The Village That Lived By The Bible by Clarence W. Hall |
Original
title: "The Man Who No One Remembers |
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Sent by
Rev. David Liebenberg, who
writes: |
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"We are
missionaries working in |
It was early in 1945 when, as a war
correspondent on |
Barring
their way were two little old men; they bowed low and began to speak. |
The
battle-hardened sergeant, wary of tricks, held up his hand, summoned an
interpreter. The interpreter shook his head. "I don't get it. Seems
we're being welcomed as 'fellow Christians". One says he's the mayor of
the village, the other's the schoolmaster. That's a Bible the older one has
in his hand..." |
Guided by
the two old men - Mojun Nakamura the mayor and Shosei Kina the schoolmaster -
we cautiously toured the compound. We'd seen other Okinawan villages,
uniformly down-at-the-heels and despairing; by contrast, this one shone like
a diamond in a dung heap. Everywhere we were greeted by smiles and dignified
bows. Proudly the two old men showed us their spotless homes, their terraced
fields, fertile and neat, their storehouses and granaries, their prized sugar
mill. |
Gravely
the old men talked on, and the interpreter said, "They've met only one
American before, long ago. Because he was a Christian they assume we are, too
- though they can't quite understand why we came in shooting." |
Piecemeal,
the incredible story came out. Thirty years before, an American missionary on
his way to |
Picking
their way through the Bible, the two converts had found not only an inspiring
"Person" on whom to pattern a life, but sound precepts on which to
base their society. They'd adopted the Ten Commandments as Shimabuku's legal
code; the Sermon on the Mount as their guide to social conduct. In Kina's
school the Bible was the chief literature; it was read daily by all students,
and major passages were memorised. In Nakamura's village government the
precepts of the Bible were law. Nurtured on this Book, a whole generation of
Shimabukans had drawn from it their ideas of human dignity and of the rights
and responsibilities of citizenship. The result was plain to see. Shimabuku
for years had had no jail, no brothel, no drunkenness, no divorce; there was
a high level of health and happiness. |
Next day,
the tide of battle swept us on. But a few days later, during a lull, I requisitioned
a jeep and a Japanese speaking driver and went back to Shimabuku. Over the
winding roads outside the village, huge truck convoys and endless lines of
American troops moved dustily; behind them lumbered armoured tanks, heavy
artillery. But inside, Shimabuku was an oasis of serenity. |
Once again
I strolled through the quiet village streets, soaking up Shimabuku's calm.
There was a sound of singing. We followed it and came to Nakamura's house,
where a curious religious service was under way. Having no knowledge of
churchly forms or ritual, the Shimabukans had developed their own. There was
much Bible reading by Kina, repeated in singsong fashion by the worshipers.
Then came hymn singing. The tunes of the two hymns the missionary had taught
-"Fairest Lord Jesus" and "All Hail the Power of Jesus'
Name" - had naturally suffered some changes, but they were recognisable. |
Swept up
in the spirit of "All Hail the Power," we joined in. After many prayers,
voiced spontaneously by people in the crowd, there was a discussion of
community problems. With each question, Kina turned quickly to some Bible
passage to find the answer. The book's imitation-leather cover was cracked
and worn, its pages stained and dog-eared from 30 years' constant use. Kina
held it with the reverent care one would use in handling the original Magna
Carta. |
The
service over, we waited as the crowd moved out, and my driver whispered
hoarsely, "So this is what comes out of only a Bible and a couple of old
guys who wanted to live like Jesus!', Then, with a glance at a shell-hole, he
murmured, "Maybe we're using the wrong kind of weapons." |
Time had
dimmed the Shimabukans' memory of the missionary; neither Kina nor Nakamura
could recall his name. They did remember his parting statement. As expressed
by Nakamura, it was: "Study this Book well. It will give you strong
faith in the creator God. And when your faith in God is strong , everything
is strong." |
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From: http://www.crossroad.to/ |