Josh Chau, who was a missionary sent to the Northern Sentinel Island, tragically lost his life there in 2018. The American man took up the expedition in order to convert these isolated Sentinelese people, but ended up in a tragedy.
Chua was a 26-year-old who grew up in Scottsboro, Alabama. He set off on his journey to North Sentinel Island, which is located in the Andaman Islands. The American national was brutally killed by the same people he was attempting to convert in a mere few days after his arrival.
Josh had been to Israel and South Africa to partake in training and prepare for his mission to Sentinel Island, which proved to be his last. The Indian government prohibits any individuals from visiting the North Sentinel Island. The Island inhabited by the Sentinelese tribe, which is one of the very few tribes in the world that have not been exposed to modern civilization.
Two fishermen who had come across the tribe had met an even tragic ending previously to Chau. The tribal people killed the two individuals and displayed their bodies on poles on the beach.
Chau and his father, Dr Patrick Chau, had different views when it came to religion. “John is gone because the Western ideology overpowered my [Confucian] influence,” Patrick shared.
Dr Chau had also described religion as “the opium of the mass[es]” in a mail sent to his son. The father-son duo had differing views when it came to religion, which led to them disagreeing when it came to John’s work as a missionary.
A new documentary explores the life of John Chau, a 26-year-old evangelical missionary who journeyed to North Sentinel Island to convert a remote tribe he called “Satan’s last stronghold” to Christianity and ended up shot full of arrows.
🔗 https://t.co/kXHZevKsVk pic.twitter.com/EYgwnu32YN
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) October 12, 2023
According to John’s father, the evangelicals practiced “extreme Christianity.” He also blamed them for his son’s death while calling it not an “unexpected end.” Justin Graves, a pastor and a friend to Chau, also blamed the evangelicals for his friend’s death.
He wrote about how John was a “good man” in a post on Facebook. The pastor noted how Chau’s death cannot be written off as a “mere tragedy.” His death brings to light a multitude of issues with Evangelical views and hell-based ethics,” he added.
Chau reached Sentinel Island after a few fishermen agreed to take him there. The group left for the Island on the night of November 14 to avoid getting detected by the coastguard. The 26-year-old undressed himself down to his underwear and used a kayak to get to the island.
That’s when Sentinelese people spotted him and approached him while making “high-pitched sounds.” John was on the kayak when he introduced himself and declared, “I love you, and Jesus loves you.”
They shouldn’t have arrested him. They should’ve let him get the same treatment as John Allen Chau.. Since he can’t seem to respect boundaries & the fact that those people don’t wanna be bothered. https://t.co/RkA2xaDC0r pic.twitter.com/ZIP6iZAz2n
— Bella Goth 🌞 (@WickedNFine) April 5, 2025
His diary, which was found later, detailed his interaction with the tribal people. In his journal, he wrote how he had brought fish as a peace offering for these people. As soon as the people saw him, they started preparing bows in order to shoot him.
At that point, he “turned and paddled” away from the island to save his life. Chau made another attempt to interact with the people of the island on the same day. The fisherman who had been paid $390 shared how they had witnessed the Sentinelese people dragging his body and burying it in the sand. The 26-year-old had met his demise after being brutally shot down with arrows.
