"Encourage one another daily" (Hebrews 3:13).
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation.

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

This one's a little long but it's a great story. When I lived in New England I attended a state Convention of the Gideons, a men's organization committed to the distribution of the Bible and heard a remarkable testimony regarding the power of God's Word and a faithful, persistent witness.  I spoke to the man who shared the testimony following the meeting and he also shared it in our church service the following Sunday morning.

John Parkinson joined the Marines during World War II and was given a small Gideon New Testament and Psalms. He had no interest in spiritual things at the time but still carried the Testament in his pocket. A short time after enlisting he met a fellow Marine by the name of Charlie Kline, who bore witness to Christ and persistently tried to persuade John to become a follower of Christ, but John just as persistently refused.

The war was over by the time John got to Okinawa and upon the completion of his first term of service he returned home to his farm in upstate New York. But he determined that there was nothing to keep him there so he re-enlisted.

This time he was traveling through the Mediterranean when lo and behold he met up with Charlie Kline again, who was still witnessing for Christ. And John was still rejecting.

While at sea the Korean War broke out and they were deployed to Korea and were a part of the famed Inchon landing. They marched inland and just when it appeared the war was nearly over the Chinese entered the war and John described the horrendous battles that followed in November 1950.

One night he and Charlie were two of only 6 men left from the original 96 men in his unit and things looked hopeless.  Again Charlie witnessed to John but he again refused, angrily shoving Charlie away.

But later that same night in desperation John cried out to God. He pulled out his Testament and "randomly" turned to the 23rd Psalm where he read the phrase "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." This was remarkable as he looked out on the valley filled with death, since he had no Christian training or Bible knowledge at all.

John did make it out and immediately found a chaplain who led him to the Lord. He was curious about Charlie, but several thought they had seen him removed on a stretcher and he was assumed dead. John returned to upstate New York and this time the farm looked pretty good! He married and began to farm.

Now, "the rest of the story":

Years later he joined the Gideons and began to share his testimony. In 1985 he was at a Gideon's convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While being introduced he noticed a commotion in the back of the room. A man stood up and shouted "we finally got ya!"  It was none other than Charlie Kline!

What a reunion that was! As it turned out Charlie had gotten separated from the rest of the unit that dark night in 1950 and lost his direction. He walked right into the Chinese camp and had to spend three nights in a culvert in sub freezing temperatures to avoid detection. He also eventually made it out, but of course had no idea what happened to John. At least not until 35 years later!
 
 
Be encouraged today and keep spreading the Word!


Stephen C. Weber


I would be especially pleased to hear of similar testimonies of God’s deliverance in the midst of seemingly hopeless situations. If you have a story you would like to share please share it with me.

"Living today anchored in God's solid foundation"