美国国家公共电台 NPR Killing Of American Missionary Ignites Debate Over How To Evangelize

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Police in India say there's no plan yet to recover the body of an American missionary¹. He was killed 10 days ago by indigenous² people on a remote island in the Bay of Bengal. The islanders have resisted all outside contact for centuries. The missionary, John Allen Chau, went there alone hoping to convert them to Christianity. NPR's Tom Gjelten says his killing⁴ has ignited a debate in Christian³ circles over how to evangelize.

TOM GJELTEN, BYLINE⁵: North Sentinel Island and others in the Andaman chain were apparently⁶ settled more than 50,000 years ago. The islanders' lives have barely changed since then. No one knows what language the North Sentinelese speak. They are believed to be related to the Jarawa people on a nearby island. Like the Sentinelese, the Jarawa have long been hostile to outsiders, but a documentary crew last year released a short film about them called "We Are Humanity." We live quietly in the forest, and we are happy, one said. Another told of a time they killed people who intruded⁷ into their territory.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "WE ARE HUMANITY")

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Foreign language spoken).

GJELTEN: "We stretched our bows," he said. "We don't like the outside world." John Allen Chau, who was 26, apparently faced that same fate on North Sentinel. After islanders shot arrows at him on his first attempt to reach the island, he retreated in his canoe. I'm scared, he wrote in his journal. Is it worth me going? But he decided⁸ it was. He was promptly⁹ killed.

MARY HO: It was his life's mission to go to the island and share the goodness of Jesus Christ.

GJELTEN: Mary Ho is the international director of a Christian mission group, All Nations, that gave some support to Chau's effort. She says that from the time he was 18, Chau had been determined¹⁰ to reach North Sentinel despite an Indian government prohibition¹¹ on travel there.

HO: He got trained as a wilderness¹² EMT, trained in linguistics¹³ and cultural anthropology¹⁴, then was further trained through our program.

GJELTEN: Ho repeatedly declined to say whether her organization approved of Chau's mission.

HO: Well, we were very comfortable that he was extremely well-prepared.

GJELTEN: Did you know how dangerous it was?

HO: Well, here in All Nations, we do know it was very dangerous.

GJELTEN: You felt comfortable nevertheless with him going there.

HO: Well, we know that John Chau was extremely well-prepared.

GJELTEN: Among evangelicals, Chau's effort has provoked controversy¹⁵. Some note he could have carried disease-causing germs to the North Sentinelese people who would be without immunities¹⁶. Thomas Kidd is a historian of religion at Baylor University.

THOMAS KIDD: If it is true that he was just setting out his own and patently breaking the law, then I think most Christians¹⁷ would say, no, that this is not the right way to go about missionary work.

GJELTEN: Chau's killing is reminiscent of an incident in Ecuador in 1956 when five American missionaries¹⁸ attempting to make contact with indigenous people were killed. Kathryn Long, a retired¹⁹ history professor at Wheaton College, has a new book about that case, "God In The Rainforest." She says missionaries have drawn²⁰ lessons from what happened in Ecuador.

KATHRYN LONG: And that's one of the things that perplexes me with Mr. Chau - is it seems like he was repeating things that many missionaries have stopped doing. For example, he didn't know the language. That was one of the problems that the missionaries had in 1956. Many more missionaries today would not attempt to reach a group of isolated²¹, violent people without trying to figure out some way to learn the language.

GJELTEN: Advocacy groups for indigenous people go further. They generally say the people should be left alone - period. On that point, Kathryn Long says many Christian missionaries would not agree. They have such passion for Christ, she says, that they see spreading Christianity as more important than preserving an unchanged culture. Tom Gjelten, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHUDOSOUL'S "PRAYERS")

1 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

2 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

7 intruded   

n.侵入的，推进的v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的过去式和过去分词 )；把…强加于

参考例句：

• One could believe that human creatures had never intruded there before. 你简直会以为那是从来没有人到过的地方。 来自辞典例句
• The speaker intruded a thin smile into his seriousness. 演说人严肃的脸上掠过一丝笑影。 来自辞典例句

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

10 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

11 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

12 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

13 linguistics   

n.语言学

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• Linguistics is a scientific study of the property of language.语言学是指对语言的性质所作的系统研究。

14 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

15 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

16 immunities   

免除，豁免( immunity的名词复数 )； 免疫力

参考例句：

• Supplying nutrients and immunities to my baby? 为我的宝贝提供营养物质和免疫物质？
• And these provide immunities against the a host of infections and diseases. 这些物质可提高婴儿的免疫力，使之免受病毒感染和疾病侵袭。

17 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

18 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

20 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

21 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。