kansas City, MO. It does not appear to have the resources or experience of any brand-name sending organizations. Of course, neither did the Apostles. But the world has become more complicated in 2,000 years. We know what imported diseases can do to isolated populations. I also wonder what ocean rise is going to do to North Sentinel Island and how we might carry out our responsibility to warn the inhabitants without knowing their language or having their acquaintance.
Chau was a graduate of Oral Roberts University.
The Acts can still be written. It is perfectly possible to be martyred in nominally Christian countries. We think of Oscar Romero, Jean Donovan and companions and Rutililo Grande, of Maximilian Kolbe and Franz Jaggerstatter,and of Miguel Pro. And lots more, fairly recently. And, of course, you can go to strange places to be martyred, like the French Trappists in Algeria in the 1990s.
If faith is watered by the blood of martyrs we ought to be seeing more growth.
Thanks Tom. I missed the name of his sponsoring organization. I also thought of St. Andrew Dung-Luc and companions, among others whose witness was not welcomed with open arms. John Allen Chau appears to have been a caring person; his profession was being a paramedic, and he had helped out after natural disasters. I was dismayed to read some of the comments on one of the news sites, in which people said he deserved to be killed; that Christianity was a hate filled religion and all religion was toxic. Mr. Chau's worst fault seemed to have been a kind of naivete. Of course I realize that a lot of the commenters on those sites have an axe to grind and nothing better to do.
DeleteIf we really believe that the Christian proclamation is for everyone, then a corollary is that even that pristine tribe on that island isn't an exception. I don't say this to make light of Chau's death: but clearly his approach isn't the right approach. And maybe taking evangelization seriously also means having a certain humility: that I may not be the vessel through which a certain work is to be done, and I should trust God to bring a thing about in some way which I can't foresee or imagine.
ReplyDeleteWell, Jim, you just presented one horn of the Christian's dilemma: "This requires expertise I don't have, so God will send someone else." The other horn is what Rabbi Hillel almost said: "If not I, who?" Chau may have been very well-intentioned, and he was taking the Gospel to a nation that hasn't heard it yet, as instructed by the great commission (which more and more seems to be a Protestant pericope.) Personally, I wouldn't have thought of a soccer ball as a safe introduction, but personally, I wouldn't have tried it. Does that make me humble, or only chicken? I suspect that a lot of our early martyrs were riding with only a smile and a shoeshine, or a soccer ball and a Bible, as the case might have been.
DeleteThat's true, Jim. And sometimes God uses bad or sad things that happen to bring about good.
DeleteThere is an extensive body of Catholic how-to literature on evangelization going back to St. Augustine's mission to the Anglo-Saxons and before. Show up, be respectful, be of use, make friends, find common points of connection, answer questions and invite.
ReplyDeleteChau showed up, but broke all the other rules after that. If you believe the Sentinalese are bound for hell, he did nothing but possibly ruin their chances for salvation by barging in there and making them feel scared and threatened.
I find nothing to admire there. It's a sad waste.
Jean, good to know that common sense, compassionate approaches to evangelization were a thing, going back to Augustine of Canterbury (and probably before). One hears more about those who "preached the Gospel with the sword".
DeleteI think the RCC has learned from its many botched attempts at evangelism. (Augustine made many mistakes, much to Pope Gregory's consternation, but he learned as he went along.) Those in younger denominations still think that barging in where they're not wanted, armed with nothing but conviction and lack of impulse control, are doomed to failure or worse.
DeleteJust looking up some information on the Sentinalese, I found this link:
ReplyDelete"Tribal communities are often identified by some specific signs such as primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness to contact with the community at large and backwardness. Along with these, some tribal groups have some specific features such as dependency on hunting, gathering for food, having pre-agriculture level of technology, zero or negative growth of population and extremely low level of literacy. These groups are called Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.
The Sentinelese is classified as a PVTG as they have a very small population of 39 (Census 2001) which is on the decline. The health status of Sentinelese is in an awful condition because of multiple factors like poverty,illiteracy, lack of safe drinking water, bad sanitary conditions, difficult terrain, malnutrition, poor maternal and child health services, unavailability of health and nutritional services, superstition and deforestation. The diseases like anemia, upper respiratory problem, malaria; gastrointestinal disorders like acute diarrhea,Intestinal protozoan; micronutrient deficiency and skin infection diseases are common.
The GoI has been trying to reach out to the tribe and made many efforts. Individuals, Anthropologists, documentary film makers have all tried their bit to get close to the Sentinelese. However, after numerous failed attempts to make contacts with them since 1964, the Indian government has finally backed away. In 2005, the administration of Andaman & Nicobar stated that they have no intention of interfering with the lifestyle of the Sentinelese tribe or pursuing any further contact with them. Also, the Indian navy enforced a 3 mile buffer zone to keep tourists and explorers away."
It sounds as if this island is far from an idyllic Eden. It occurs to me that sometimes the right of a culture to exist undisturbed sometimes conflicts with the right of individuals to things such as basic medical care and education. All the more reason for people not to rush in where angels fear to tread. Their long term temporal as well as spiritual good depends, as Jean said, on not making them feel scared and threatened.
P.S. to above; I don't believe that people who don't know Christ are "bound for hell"; but I do believe Him when he said, "I came that you may have life, and have it more abundantly."
DeleteChua believed they were bound for hell, according to his diaries. And Christ might offer more abundant life, but did John Chua?
DeleteIndian investigators said his diaries indicate he may have made contact with the Sentinelese in a short visit ashore earlier, but a kid shot at him with an arrow, which he claims he blocked with his Bible.
However, Chua's writing is so convoluted and full of grammatical errors, investigators are having a hard time understanding it.
There is concern that Chua's alleged contact, or contact with his dead body might have compromised the health of the islanders.
Now the fishermen who helped Chua get close to North Sentinel are up on criminal charges because going there is against the law.
Honestly, Chua sounds like somebody out of a Kurt Vonnegut novel, ridiculous and tragic.
Waiting for Trump to start freaking out about the Indian government's declining to prosecute the islanders.
My guess is Trump won't bother freaking out. He didn't seem to bother with it when the Saudis killed and dismembered an American resident.
DeleteNah,those guys are tough. They know what they are doing. They don't need Thanksgiving dinner either. Me I'm going to play golf.
DeleteHe was squawking about the missionary the Turks locked up. Plus getting outraged for Jesus plays well with the Fundie base.
Delete