The work of a missionary, classically, was to explore and settle into far-off lands from their home to spread the word of God.
These often involved trips into potentially hostile territory to preach to people who lacked the same degree of civilization that Christianity had brought to the rest of the world.
As such, the missionaries of old were either accompanied by troops for defense or were hard men themselves who could respond in kind with peaceful resistance if their life was threatened to earn respect in the name of the Lord.
Now, we have the internet, and even the most remote communities can access all kinds of web services about Christian missions.
And civilization is far more widespread and accessible, even to remote areas, where tents can have all the amenities of home and be brought in droves to fill a village lacking proper shelter.
Missionary work is no longer the dangerous, hostile thing it used to be. Not always As John Allen Chau learned, there are still places that civilization can’t, and perhaps shouldn’t, reach.
10 /10 Born In God Country
John was born to his father Patrick and mother Lynda in December of 1991 in Alabama, USA.
His father Patrick was an immigrant/escapee from China during the Cultural Revolution, which included purging social outcasts, like Christians.
John grew up in a profoundly Christian part of the US and was a great student, excelling at school and clubs. He loved hiking and traveling, but he turned his eye toward missionary work as he got older.
9 /10 Godly Men
John was significantly influenced by the life works of David Livingstone and, more contemporarily, Bruce Olson, missionaries of their time who went on daring expeditions to spread messages of God’s love to people who had never heard of Jesus or the Christian faith.
John went to an evangelical private university in Oklahoma to earn the accolades he would need to become an official globe-trotting missionary to spread the word through good deeds toward strangers.