MacArthur’s story connects with Fuchida’s story.
As I reread some of God’s Samurai, I saw how MacArthur’s mission to reach Japan for with the Gospel helped Fuchida in coming to Christ. I hadn’t noticed it before. Of course, I had not read about MacArthur’s drive to bring Christianity to Japan until now. I almost blogged about it last, but decided it deserved its own post.
MacArthur’s role in Fuchida’s salvation
As I mentioned in my last post, Fuchida was saved through the Pocket Testament League. How did their ministry happen to have tracts and Bibles? General Douglas MacArthur.
In 1949, the League expressed a desire to reach Japan for Christ to none other than General MacArthur. They told him they hoped to print a million copies of the New Testament in Japanese. MacArthur’s response?
“Make it ten million! The opportunity to win a nation only comes once in the history of that nation.”
Wow! His statement gives me chills. I can still hardly fathom that General MacArthur made it his mission to bring Christianity to the Japanese people after forcing them to surrender unconditionally just a few months earlier. They were his bitter enemies who brutally killed tens of thousands of the men under his command and attacked his country.
Yet now, MacArthur directed all his energy and efforts to seeing their souls saved, leaving little doubt in my mind that God called him to Japan at that moment in time.
The League gladly used his name in asking for contributions. People readily responded. If their hero General MacArthur wanted ten million New Testaments, they would absolutely make that happen and they did. They also raised enough money to sponsor evangelistic meetings in Japan. Yes, MacArthur’s name made a huge difference with the Pocket League’s ministry and would lead to Fuchida finding Jesus.
Think about. Fuchida wanted a Japanese Bible. However, even if he could find one, he feared he couldn’t afford it. It turned out that he was able to find an affordable Bible. Why? Because MacArthur lent his support to the Pocket League mission.
Yes, Fuchida had a bible because General MacArthur, whom he had never met personally and didn’t even like! That was no coincidence. Only God could make something like that happen. There is no other way to explain it.
This is why I love studying historical figures. As I read about one historical figure like Mitsuo Fuchida, I discover that they either knew or were influenced by someone else, such as Jacob DeShazer or General Douglas MacArthur. In reading God’s Hand on America by Michael Medved, I learned about Mitsuo Fuchida. Medved only mentioned him in passing, but I was shocked to learn that the commander of the Pearl Harbor Raid was saved. Of course, I had to find out his story,
When I read God’s Samurai, his biography, I learned about Jacob DeShazer and how God called him to preach the Gospel to the Japanese. Then, when I read DeShazer’s biography, I learned that the Doolittle Raiders supported his ministry. I also discovered that at least a few of them were Christians. I had no idea about any of this, even though I knew about the Doolittle Raiders.
It’s amazing how these seemingly unrelated figures connect and how their lives and actions intertwine with each other at just the right moment in time. The only way that could happen was if one person wrote all their stories and that is exactly what happened. Their stories were all written by one Author, God. Their stories are chapters in His story. That’s why they fit together perfectly.