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ability or courage? Had they found out they could not even trust in their plane, no matter how gallant? I did not know—but I prayed it might be so. , At first, I had to get the crew out of bed each Sunday morning to go to church. But after our close call in •the Berlin raid, it was thby. who got, me out of bed! I did not know at first just how real their experience with Christ had been. They were all hesitant in expressing themselves,. But the whole crew seemed eager to give credit to the Lord for His care over us. And I was; to learn more of their simple faith in taking God at -»His Word. Our crew became almost a legend to the others and one after another of the bombing crews would ask: “How do you explain ^our getting through all the time?” “It is tlfe Lord bringing us through,” various members of our crew would answer. [Continued on Page 348j
al problems and I prayed for them— not as a bunch—but for each fellow. The first indication to cheer me^ came after we reached England. A Flying Fortress had been shot down in a recent raid and the plane as signed to us was to replace it. The lost plane had been named “Hell’s Angels, II” and, as was the -custom, our plane was to have been “Hell’s Angels, III.” To my surprise, the crew objected. “You can’t mix Hell and Divinity,” one of them said. And the name was changed!. The next encouragement came with their willingness to go to church with me. One of the privileges I had en joyed in England was the opportunity to visit some of the churches and hear men of God give out the Word. Our own chaplain was good, too. After a few raids, the meik of our crew agreed to go to church with me. Were they beginning to realize that they could no longer trust in their own
Grins of joy spread over the tired faces of the crew. But my joy was not .alone, in the fact that we had suc cessfully and safely accomplished a dangerous mission, a task for which we had been trained for many' long months. It came instead from: the words of the waist-gunner who turned to me and said, a bit embarrassed: “Say, you know I thought it was all up with us there for a time. Then the strang est thing happened. I suddenly thought of the Twenty-third JJsalm. j couldn’t remember , it all, but these words began to go through my mind, over and over: 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear'no evil: for thou art with me.’’’ “It was that song we sang so much that helped me,” the top-turret gunner put in. “Those words, ‘Abide with Me,’ rang in ¿my ears all the way back, and I guess I made them a kind of prayer. And He did abide, all right.” The soft green of the English coun tryside seemed to fade from view, and in my thoughts I was once more on a dusty training field in Texas, meeting the group of men—all Of us strangers to each other—the crew that was to train together and fight together from a B-17.- I was twenty, the youngest of that group. And, I soon learned, I was the only one who had made a definite transaction with the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Lord had accepted me that night in the congregation of the Vermont Avenue Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, I had promised to serve Him wherever H§ led. But it was erne thing to be active for Christ ,in Ihy home church, surrounded by those who. loved the Lord. This army life was something different. It had always been hard for me to speak to people. Could my witness count here? I looked about me at the men. None of them showed any evidence of hav ing met thè Lord. They were a: fine, hard-hitting bunch of fellows, but with little thought of spiritual things. And then there came to my .mind a thought from a devotional book I had been reading: “Ye shall receive only , what your faith expects.’’ Then and there I claimed the men for the Lord. I had tried to approach the fellows 'in those first days of training. But, ¡almost as one, their reply was: “It’s O.K. for you, Phil, but not for me. I get along all right.” \ One of the fellows admitted to me that his father was a Christian and was praying for him. But he had never felt his own need. He did consent to have prayer with me, but he did not make a definite stand. There didn’t seem to be much hope in talking to the fellows. I realized I must live Christ, and by prayer commit eachjone to Him. I soon learned ’their individu-
The Lord brought us through.
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