Not a lone wolf: John Chau was trained by Christian organisation to share gospel with Sentinelese tribes

John Chau, the missionary who was slain by the remote Sentinelese tribe while trying to ‘convert’ them to Christianity -  despite their disinclination for any contact with the outside world -  had been training to ‘share the gospel with the tribes since college’.

While the Ministry of Home Affairs sources claimed he wasn’t a missionary, he was part of the Kansas-based Christian group All Nations which issued a statement that Chau had been a missionary since 2017. Chau's subterfuge was such that local churches had no clue about his intentions. 

The All Nations has this to say about itself on its official website:  “Based in Kansas City, Mo., U.S.A., All Nations is an international Christian missions training and sending organization committed to preparing Christians to share the gospel and establish churches in parts of the world where the name of Jesus Christ is little or not known.”

Their International Executive Leader Dr Mary Ho said: “All Nations is deeply saddened by this news and wants to publicly express deepest sorrow for this monumental loss.”

Ho further said, "We have been in contact with John’s family and ask all to join us in praying for his family and friends during this time. We have been in contact with the U.S. State Department and continue to cooperate fully with all international, national and regional officials.”

The organisation said Chau had previously participated in missions in Iraq, Kurdistan and South Africa and was a graduate of Oral Roberts University (ORU) who had ‘studied, planned and trained rigorously since college to share the gospel with the North Sentinelese people.”

The All Nations chief added, "We remember how throughout the church history, the privilege of sharing the gospel has often involved a great cost. We pray that John’s sacrificial efforts will bear eternal fruit in due season."

There’s a tendency to ignore the missionary zeal which over-enthusiastic proselytisers can cause to local cultures.

As author Iain Buchanan, who wrote The Armies Of God: A Study In Militant Christianity explained to DNA, the missionary zeal is fortified by Christianity’s deep resources, which means that their subverting countries like India is far more comprehensive than most people realise.

He told DNA: “There is a need to go beyond the purely religious objection to Christian missionising, and examine the global forces which define it, and which are subverting countries like India in a far more comprehensive and profound way than most people realise.  A key contention of my book is that the extremism of Christian evangelicals is no more benign than the extremism found in non-Christian religious groups. Indeed, its local impact can be hugely destructive — precisely because of its ability to draw upon a vast global network of forces (including powerful secular ones), and its ability to penetrate and shape local forces, whether they be ethnic, religious, political, or social, according to alien priorities.”

Read his full interview

The Sentinelese people are among the tribes that survived the tsunami of 2004 without any help from the outside world. For the 2011 Census, enumerators could locate only 15 Sentinelese people - 12 men and three women. However, their numbers could be anything between 40 and 400, according to experts.

P C Joshi, professor of Department of Anthropology at Delhi University, said the tribe has remained completely isolated from the outside world and despite efforts of the Anthropological Society of India which has tried to contact them indirectly by leaving bananas, coconuts for them, they have failed to make contact.

"We have tried but the tribe has not shown any interest. They are the most private of the tribes in the Andamans. They are aggressive and are known to attack outsiders with arrows and stones. I do not know what made this American visit the island, but this tribe has stayed in isolation for so long that I do not blame them for what they saw as an intrusion and a threat," said the professor.

In 2006, two Indian fishermen, who had moored their boat near North Sentinel to sleep after poaching in the waters around the island, were killed when their boat broke loose and drifted onto the shore. In a major step earlier this year, the government excluded this island and 28 others in the Union Territory from the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) regime till December 31, 2022.

The lifting of RAP meant that foreigners could be allowed to visit these islands without permission from the government.

Joshi said it was a cause of concern that this island, where the Sentinelese have lived for hundreds of years with no outside contact was recently opened for visitors. "These people are not specimens for tourists to see. They are extremely vulnerable to diseases and any contact might lead to their extinction. We cannot expose them for a few dollars. We need to respect their choice," said Joshi.