The death of the Christian Missionary, John Allen Chau, at the hands of the aboriginal Sentinelese tribe has sparked a whole host of reactions across the world. While most say that Chau was horribly misguided to even attempt to convert the tribe in the first place, some are calling him a ‘martyr’ for the Christian faith.
Friends of American missionary John Allen Chau, who is believed to have been killed by inhabitants of the North Sentinel Island off the coast of India, are calling him a martyr for the Christian faith https://t.co/Wfh9zTKS5Z
— CNN (@CNN) November 22, 2018
Apart from friends and family, fellow Christians are dubbing Chau a ‘martyr’ as well who risked ‘everything to share the good news with a tribe who has no known contact with the outside world’.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot
Inspiring story of a modern day martyr risking everything to share the good news with a tribe who has no known contact with the outside world. https://t.co/aEey1GsqjK pic.twitter.com/RLeqcH71ZK
— Paul Worcester (@PaulWorcester) November 22, 2018
Devout Christians are also calling Chau a ‘wonderful martyr’ and claim that he will go ‘straight to heaven’.
A new wonderful Martyr in Christ. John Allen Chau. He gave His life to spread the glory of God. He was a Fisher of Men. Followed teachings of Christ & went into the world to spread the glory, for that Welcome to Heaven young man, you did a good fight. Enjoy your reward. #Thankful https://t.co/4vlisfOPWY
— Abraham Moses Phillips (@biblicalbelief) November 22, 2018
As a Christian martyr, John Allen Chau will go straight to Heaven. There is no doubt whatsoever about that.
— Rusty Gladdish (@Desirel) November 22, 2018
“You guys might think I’m crazy in all this but I think its worth it to declare Jesus to these people.”- John Allen Chau, missionary to the unreached and martyr.
— Daniel King (@danielking100) November 21, 2018
Praise the Lord Jesus Christ for men like John Allen Chau. A martyr of the faith in our generation. God is glorified.
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” -Psalms 116:15https://t.co/6FvjplwNNq#martyr #Lord #Jesus #JohnAllenChau #Faith #Missionary
— BodyguardApologetics (@TheBodyguard777) November 21, 2018
It appears that the Sentinelese have been on the radar of Christian Missionaries for a while now. Joshua Project, a non-profit, that documents every ethnic group under the Sun and the prevalence of Christianity among them, lists the Sentinelese in their database as well. The page dedicated to the Sentinelese states, “Sentinelese people need to know that Creator God exists and that He loves them and paid the price for their sins.”
The page also states, “Pray that the Indian Government will allow Christians to earn the trust of the Sentinelese people and that they will be permitted to live among them.” It adds, “Pray that God will open doors to Sentinelese people to receive the gospel message.” Under such circumstance, it is no surprise that even a zealot like Chau is being dubbed a ‘martyr’.
As we have reported earlier, Chau had risked the existence of the entire tribe by coming in contact with them as he could have transmitted pathogens the Sentinelese had no immunity to. He risked it to ‘establish the kingdom of Jesus on the island’.
