Evangelizing remote tribes

[esieffe]

Salvation is in everybody’s best interest.

That being said, we also have to be realistic about the dangers of spreading illnesses to people who don’t have immunity to our germs, to be respectful of the culture of the person’s we are evangelizing, to dialog with them and basically don’t be a jerk about it.

I am inclined to agree. He put the natives in terrible danger, as he brought them gifts, a football and fish presumably. Spiritually, however, something could have changed on the Island, even as a closed tribal society, someone with evil intent takes over etc. Bio menace or martyr, we just wont ever know.

I understand that India has slightly relaxed laws governing access to the islands. This is again putting the natives at risk unless precautions are taken. It seems like though, it is only a matter of time with these changes that the natives will be exposed. Nature, and man, seem to find a way.

 

[Cruciferi]

It seems like though, it is only a matter of time with these changes that the natives will be exposed. Nature, and man, seem to find a way.

I suppose we could inoculate them…

 

[Usagi]

As Mr. Chau discovered, they don’t willingly communicate with visitors; they hide from them, try to kill them, or both. How forceful and disruptive are you willing to be to inoculate people? Mandatory vaccination isn’t popular even here, and we know what’s going on or can have it explained to us.

 

[Cruciferi]

If the Indian government could enforce the exclusion zone, nothing would need done.

Unfortunately, Everyone who sets foot on that island puts themselves and the islanders at risk.
It might be possible to inoculate food and leave it for them…

 

[Lara]

John Chau’s mission was destined to fail on so many levels. First of all, do we know if he had any success converting anyone to Christianity from his own neighbourhood, who speaks his own language? Prudence should have stopped him from choosing a far-flung isolated people whom nobody has successfully engaged, who don’t want any contact, and whose language Chau didn’t know. Chau should not have put the fishermen’s freedom at stake by ignoring the prohibition against traveling to the island, nor risked the safety of the people collecting his remains. Yes, he should have thought of that possibility too.

I feel sad for his parents. I wish them strength in the coming days.

 

[HarryStotle]

Sure, if they are willing to try to communicate. These guys kill (or, at best, violently drive off) strangers on sight. If you bring security, they hide and take potshots until you decide to leave. For whatever reason, they really, really don’t want to deal with anyone from the outside world.

Plus, as mentioned, they are under the legal protection of India, because they are both biologically and culturally fragile. They are basically a present-day example of Star Trek’s Prime Directive.

I understand the evangelical impulse, and I suppose Mr. Chau is technically a martyr for the Faith, but North Sentinel Island is not an ordinary missionary situation. I don’t think we have a “Dumbass and Martyr” category, but we may need one now.

How is Mr. Chau’s “evangelical impulse” different from St. Francis crossing a battle line and wandering barefoot, dressed in a coarse tunic, into the camp of the Muslim Sultan al-Kamil to convert him?

St. Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Kamil: A Bold Christian-Muslim Encounter

by Navid Zaidi St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) was the privileged son of a wealthy Italian merchant but gave up his possessions and adopted a life of peace, poverty, compassion and nonviolence. I…

sufiways.com

 

[Dlee]

Have any of you heard of the missionary Nate Saint? He was one of 5 who flew into Ecuador about 60 years ago to share the Gospel with the Waodani people. They had made contact and spent several days with them, and then something went horribly wrong and they were killed. Since then, Nate’s family has returned and now have a successful mission there. There is a book and a recent movie out about this. When I was a young child, my Baptist Church supported them as missionaries.
Nate Saint Story

 

[runningdude]

But to stay on a useless mission in order to die like a martyr is in my eyes near to dishonoring the gift of life the Lord gave us.

I concur. Even Jesus told his apostles to shake the dust off feet at villages that refused them. (Matthew 10:14).

 

[Usagi]

The impulse likely wasn’t any different, but the practical situation very much was.

St. Francis may not have spoken Arabic, but he appears to have had some way to communicate with the Sultan and his court. The article isn’t clear, but perhaps there was a translator present. Chau didn’t have that.

Though their cultures and religions were different, Francis and the Sultan had a basis for understanding each other’s roles and motivations. The Sultan knew what a Christian was and even had similar figures within his own tradition (the Sufis) to guide his treatment of Francis. The Sentinelese have no such context.

Further, while there was a chance that Francis could be killed on his risky mission, it wasn’t as though the Sultan was known for having anyone he didn’t recognize killed on sight. The Sentinelese do that.

Combining all these factors makes Chau’s effort far less likely to succeed than St. Francis’. Unlike the aforementioned Nate Saint, he didn’t even have peaceful contact that went wrong — as he could have predicted, he barely got to deliver word one before he was attacked. And given the linguistic and cultural barriers, there was no chance that first word (unlike Francis’ “Sultan!”) would have been enough to arouse curiosity and suggest what to do with the visitor.

On top of that, of course, his presence (and germs) endangered the islanders. I doubt St. Francis would ever have gone into the Sultan’s camp if he even suspected that his mere presence could kill everyone there.

 

[goout]

The Church recognizes that God speaks in the hearts of all people.
Therefore, all peoples have elements of truth in their beliefs and lives, even as Christ’s Mystical Body (The Church) is the very fullness of truth.

The elements of good that are in all peoples and cultures is to be respected, and evangelism speaks to people where they are, and on that basis can move them toward the Gospel. After all, we are evangelizing people, not things. This presupposes that we know the people we are speaking to, appreciate who they are, and have relationships that will draw them to Christ.

 

[HarryStotle]

The impulse likely wasn’t any different, but the practical situation very much was.

St. Francis may not have spoken Arabic, but he appears to have had some way to communicate with the Sultan and his court. The article isn’t clear, but perhaps there was a translator present. Chau didn’t have that.

Though their cultures and religions were different, Francis and the Sultan had a basis for understanding each other’s roles and motivations. The Sultan knew what a Christian was and even had similar figures within his own tradition (the Sufis) to guide his treatment of Francis. The Sentinelese have no such context.

Further, while there was a chance that Francis could be killed on his risky mission, it wasn’t as though the Sultan was known for having anyone he didn’t recognize killed on sight. The Sentinelese do that.

Combining all these factors makes Chau’s effort far less likely to succeed than St. Francis’. Unlike the aforementioned Nate Saint, he didn’t even have peaceful contact that went wrong — as he could have predicted, he barely got to deliver word one before he was attacked. And given the linguistic and cultural barriers, there was no chance that first word (unlike Francis’ “Sultan!”) would have been enough to arouse curiosity and suggest what to do with the visitor.

On top of that, of course, his presence (and germs) endangered the islanders. I doubt St. Francis would ever have gone into the Sultan’s camp if he even suspected that his mere presence could kill everyone there.

Interesting.

So what are your thoughts on the early Church evangelizing a pagan world when its members knew with certainty that they would be fed to wild beasts in coliseums, crucified or beheaded?

This would seem to nullify your “means of communication” argument since the state of communication lines couldn’t change their fate and they knew with certainty that their mere acknowledgement of Christ would get them killed.

So, were those like Peter, Paul, Ignatius, and many others “dumbass and martyrs” because they should have known better than to go into a situation that meant certain death to evangelize? Paul, himself, said something about the Gospel as the foolishness of God, no?

By the way, I am not claiming the situations were equivalent, just trying to ascertain why they are different, and why audacity for the proclamation of the Gospel ought to be more tame or “prudential” in modern times than it was in ancient times?

Perhaps proclamation of the Gospel in a safe and pedestrian manner is precisly why many are unconvinced about its truth these days? I mean if Christians are unwilling to take any risks to promote the Gospel, why should anyone believe it represents the supposed eternal truth that supersedes temporal existence? Is Christianity too fond of safety and security these days?

 

[Usagi]

Even Peter and Paul didn’t court death with such a limited possibility of success. They endured persecution and died martyrs, certainly, but they spent decades making converts among people who were willing to listen, and whose languages and cultures they understood (with translation help from the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, but not subsequently). Most notably, they fled when they needed to — they accepted martyrdom, but didn’t seek it out until it came to them. St. Ignatius was unusually enthusiastic about his coming death at the jaws of wild beasts, true, but even that was after he had been arrested and was 90-something years old, after a lifetime of doing the Lord’s work in ways that did not result in instant death.

Yes, being willing to risk one’s life, or even give it outright, for the Gospel is good and important. But even accepting that, there are ways to do it and ways not to do it. This guy went alone into a situation that would require months or years of interaction to actually get to the point of having his preaching understood, when he knew that the targeted population has a long history of not permitting any peaceful contact by outsiders — and that they might all get sick and die if he did get close enough to them. Even if we favor bold evangelization and prioritize spreading the Gospel over the integrity of a unique and likely dying culture, Chau was a dumbass in how he went about it.

 

[BlueMaxx]

Even Peter and Paul didn’t court death with such a limited possibility of success.

I do not think you can definitively say this…we have the luxury of viewing their deeds through the lens of time…what seems unreasonable now may have very well just been another Tuesday then.

 

[HarryStotle]

Even if we favor bold evangelization and prioritize spreading the Gospel over the integrity of a unique and likely dying culture, Chau was a dumbass in how he went about it.

You make some interesting points. However, perhaps BECAUSE these people are part of a dying culture, THAT is all the more reason to bring the good news of salvation to them in a timely manner, no?

Time is running out for them and, therefore, the opportunities to hear the Gospel are very limited.

 

[Roguish]

Can you cite the part of our Catechism that condones killing an unarmed individual person “to protect borders” and/or “to preserve [a] society and culture against foreign influence?”

Sure. It’s paragraph 30-C, sub d, where it is stated that tribesmen of remote islands as well as mainstream law enforcement of the country that those islands belong to, are well within their rights to take up arms against proseletyzing foreign intruders.

Did you miss that? If you have any further questions, let me know.

 

[blackforest]

Even Peter and Paul didn’t court death with such a limited possibility of success. They endured persecution and died martyrs, certainly, but they spent decades making converts among people who were willing to listen, and whose languages and cultures they understood (with translation help from the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, but not subsequently).

I agree.

I also don’t know that martyrdom is necessary running headlong into a Roman spear screaming, “Look at me! I’m a martyr!” The missionary needs at least SOME chance of making headway at dialogue. I hold to my analogy above - this guy was effectively running off a cliff hoping that he’d be the exception and able to fly.

Martyrdom very often happens to people who didn’t expect to be confronted by a spiritual dilemma or have their faith put to the test.

 

[blackforest]

OK. I’ll take it up with the folks at RCIA. They really need to be training their converts better. I’m off to go polish my spear collection.

 

[Roguish]

You make some interesting points. However, perhaps BECAUSE these people are part of a dying culture, THAT is all the more reason to bring the good news of salvation to them in a timely manner, no?

They aren’t part of a dying culture. They are part of a culture that, remarkably, is still very much alive, and prefers to stick to itself. It hasn’t really eroded yet, because they choose to remain isolated. Besides, even if their culture was somehow being eroded, that doesn’t mean we need to hurry to bring those people the gospel. These people will be around regardless of whether their culture survives or not – though I pray to High Heaven that it will.

 

[BlueMaxx]

These people are still around most likely because they haven’t any natural resources too exploit…and it is not an ideal place for a resort.

 

[Usagi]

Yeah, in retrospect, “dying” was a poor choice of words. “Endangered” or “fragile” would have been better. They could very well go on as they are for another 55,000 years, if the rest of us don’t mess with them. But there are a few hundred of them at most, maybe less than a hundred. A mutated germ, a natural disaster, a threat to their food supply — a number of things could wipe them out in one stroke, not just their current way of life but the people themselves.