This week marks seven years since the death of John Allen Chau, a 26-year-old American missionary who was killed with arrows by one of the world's most isolated tribes on North Sentinel Island. The tragic event occurred on November 17, 2018, when Chau violated Indian law, which prohibits approaching the island within five kilometers to protect the Sentinelese, the 'last tribe of the Stone Age.' Chau, an experienced explorer and a member of the missionary group 'All Nations Family,' paid local fishermen to illegally take him to the island. In his diary, recovered by the fishermen, he recounted his first attempt at contact on November 15. The next morning, Saturday the 17th, the fishermen 'observed the natives dragging Chau's body across the white sand and then burying it.' In his diary, he also revealed his fear: 'I hope this is not one of my last notes (...) God, I don't want to die.' The Indian government attempted to recover the body but desisted after being met with hostility. According to a report by journalist Cynthia Ruth, Chau's death was not an accident. The hypothesis, based on documents from his own church, suggests that Chau 'would have 'tried to provoke the Apocalypse for the second coming of Jesus'.' He paddled a kayak with gifts (fish, a soccer ball) and shouted: 'My name is John, I love you and Jesus loves you.' The response was immediate: a young man from the tribe shot an arrow at him, which struck the Bible Chau had strapped to his chest, saving his life. In his diary, Chau wrote that any rational person would have fled, but he 'interpreted it as a miracle that confirmed his mission.' By dying at the hands of the last uncontacted tribe, Chau could have believed he was delivering the 'final testimony' required by prophecy, seeing himself as 'the man who would initiate the Apocalypse'.
