A CATHOLIC BISHOP RECOGNIZES A BAPTIST HERO

  There are two reasons I am posting this story. The first, is because I think the Christian world needs to know what it means to really follow Jesus. It means laying down our lives, sometimes literally, in order to see the Kingdom cause advanced. It means loving people enough to tell them the truth, even if it cost us our own life. It means understanding that no matter how horrible things may seem, God will bring good from it.

  The second reason I am posting this, is because it was sent to me by a Roman Catholic bishop. This story was written by Monsignor Richard Lopez. It stands out to me, because he evidently regards these Baptists as true Christians, valid in their authenticity, and true martyrs of the faith. I don't think I have ever read anything by a prelate in the Catholic Church where it is clear that non Catholic Christians are the real deal. I guess when you are so devoted to Jesus and His Gospel, that you are willing to lay down your life, then to have your daughter forgive the killers and return to tell them about Jesus, you simply cannot deny that it is genuine Christianity.  Read the following true story, written by Monsignor Lopez as part of his "Heroes of the Faith" series, and praise God for these Baptists who laid it all down, and showed the love of God so clearly, that even a Catholic bishop cannot deny its validity. 

 Hero of the Week: Peggy Covell (1923-1995)

"Conversion is one of the most mysterious and surprising of all miracles. Peggy Covell might be called a "miracle maker" in terms of conversion. Peggy's parents were American Baptist missionaries. They labored initially in Japan, but as things became more unsettled they moved to the Philippines. Peggy and her siblings were sent back to the States for school just before the horror of the Japanese invasion.

Peggy's parents and several other missionaries fled into hiding, deep in the mountains, to avoid Japanese imprisonment. For many months they maintained an almost idyllic existence, praying and preaching deep in the jungles. Tragically, their refuge, nicknamed "Hopevale,” was betrayed to the Japanese. Captured, they pleaded for the release of their Filipino friends and for an hour of prayer before their execution. Their requests were granted. They sang hymns and prayed and then told their captors they were ready. The adults were beheaded and the children were bayoneted to death!

After the war, when Peggy discovered what had happened to her parents and the other families, she burned with hatred. Contemplating her parents' final hours, she began to realize they must have been praying for the soldiers who were about to execute them. Gradually the Holy Spirit washed away her hatred and filled her with His love. To put that love into action, she volunteered to work tirelessly for Japanese POWs, held captive in Colorado. Even the hardest among them was deeply moved by her compassion and service.

When one of them returned to Japan, he told the story of the girl whose parents had been murdered by their troops, yet served them out of love. Listening to his words, one friend was shocked beyond belief. Her actions made no sense according to the Bushido code he was reared with. Picking up a copy of the New Testament in a train station, he read the words: "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." He was converted to Christ on the spot.

This former Japanese air force pilot spent the rest of his life preaching healing and reconciliation in Japan and the United States. His name was Mitsuo Fuchida, his fame was that he was the pilot who led the attack on Pearl Harbor! Someone stated that conversion has three parts: a. disillusionment, b. encounter, and c. transformation. Often a faith-filled person precipitates the first stage by living, forgiving, and loving in such a way that another person becomes disillusioned with their life and hungry for more. Peggy Covell's mercy brought peace and Christ to a man who started the war that killed her parents. One saint said: "God almighty would in no way allow evil, were He not so good and all-powerful that from that evil He would work good." The horror experienced by the Hopevale martyrs leads credence to that" 

NOTE: Mitsuo Fuchida, became a Baptist preacher and served the Lord the rest of his life. This is the man who actually started WW2 for the United States, by leading the attack on Pearl Harbor.