THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NES S
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SYNOPSIS OF PART I When the theater of tear opened in the South Pacific after Pearl Harbor, Mr. and Mrs. Mouw were working as missionaries among the Dyaks of Dutch West Borneo. North Borneo fell to the Japanese before the close of December, 1941, but it was some weeks be fore West Borneo was invaded. Reluctant tar leave their spiritual responsibility among the Dyaks, they remained at their mission sta tion as long as possible. Finally, they made their way down the river to Pontianak, the coast city, to take passage for Java. While, waiting in Pontianak, the city was attacked from the air and set in flames. The missionaries returned to their boat as the only means of escape.
“If you will try, I’ll go with you to Katapang.” “Do you know the way?” I asked. “Better than any living man,” he said simply, and he was not boast ing, as I was to find out. This was another indication of God’s leading, and it comforted our hearts. The Lord’s Protection Our trip up the river toward Kata pang was not without its excitement and even danger,,but with each dan ger a cle^r indication of the Lord’s protection was given us. One night we smelled gasoline, but could find no leak. Then I discovered the gasoline was on thé water. Round ing a bend in the river, later, wë came upon Dutch soldiers dumping hundreds of sixty-gallon drums of aviation gasoline from a large barge, into the river. After we had passed this, we breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God for protecting us. Had thère been a spark from the engine or a match struck, the river would have flamed and we would have been tra veling through a river of fire. Isaiah 43:2 came to me with peculiar force: “When t h o u passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” God had protected us when water almost filled the boat,
We continued up stream bouncing over the waves. It was just getting darl^ when my little daughter, who was standing up in the back of the boat, Called, “Daddy, a white man is coming, and he is waving at us.” I looked back and recognized an old friend, a Hollander, whom I had known for six or seven years. His bo t overtook us, and we tied his boat to ours. “Where are you going?” he asked. “ Back to our home station where we’ll at least be among friends,” I answered. “Oh, no, don’t do that,” he protested. “The Japanese know all about you and they will be up there to get you sooner or later." “What are you going to do?” I asked. “I’m going up river about ninety miles. I have enough rice to last a month and I’ll hide out there.” “But some native might give you away,” I objected. There we stood, neither idea any good in the other’s estimation. “What do you think about going to Katapang?” I asked, after a time. “If we send a telegram from there, do you think the American Consul would send an airplane?” he asked. “I’ve tried wiring the 'Consul,” I answered, -“and have had no results, but we can try again.”
Part II T HE RIVER was teeming with nak and the approaching Japanese troops. The glare from the burning city threw an eerie light over the scene, accentuating the. desperate fear on the faces of the people as they sought an escape. Even in the midst of our own danger, my heart went out to them—a people truly without a Shepherd, for ver$ few of them had ever heard of the Lord Jesus Christ and knew no hope beyond this precarious life. ■My thoughts were jerked back to our danger when a large motor boat suddenly sped toward us, causing waves three feet high to splash into our boat. Ohly by throwing a trunk and other heavy articles into the river, not stopping to think of their value, did we avert the danger of sinking. We could have reached shore if the boat had gone down, but there would have been no means for us to travel farther. It was impossible to rent a boat. Money meant nothing to any one. The Japanese were com ing; Dutch guilders wouldn’t be worth anything then.
laden boats of all descriptions. Everywhere people were flee ing from the burning city of Pontia
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