I’ve been reading Tears in the Darkness, a history of the Bataan Death March, one of the most horrendous events of WW2, by Michael Norman. Seventy five thousand Filipino and American soldiers surrendered to the Japanese on Bataan.  Many were simply executed; the remainder was forced to march 60 miles in jungle heat, starved, abused, and terribly treated by their captors.  One story caught my imagination.

The captives were dying of starvation, dehydration, illness and wounds.  To fall was to die. Their route took them through villages and cities.  The survivors told how courageous villagers would give them water and food despite punishments of their Japanese guards. Often the villagers would throw food at the starving men and then hide or run away to keep from being punished.  Some would run into the columns with coconut shells of water for the captives, despite the clubbing and bayoneting by the Japanese.  No doubt many captives were kept alive by these sacrificial actions and provisions.

There were sincere believers among these villagers who felt God wanted them to help these prisoners, but most of these people helped simply because of compassion for human suffering. And no doubt there were believers among the captives who had prayed for someone to help them, but most of the recipients of this mercy just received the offerings with a sense of gratitude.

Job told his “comforters” that contempt for calamity is the thought of him who is at ease.  I cannot imagine the misery and horror these captives faced, nor the fear the villagers overcame in order to help them.  Have you ever said “Somebody ought to do something.”? These villagers did something. Small things, courageous things, things that made a difference for a day, and for a lifetime.

Somebody ought to do something about the people around us who are dying without Christ.  Somebody ought to do something about the children growing up lost.  Somebody ought to do something about the people marching into the open maw of eternal hell.  Maybe you could do something.

Maybe you could begin to pray for some lost people.  Maybe you could ask your waitress about church and her relationship to Christ.  Maybe the lady in the quick-stop where you get gas would like to hear about Jesus from you.  Maybe you could teach some children in Sunday School or VBS.  Maybe you could learn a simple way to invite someone to receive Christ.

Somebody ought to do something.  Doomed men and women march through your presence daily.  Take a risk, do something to lead them to Christ.

The Evangelism and Church Growth Team of the ABSC can help you “do something” to reach the lost” ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) .This blog is posted every Friday.  You can sign up for an RSS feed on the page that took you to the blog. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it