Letters From Grandpa #478

• LETTERS FROM GRANDPA
• 478

Dearest grandchild,

Todays’s letter will be about the conversion of a famous Japanese pilot named Mitsuo Fuchida. He was born Dec. 3, 1902 and died May 30, 1976. He entered the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1921 and became a pilot. He specialized in horizontal bombing and became an instructor in that technique in 1936. He gained combat experience in the second Sino-Japanese War and was promoted to lieutenant commander Dec. 1, 1936. He was perhaps the premier pilot in all of Japan and led the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. This act of infamy killed 2,403 Americans and plunged the United States into W.W. II.

After the war a number of Japanese military personnel were put on trial for war crimes regarding their treatment of prisoners. Fuchida was called on to testify and felt the trials were a sham. He had a long standing resentment against the United States for its restrictions on Asian immigration. He was confident that the Americans had also tortured Japanese POWs. Consequently, he interviewed Japanese POWs to gather evidence. While doing so he encountered his former flight engineer Kazuo Kanegasaki. Fuchida assumed that he had been killed in the Battle of Midway. Rather than telling a story of abuse and torture by Americans, however, his friend told him of a young American woman, Peggy Covell, who treated him and his fellow prisoners with great kindness. She did this in spite of the fact that Japanese soldiers had killed her missionary parents in the Philippines. Fuchida was astonished! The code of a Japanese warrior is known as “bushida”. This moral code of the samurai dated back several centuries. It not only permitted revenge, it demanded it! Instead of seeking revenge, however, this woman treated the Japanese with mercy and compassion. This sparked his interest in Christianity and he became obsessed by the thought that anyone could possibly love their enemies.

Not long afterward he encountered the testimony of Jacob DeShazer. DeShazer was a bombardier on a B-25 that participated in the famous Dolittle Raid on Tokyo on April 18, 1942. When his plane ran out of fuel DeShazer was captured and became a prisoner of war. He was a POW for 40 months, and 34 of these months were spent in solitary confinement. During this time he was tortured, beaten and starved. Also during this time three of his friends were executed. In desperation DeShazer persuaded one of his guards to loan him a copy of the Bible. This single Bible was being shared by the prisoners and each prisoner was limited to having the Bible for only three weeks. After three weeks of reading the Bible, however, DeShazer gave his heart of Jesus Christ. The date was June 8, 1944. Then a miracle took place in his life. His hatred for the Japanese was replaced by love. DeShazer began learning the Japanese language and treating his cruel guards with kindness and respect. After the war he returned to the states, went to Bible College, got married, and then returned to Japan as a missionary in 1948. He spent the next 30 years of his life preaching the gospel to the people he had once hated.

In the fall of 1948 Fuchida received a pamphlet containing the testimony of Jacob DeShazer. He, like Peggy Covell, manifested love for his enemies. This confirmed in his mind the uniqueness of Christianity and he began reading the Bible for himself. In September 1949 Fuchida gave his heart to Jesus Christ and became a Christian. That same year he wrote his autobiography, From Pearl Harbor to Calvary. In May 1950 he met DeShazer for the first time in person and they travelled together preaching love instead of hatred. In 1952, he toured the United States as a member of the Worldwide Christian Missionary Army of Sky Pilots. In Feb. 1954 the Reader’s Digest published his story about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Sadly, Fuchida died of complications from diabetes at the age of 73.

Jesus, as you know, said: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48) Jesus practiced what he preached and on the cross prayed for those who crucified him: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

Stephen, as you know, is remembered as the first Christian martyr. As he was about to die Luke recorded: “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”When he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of their killing him.” (Acts 7:55-8:1) Stephen’s prayer for those who were killing him undoubtedly had a profound influence on Saul of Tarsus (Acts 26:14). Saul, as you know, became the Apostle Paul who wrote more inspired books of the Bible than any other. Paul wrote: If we can suffer without being frightened it will be a sign to those who persecute you that they will be destroyed and you will be saved (Philippians 1:28-30).

This miraculous love cannot arise from your own will or be learned from a human teacher. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Man cannot produce fruit, only God can do that! When you receive Jesus Christ into your heart he produces love which is the fruit of His Spirit. This miraculous love manifests itself in at least these nine ways: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22)

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce