This is terrible but I don’t understand why these missionaries go to violent war zones or areas in a state of anarchy.
Same reason missionaries went to dangerous places in past centuries, I imagine. There are people in need to convert, and the risks aren’t all that meaningful if you honestly believe in your message. What’s the worst someone can do, kill you? You’re in heaven then. It’s life that’s the difficult and painful period to get through, not what comes afterwards.
There is something extremely depressing about that. Knowing that their beliefs aren’t real, it is incredibly sad to see two people in their early 20’s die for what they believe in. Their one and only life is over because they couldn’t mind their own business. There is no heaven, there is no reward. They spread a fairy tale and got murdered, that’s the summary of their existence.
Check out the story of John Chau. He spent a year planning and preparing to be the first missionary to visit the North Sentinelese, a virtually uncontacted people. During his first couple (illegal) attempts, they shot arrows at him. He visited again and they killed him.
