The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Thes 1:3-6, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater;
4 therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.
5 This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.
6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you…”

Jacob DeShazer was a bombardier with Doolittle’s Raiders. They bombed Tokyo, but DeShazer was captured and imprisoned when his airplane ran out of enough fuel to return to the carrier. He was imprisoned and suffered horrendous persecution in a Japanese internment camp. He asked his captors for a Bible and came to know Christ as his Savior.

Mitsuo Fuchida was the lead pilot in the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. After the war, Fuchida was summoned by General Douglas MacArthur to testify in Tokyo. As Fuchida stepped off the train in Tokyo, someone handed him a Gospel tract that had been written by the newly converted Jacob DeShazer. That tract led to Fuchida’s conversion, and he ultimately became a Presbyterian evangelist who carried the Gospel throughout the islands of his native Japan.

Paul’s encouraging directive to the Thessalonian believers in the verses above should encourage us! Christians throughout the world today are encountering various degrees of persecution. At the same time, their persecution has not escaped the LORD’s notice. He has sent missionaries into some very dark areas of our globe, where sharing His Truth often encourages persecution.

Yet, what if DeShazer had not asked for a Bible? What if he had not been saved? Look at the lineage that led to the transformation of Fuchida from a lost Japanese warrior to a salvation-preaching evangelist that led many to a personal faith in Jesus Christ. That ought to lead us to reevaluate the words above that say,

“This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be
considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.”

Just give thanks for the opportunity of loving others and sharing earnestly the love of our LORD Jesus Christ. May your witness of Him touch the hearts of your hearers like DeShazer’s witness did to Fuchida! Praise the LORD for His indescribable Gift!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom