“It is a tragedy when a man has no invisible means of support.”
T. J. Bach
Some weeks ago, I was given a book by some dear friends, entitled “We Thought We Heard the Angels Sing,” by James C. Whittaker. The book tells the true survival story of some World War II pilots whose plane crashed into the Pacific. The book is now out of print, but the story is well worth retelling. What are we to do when all hope is apparently lost? What if we are cut off from the necessities of life, like food and water, and put in a position where our very survival is at risk? What role can our faith in God play in benefitting the lives of others?
It was October 21, 1942. There were seven on board the big B-24 Liberator bomber. The five-man crew of US Army Air Corps servicemen were tasked with flying the world-famous Eddie Rickenbacker and an aide on a secret mission for the War Department. Eddie was America’s No. 1 ace of World War I, having knocked down more German war planes that any other American. The mission was to fly from Hickam Field, Oahu to a south Pacific Island some 1700 miles to the southwest.
The flight left in the early morning, and things proceeded per usual until they arrived in the area in which the island should have been located. Somehow, the navigation had gone awry, and they couldn’t find their island. Most likely, the octant, an optical instrument used to ascertain latitude and longitude, had been damaged in a preceding runway mishap. Planes in that era had a backup means for determining their location but unfortunately the device was broken somehow and did not work either.
After exhausting their fuel supply, the crew had no choice but to attempt to safely land that big plane in the open seas. As far as the crew knew, no four-motored land plane had ever set down at sea without causalities. It was decided that it would be best to attempt to land in the trough—the valley between two waves. Amazingly, the pilot successfully landed the plane, slowing from 90 miles an hour to a stop in a mere 30 feet, with no loss of life. The crew scrambled to disembark, pulling the ripcord to unleash the two life rafts. The two rafts were hardly big enough to hold the seven men, the larger raft only measuring 2.5 feet by 5.5 feet in its interior dimensions, but they somehow made it work. Those rafts would be their home for the next three weeks.
The crew inventoried their belongings. Besides their clothing, they had two air pumps, two sheath knives, two pistols, two sets of aluminum oars, some fish lines and hooks, four oranges (that was the extent of their food supply), some personal belongings (including paper and writing utensils), and one man’s pocket New Testament (which proved itself to be the most important item on board).
There they were, adrift at sea, accompanied by an occasional bird and surrounded by a small fleet of tiger sharks. Some of their finned friends were 10-12 feet long. The men were exposed to severe heat during the day, and alternatively cold at night. They developed blisters that were aggravated by the exposure to seawater. But the greatest threat to their survival was having no water to drink or food to eat. The four oranges didn’t last long!
One of the crewmen, a man by the name of Johnny, possessed a pocket sized, khaki bound New Testament. It had a zipper arrangement that made it waterproof. Though the rest of the men were not spiritually minded, they’d soon come to better understand and appreciate Johnny’s book and Johnny’s God.
Dire circumstances can surely work to change our perspective on the relative importance of a thing. Those men who would likely never had attended a prayer meeting of any sort were now engaging in that very thing day by day. They’d recite the Lord’s prayer together. Johnny and others would read certain passages. On one occasion, they were reading from Matthew chapter 6, where it says, “Therefore, take ye no thought, saying: ‘What shall we eat? Or ‘What shall we drink?’ or, “Wherewithal shall we be clothed?’ For these are things the heathen seek. For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things?” Can you imagine reading that passage in that setting?
It had been five day’s time. They had shared four oranges, three minnows, one morsel of raw fish, and a fragment of a sea swallow between them. They had drunk no water. They pulled the rafts together for their morning prayer meeting. They read again from the passage in Matthew chapter six about not being anxious for food and water. Then Johnny led them in a prayer, saying: “Old Master, we know this isn’t a guarantee we’ll eat in the morning. But we’re in awful fix, as You know. We sure are counting on a little something by day after tomorrow, at least. See what You can do for us.”
After praying, he fired off a flare into the sky hoping that they might be seen by someone. But the flare’s propulsion charge was faulty, and the flaming ball rose only 50 feet or so before falling back among the rafts. It hissed and zigzagged in the water, blazing with a brilliant light. In the depths, they could see a barracuda pursuing a school of fish. Suddenly, two fair sized specimens broke water and landed in their raft. They cut up the fish and shared them together. It was their seventh day at sea. God provided in amazing fashion!
The next day was especially hot. Broiling under the afternoon sun, and surrounded by the cool and inviting salt water, their thoughts turned towards their thirst. That night Johnny prayed for water instead of food, saying, “Old Master, we called on You for food and You delivered. We ask You now for water. We’ve done the best we could. If You don’t make up Your mind to help us pretty soon, I guess that’s all there’ll be to it. It looks like the next move is up to You.”
Some hours later, a darkening cloud caught the attention of the crew. The cloud soon passed overhead and a deluge of rain fell upon those thirsty men. It splashed in their dry mouths and washed away the caked salt from their skin. They cupped their hands to gather the water and then into their mouths. They soon realized they needed to find a means to acquire more water. They used their dry shirts to soak up water, which they then squeezed out into their mouths. And they managed to store up a quart of water in a life vest.
In the days that followed, the men endured through hunger and thirst and exposure and exhaustion. One man died. Various mishaps threatened. On the 13th day, they again found themselves desperately in need of water. A rainstorm had approached, but then a wind blew it in a different direction.
The author of the book, a man named James (Jim) C. Whittaker, had not been a religious man. But Johnny’s prayers and God’s answers had worked to lead Jim to faith. Most everyone had given up hope. They wouldn’t survive too much longer. Having witnessed for himself the power of God in answering prayer before, Jim prayed: “God. You know what that water means to us. The wind has blown it away. It is in Your power, God, to send back that rain. It’s nothing to You, but it means life to us. God, the wind is Yours. You own it. Order it to blow back that rain to us who will die without it.”
Miraculously, the crew watched as the storm moved with what the author deemed “majestic deliberation.” It was as if a great and omnipotent hand were guiding it to the crew. They caught a great store of water.
The following days were the worst. Their bodies weakened from lack of food, were but a mass of ulcers. There was no breeze to move them in any hopeful direction.
It was on the 21st day when the author was awakened by his shipmate grabbing his shoulder and crying out his name. He thought he was seeing something but thought maybe it was just a mirage. Amazingly, in the distance, perhaps 12 miles away, a line of palm trees stretched across the horizon. At 6:30 am of November 11th, Jim began to row to shore. By noon, they reached a point less than 250 yards from shore! Then something happened. A current worked to propel them back out to sea. Try as he might, as weakened as he was, Jim could make no headway. Only a miracle could set our feet on shore, he concluded. Then he recalled all the previous miracles. He cried out to God for strength. Half an hour later, he was still rowing and making progress. Somehow, strength surged back into his shoulders and arms. The raft rolled steadily through the foam towards the shore. Though buffeted by a rainstorm and with sharks all around, Jim brought the raft to land. The lift of a swell worked to land the raft on the shore. It was their first solid ground in three weeks.
A delegation of islanders soon came to their aid. The US military was contacted and soon came to their rescue. Johnny’s New Testament, and his faith in God, had worked to keep those men alive. The author wrote of it in his conclusion: “I don’t think there was a man of us who didn’t thank God for that little khaki covered book. It led us to pray, and prayer led us to safety. I since heard that Johnny intends to become a minister after the war. No matter how many souls he saves from the pulpit, no matter how many lives he changes for the better, he can always remember his first pulpit; an elongated rubber doughnut, painted a brilliant yellow and tossing in the trackless Pacific.”
What an incredible story of God’s protection and provision in the midst of a most hopeless situation! Hopefully it’ll work to encourage us to trust in God all the more amidst our own struggles.
They were much encouraged by Jesus’ admonition to not be anxious. And if they were to not be anxious in such dire straits, how much more should we refrain from worry. As is frequently the case in times of trouble, their situation worked to move them all to pray. And they found as they did that our merciful God was prepared to intervene on their behalf.
We live in times of great uncertainty. The storm clouds of pending trouble are gathering on the horizon. Those men set a good example for us to follow of how we should all respond. It certainly is a good time for all of us to pray for God’s wisdom and strength to meet the demands of the troubling times that are headed our way.
It’s also instructive to note how God used one man and the Word to better the lives of everyone around him. The most important man in that group was the man having faith in God. The truth bound up in that little New Testament worked to dramatically change the course of events for those men. It reminds us of what happened when the Apostle Paul sailed on board a doomed ship with his fellow passengers. In these evil days, it’s good to be that one who is trusting God amidst the storms of life—that others might look where you are looking—that they might find salvation in Jesus, and in Him, grace and mercy to help in their time of need!
LookingtoJesus 