Jacob DeShazer, US, US Army Air Corps Bombardier December 29. Jacob DeShazer. On December 7, 1941, in a surprise attack, hundreds of Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor and inflicted much damage, including 8 battleships and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died, and another 1000 were wounded. Within a month, the United States had planned its own surprise attack on Tokyo and four other Japanese cities, and—in April—the attack was led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. Sixteen bombers and eighty volunteer bombardiers were to attack and then fly to the safety of the east coast of China, which they did, but of the sixteen bombers, some landed in China and some crashed there. Some were helped by the Chinese people, but DeShazer and his team were captured by the Japanese. On this date in 1948, DeShazer returned to Japan as a missionary, and during his stay there, he established 23 new Christian churches throughout Japan. Listen to this. Hate can’t destroy a man who is determined to obey Christ. DeShazer was a bombardier—one of the eighty men in the famous Doolittle Raid over Japan shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. During the raid, DeShazer and his fellow crewmen bailed out of their B-25 Bomber over China and were taken captive by the Japanese as prisoners of war. The Japanese moved DeShazer from one prison camp to another, where he saw how the Japanese treated Chinese citizens. He wondered how humans could to that to others. “It was the first time that I had ever been in such a wicked environment,” he said. He soon realized they would treat him and his fellow air-crewman the same way. They spent most of their time in solitary confinement and faced beatings and the threat of execution nearly every day. They lived on meager rations and received no treatment for illnesses like dysentery and beriberi. As DeShazer endured the endless days with no news of the war or his release, his hatred for his captors deepened. Another prisoner, Lieutenant Robert Meder had shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with DeShazer. The Japanese allowed the prisoners a few privileges, so DeShazer asked for a Bible. He had been raised in a Christian home, but the Bible had no real significance for him. He sat in his cell under poor lighting and read the Scriptures over several weeks. He memorized as much of it as he could. In Romans, he read, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 ESV). Now DeShazer believed in Jesus, and became his apprentice. Salvation was in his heart, but his body remained locked in a cell. And the day after his conversion, one of the guards assaulted DeShazer. The day before, he would have reacted differently. But now, he remembered the words of Jesus: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43–44 ESV). DeShazer chose to love the guard rather than hate him. He spoke to him kindly no matter the circumstance, and over time, the guard became friendlier. God healed the relationship between prisoner and guard. DeShazer spent more than a year after his conversion in captivity. On August 20, 1945, he was finally released, and only a few years later, he returned to Japan as a missionary preaching love and forgiveness to the Japanese people. Japanese citizen and former pilot Mitsuo Fuchida had led the attack on Pearl Harbor—the incident that had so deeply angered DeShazer. After the war, Fuchida read one of DeShazer’s pamphlets and became so persuaded that he gave his life to Christ. The pair connected and began to preach alongside one another. Is there someone who has hurt you that you could pray for today? Hate can’t destroy a man who is determined to obey Christ. DeShazer, Jacob. “Jacob DeShazer’s Personal Testimony.” ATS Digital Resources. Whitmore, KY: Marston Memorial Historical Center, 2012. Accessed August 21, 2020. https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ ecommonsatsdigitalresources/38/. Goldstein, Dr. Donald M. and Carol Aiko DeShazer Dixon. “A Doolittle Raider’s Story of War and Forgiveness.” Return of the Raider. Accesses August 21, 2020. http://www.jacobdeshazer.com/. “Doolittle Raid 18 April 1942.” Naval History and Heritage Command. Published May 10, 2019. https:// www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1942/halsey-doolittle- raid.html. Story read by Blake Mattocks Story written by Darren Sapp, [email protected] .