Enjoy this dramatic true story of the power of Jesus Christ to redeem and reconcile.
On December 7, 1941, Jacob DeShazer was in a military mess hall when he heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In anger he picked up a baked potato, smashed it against the wall, and promised to do the same with the Japanese people. He dedicated his life to the purpose of killing Japanese people.
DeShazer got his wish, becoming a bombardier on the infamous Doolittle raid on Tokyo in April 1942. He and his cohorts made a dangerous trip deep into Japanese territory, dropped their fierce arsenal, then had to ditch their planes over China. DeShazer was injured as they parachuted into a cemetery. The downed men were taken captive by the Japanese for the remainder of the war, over three years, where they were tortured and starved, and some were executed. Somehow during that imprisonment, DeShazer got hold of a Bible. It was enough to see him saved, his heart changed, and his new purpose of loving and reaching his very captors, the Japanese. What a Miracle!
Released at the end of the war, DeShazer went to Bible College (Seattle Pacific College, now University – which also happens to be my wife’s and youngest daughter’s alma mater), returned as a missionary to Japan, and had gospel tracts printed in Japanese telling his conversion story.
One day on a street corner in Japan one of those tracts made it into the hands of Mitsuo Fuchida, the Japanese pilot who led the aerial attack on Pearl Harbor. Reading that tract increased Fuchida’s curiosity of the Christian faith. In September 1949, after reading the Bible for himself, Fuchida became a Christian. Eight months later, in May 1950, Fuchida and DeShazer met for the first time.
Fuchida created the Captain Fuchida Evangelistic Association based in Seattle, WA, and spoke full-time of his conversion to the Christian faith in a presentation entitled “From Pearl Harbor to Calvary”. DeShazer and Fuchida even shared in preaching crusades together in Japan. Only Jesus Christ can accomplish that kind of radical racial healing!
It is incredible that Jesus calls us to share His Good News of salvation with those who are in need. He has partnered with us to make an impact for His Kingdom. We are called to be Declarers of Good News and Ambassadors of Reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5).
It has often been said, “You are either a missionary or a mission field.” Everyone who has come to salvation has a calling to pass it along to others, because what the Lord does To you, He wants to do Through you.
We might not be characters in a news headline story, such as Jacob DeShazer or Mitsuo Fuchida. But we can tell the Good News to someone. After all, evangelism is simply one beggar telling another where to find bread. Let’s do it!
This Sunday, August 21, we will rejoice in the amazing truth that we have been “Chosen to declare the Good News”! You may not visit another nation, but with whom can you share the marvelous Good News? Please invite someone to join you at 10:35am in the building or online for the Live broadcast on either Facebook (Honolulu AG) or our YouTube channel (Honolulu Assembly of God). We Livestream every Sunday to both locations.
Note: Shirley and I will be leaving next week for a visit to family on the Mainland. This is the 127th consecutive blog I have posted. That’s right! We have not taken a vacation since before Covid19 started! Please pray for us while we are gone. I will resume the posts when I return.
Coming Up: Roneel Chaudhary with Hawaii Chi Alpha, our AG ministry to university students, will be here on Sunday, August 28. Alan Bartolome, pastor of Bethel Chapel in Waipahu, will minister on Sunday, September 4. Bruce and Teem Dirden, missionaries from Hawaii to India, will speak on Sunday, September 11. See you then!
Aloha ke Akua!
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