Miracle of Love

Charles Colson tells a story of a miracle of love and faith that happened during World War II. Jacob DeShazer, sergeant in the armed forces, was enraged when he learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor. He wanted to exact revenge on the Japanese.

In 1942, he got his chance. He was a bombardier with Doolittle’s Raiders, who attacked Tokyo. Tragically, his plane ran out of fuel, and he and the other crew members became Japanese POWs. For forty months, he endured the most inhumane conditions, including thirty months of solitary confinement. During this time, three of his buddies were executed and one died of slow starvation.

Under these conditions, the natural result would be that DeShazer’s hatred would grow exponentially. Instead, he got hold of a Bible and began reading it. Soon, he received Christ as his Savior, and his bitter heart began to melt. The account of Jesus forgiving His executioners from the cross became real to him. He decided that God wanted Him to love his tormentors with God’s love.

In 1945, paratroopers liberated the camp where DeShazer was imprisoned. In time, the story of his testimony was printed in a little pamphlet called “I Was a Prisoner of Japan.”

But this isn’t the end of this inspiring story. Another man was also deeply affected by the war. Japanese Navy pilot Mitsuo Fuchida was Chief Commander during the attack on Pearl Harbor. During the remainder of the war, he chalked up 10,000 combat hours against the Allies. Miraculously, he escaped death in the bombing of Hiroshima when he was called away out of the city one day before the atomic bombs were dropped.

After the war, he went back to his farm on Osaka demoralized and discouraged. One day as he disembarked from a train, he saw an American distributing literature. He took the pamphlet. The title? “I Was a Prisoner of Japan.” It was DeShazer’s testimony!

Fuchida read the pamphlet. He says, “[H]is story . . . was something I could not explain . . . The peaceful motivation I had read about was exactly what I was seeking. Since the American had found it in the Bible, I decided to purchase one myself . .

“I read . . . the prayer of Jesus Christ at His death: ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do’ [Luke 23:34]. I was impressed that I was certainly one of those for whom He had prayed. The many men I had killed had been slaughtered in the name of patriotism, for I did not understand the love that Christ wishes to implant within every heart.

“Right at that moment, I seemed to meet Jesus for the first time . . . I requested Him to forgive my sins and change me from a bitter, disillusioned ex-pilot into a well-balanced Christian with purpose in living.”

What is so miraculous about this story is that Captain Fuchida and Sergeant DeShazer met and even spent some time sharing their testimony together in front of the Japanese people. For thirty years, both together and separately, they helped tell thousands about the love of Jesus.

Who else could have turned bitter enemies into partners? Only God. As we understand the true nature of God’s love, we can’t help but spread it through our faith.

Once we know God and the power of His love, we will also want to develop another facet of our faith—serving faith. As we add each of these beautiful facets of faith, our lives begin to reflect more clearly the wonderful nature of our God!

By Vonette Bright

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