On this day in 2018, John Allen Chau penned his last journal entry before swimming to the shore of North Sentinel Island for the final time. The 26-year-old had prepared for almost a decade to take the gospel to the Sentinelese, an unreached people group on a tiny speck of an island in the Bay of Bengal.
John had spent years crafting an “adventure bro” presence online — an attempt to ensure any publicity around his death wouldn’t hinder future efforts to reach the Sentinelese with the gospel. His actions and subsequent death were criticized and mocked by many in secular media, but also, sadly, by some Christians.
John never underestimated the potential danger of his mission, but he valued the souls of the Sentinelese people more than comfort or safety. He valued obedience to Christ even over his own life.
“You guys might think I’m crazy in all this,” he wrote in one of his last journal entries. “But I think it’s worth it to declare Jesus to these people.”