His body was never recovered.
This wasnt an impulsive act, it was a very considered methodical act.
Everybody wants to be the person who makes the first contact with the last uncontacted group.
John Chau walking on the beach in Port Blair, Andamans.Courtesy of National Geographic
And thats sort of an egocentric thing, Everett noted.
And so that is what He tells him to do.
He didnt say, Go convert people or Go bring fire and brimstone, or anything.
Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss in TellurideVivien Killilea/Getty Images for ABA
or… Weve got to save people from Hell and it just becomes fire insurance.
Theyre trying to sell fire insurance.
And thats not really the actual thing.
Thats not what were actually doing.
What were actually doing is trying to be a blessing to people…
The job of the Christian is to be a blessing to the people and to love your neighbor.
This evocation of Chaus mindset resonated for Goodheart, the scholar.
No contact with Indigenous people like this has ever been healthy.
Not a single case that I know of.
And it always leads to the degeneration of the society.
The ethical dilemma posed by missionary expeditions underpins the documentary by McBaine and Moss.
Its a question we want to explore, and thats part of what we got into in this movie.
Goodheart said hes been impressed by strong reaction to the film in Telluride.
It got her emotional.
She could barely talk to me.
She was trying not to cry.
So it really did touch some people.
