We have reported extensively on John Allen Chau’s misadventure in the North Sentinel Island, the Christian missionary who met his death at the hands of the Sentinelese tribe during his attempt to convert them to Christianity.
We have also reported that the head of the evangelical organization, Mary Ho of All Nations that he was a part of, asserted that he had broken no laws contrary to claims by Indian authorities and that he had travelled on a tourist visa because Missionary Visas are not easy to come by. He had risked wiping out the entire tribe to ‘establish the kingdom of Jesus in the island’.
In another report, we have documented how the Christian missionaries harbour some delusional beliefs regarding their conversion agenda. They earnestly believe that every group under the Sun must have a Christian representation for Judgment Day to arrive. And Chau, quite clearly, was willing to risk his own life and that of others to achieve that end.
Today, we are going to delve into ‘All Nations’, the missionary organization which trained Chau. He joined the organization as a missionary in 2017. We shall examine their beliefs and worldview.
Vision and Mission
The Vision and Mission statement on All Nations’ website states, “OUR VISION IS TO SEE JESUS WORSHIPED BY ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH. OUR MISSION IS TO MAKE DISCIPLES AND TRAIN LEADERS TO IGNITE CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENTS AMONG THE NEGLECTED PEOPLES OF THE EARTH.” “All Nations aspires to see disciple-making movements in every people group of the world so that Jesus may be worshipped by every tongue, tribe and nation.”
Glorification of Chau
The head of the organization’s statement on Chau’s death turns him into a martyr and lionizes him. “John was a gracious and sensitive ambassador of Jesus Christ who wanted others to know of God’s great love for them,” said Ho. “As we grieve for our friend, and pray for all those who mourn his death, we also know that he would want us to pray for those who may have been responsible for his death.” “We remember too, how throughout church history, the privilege of sharing the gospel has often involved great cost. We pray that John’s sacrificial efforts will bear eternal fruit in due season.”
Such glorification may indeed inspire some other missionary with delusional beliefs to embark upon a suicide mission which could have similar consequences. As per the report on All Nations’ website, Chau had already been in missions to dangerous places such as Iraq and Kurdistan.
Muslims are ‘broken’, says All Nations
There are several other problematic aspects of the organization’s beliefs. They sincerely believe that every non-Christian is ‘broken’. In the section on their website titled ‘People of Peace: How to reach your Muslim neighbours‘, they say of Muslims:
“Muslim refugees are coming to our cities and even some are coming to our neighbourhoods They are lonely. We can be their friends. They are broken. We can connect them to healing. They are seeking. We can introduce them to the One whom they seek.”
The missionary organization regards its evangelism as countering ‘spiritual warfare’. In their list of ‘8 key Global Priorities’, they state, “To actively multiply global w-rship and pr-yer, and counter spir-tual warfare so that AN fulfils its mis-ion through the power of the H-ly Sp-rit, reliance on J-sus, and the pursuit of G-d’s Glory.” Conversion of Muslim refugees is also listed as a key priority. They say, “To develop strategies and plan to engage, disc-ple, and ch-rch plant among the M-slim ref-gee population in Europe, Africa, North America and the ME so that they would reach their own and other peoples in the nations.”
(The portions in quotes have been reproduced exactly as from their website without any correction of presumably typing errors)
‘The God of Hard Places’
The organization also appears to have been aware that their missionaries were risking their lives to convert people to Christianity. There is no indication that they tried to dissuade them from such foolhardy adventures. In an article titled ‘The God of Hard Places’, Skylar Moore reports on the missionary work of one of their ‘church planters’.
The report quotes the missionary as saying:
“When I tell people where I go in ministry, even the local Christians usually discourage me by saying it’s too dangerous, etc. But I find that God opens up opportunities.”
The report does not mention the name of the country she was working in and only refers to it as a ‘closed access country’. The report quotes her further, “I’m the first white person to ever sleep in that village. And it’s really the help of the locals, not the missionaries, that makes the work most fruitful. Every time I preach, God always provides someone out of the crowd who becomes my translator to help with my limited language skills. Often that person becomes a real evangelist in their area. But there is also spiritual warfare: the whole time I was there last time, someone came and set up a black magic booth, demonstrating levitation and all kinds of dark spiritual power to compete with God.”
Then the missionary says, “I see the spiritual side of things even in the animals: pigs and monkeys are known to kill people in that area, and usually when they get close, they attack. My first night in my tent, a pig came right up to me, but instead of charging, it just lay down, as if to guard the place. Then monkeys came and did the same thing, settling into the trees above my tent as if to guard it instead of harming me or trying to steal food. It’s hard to describe the eeriness of such experiences.”
The report ends with the words, “If you have a heart to share Jesus somewhere in the world, even locally, and are wondering where to start, just ask us! We’d love to help you get started. And, thank you for praying for our missionaries and for what God is doing among unreached people groups!”
Thus, we have a clear instance where the organization was completely aware of its missionaries engaging in life-threatening activities and yet, the organization appears to encourage such behaviour in its report.
The missionaries also appear to suffer from a delusion of grandeur. One article states, “On the earth, we have two basic influences, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, there is no grey area. If we want to be people who carry the presence of God, we are called to discern the two kingdoms and act on God’s alone—not only for our sake but also for the sake of others.”
The Pocket Guide to Church Planting
In their ‘pocket guide to Church planting‘ by Pam Arlund, the organization makes it zealotry abundantly clear. The short guide tells missionaries, “Meet people where they are. Hang out with those who don’t know Jesus. Get outside the Christian bubble. Resist the temptation and emotional need to focus on team issues that absorb your time and energy. Look for pockets of people that have no Jesus followers in them. When you meet people, don’t extract them out to meet your friends. You go and meet their friends.”
Thus, they clearly ask their adherents to even establish an acquaintance with the explicit objective of conversion. Later in the document, the author says, “Encourage young believers to remain friends with their friends! Instead of you bringing the young believer into your world, go and enter into their world. Instead of introducing them to all of your friends, you go and meet their friends. Instead of showing them the places where you hang out, you find out where they hang out and go there.”
Conclusion
Thus, we have at least one documented occasion where the organization was aware that one of its missionaries was taking risks which could potentially cause the person’s death. Yet, going by the tone of the report, it doesn’t appear that the organization ever made an attempt to dissuade the missionary from taking such risks. Ho’s statements on the death of Chau are extremely problematic and could very inspire another delusional missionary to embark on a suicide mission. As per her own admission, she was “surprised by the “soft-spoken, very gentle young man” who had a very “radical call” to find “unreached groups.”
Was she aware that Chau was about to travel to the North Sentinel island risking his life? Did she make any effort to stop him? even more incriminating for All Nations, Ho’s recent statements reveal that she had knowledge about Chau’s trip. She asserted that Chau received 13 immunizations before leaving and quarantined himself. Her knowledge about Chau’s preparations reveal that she was aware about his suicidal mission. Did she then make any effort to stop him? She said further, “He set an example for all of us to follow the purpose that we were created for–to follow the calling that is on our lives and to be fully prepared.”
Taking into account all these things, the organization’s conduct appears to be hazardous to the health of its missionaries and even of “unreached” people like the Sentinelese. In fact, some would argue that the zealotry of such missionaries risks the very right to life and religion of others considering their only mission is to subvert faith, and in the case of the Sentinelese, risk lives. Under such circumstances, should the organization be held responsible for Chau’s death as well?
