T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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Official V. S. Marina Corps Photo
When Marines Sing,"He Holds My Hand” By CHAPLA IN E. HARLAN FISCHER* U. S. Marine Corps
may be out in the South Pacific, fight ing in order that such services can be conducted not only here but all over the world sis well. One of the most encouraging signs of our work is the way the men go after the New Testaments. Does not God’s Word say, “My word . . . shall not return unto me void” ? We give out approximately five hundred Testa ments every Sunday. These books are wanted, and they are read. Marines know from the experiences of others who have spent days in the open seas on life rafts that the New Testaments are not just put away in sea bags and forgotten. Sometimes the boys are ridiculed, but most of them have enough of what it takes to ignore the jeers. This is God’s Word they are taking with them. Only He kn^ws what it w ill mean to them in the days that lie ahead. Interest in a Deeper Life One day a Southern boy came into the office and said he was out of fe l lowship with the- Lord and didn’t know what to do. He had been neg lecting prayer, reading the Word, and attending church services. He was un happy, and wanted help. It was not hard to bring this boy back into com munion again. He was happy in his recovered joy, and he returned to his
The men went back to their huts, many of them with New Testaments to read. We knew some would medi tate on the message of the morning. A few were under real conviction be cause the Spirit was striving with their hearts. Later in the week a father in the Mid-West wrote, “ I have a boy . . . [giving his name]. He was in the service there last Sunday. The speaker talked good. My boy felt like crying. That evening he prayed through. Since then he is a different boy.” The old gospel still is the power o f God unto salvation to every one who believes. Responsive to the Gospel These young men come here from all parts of our nation. They are proud of the title United States Marines. They know there is the possibility that they may never come back, con sequently the majority of them are responsive to the gospel invitation. The gospel appeals to red-blooded men, for it takes a real man to be a Christian Marine. A short time ago, Percy Crawfordf and his quartet conducted a service at our base. When the invitation was given, at least a thousand men raised their hands signifying that they want ed to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. These were men who by now
WO THOUSAND Marines were singing the chorus: “He holds my hand, Jesus holds my hand; Safely to heaven He leads the way, He is my keeper from day to day; He holds my hand,
Jesus holds my hand; The road may be long, But my Saviour is strong, And He holds my hand.” **
Church service was over. As the men were filing out of the auditorium, one lad came forward to have a word with the Chaplain. He said simply, “I want Jesus to hold my hand.” ' The Chaplain sat down with this eighteen-year-old boy and ■led him into the knowledge of Christ Jesus as Saviour and Lord. *Graduate of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Class of 1926v The picture on the cover of this magazine is that of Chaplain Fischer with children of a brother chaplain, **Words and music by Norman J. Clayton. Copyright, 1938. Published in The King’s Songs. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. Used by permission. t Heard from, coast to coast as Director of the Young People's, Church of the Air, Mr. Crauf- ford, like the author of this article, is a graduate of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.
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