August, 2003
Dear Ministry Partner,
Could a Christian missionary to the
American
Navajo Indians be responsible for rescuing our nation from
defeat in World
War Two? Philip
Johnston's parents dedicated their lives in missionary service
to the Navajo Indians. The Johnstons built the Navajos houses
to live in and provided them with food, medicine, and other care
in addition to ministering to them spiritually. Their son, Philip,
was raised on the reservation. Philip was fluent enough in the
Navajo language to be a Navajo translator in the presence of President
Theodore Roosevelt by the time he was 9 years old when his
father, W.R. Johnston, took two Indians with him to Washington
D.C. to get more help for the Navajos. Philip lived on the reservation
for over 22 years, and was one of only 28 non-Navajos (mostly
missionaries) able to speak the Navajo language during the WWII
years.
At the onset of WWII, both the Japanese
and the Germans were able to quickly break the American military
coded communications. As a result, the enemy was waiting for the
American troops wherever they went, and even worse, the enemy
would sometimes intercept and alter the transmissions to confuse
or lure the Americans to great harm. This was a tightly held secret
for fear of demoralizing the troops. And it was a grave threat
to the outcome of the war.
Philip had served in WWI, and knew
the need for fast, securely coded communications. Philip knew
the Navajo language was perfect for the task, since the Navajos
had no written language and the dialect was very difficult for
foreigners. In the fall of 1942, Philip took several Navajos with
him and demonstrated how the Navajos could "talk
code". The Marine Corp was impressed, and agreed
to try it with 30 recruits. But the real challenge was how to
get the Navajos to want to help the U.S. government. It had only
been 78 years since the "Long March" at gun point to
their current reservation, and many Navajos had starved to death
depending on the government to meet their needs. In addition,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt had just removed the sheep from
the Navajo reservation (because of environmental concerns of over-grazing
and erosion) even though the Navajos relied on sheep herds for
sustenance. The Navajos had been mistreated continually by the
U.S. government, encouraged to abandon their native language,
and were not even allowed to vote in the 1940's. Now they were
being asked to not only serve in the U.S. military overseas, but
even give their lives if they were captured. What could make them
agree to this?
The Christian character of Philip
Johnston was the answer. What they might not do for the U.S. government,
they would do for Philip Johnston — a man who had demonstrated
through his life and family true Christian character: appreciation,
caring, commitment, compassion, courage, dependability, friendship,
honesty, humility, integrity, loyalty, perseverance, respect,
service, and trust. With Philip Johnston inducted into the Marine
Corps as the first Navajo recruiter and instructor, 29 Navajo
men began their training and service. Within a short time, about
400 or more Navajos were "code
talkers" in both the Pacific and European theaters
of the war.
This was a major reason for the change
in direction of the war. In the Pacific, Navajo code talkers were
secretly instrumental in major battles such as Guadalcanal, Tarawa,
Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. On Iwo Jima, Major Howard Connor,
5th Marine Division Signal officer, declared, "Were it
not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima."
Major Connor had six Navajo Code Talkers who worked around the
clock during the first two days of the battle sending and receiving
over 800 messages — all without error. The code talkers
on the island did things like radio the coordinates for artillery
strikes from Navy ships offshore against Japanese positions that
were slaughtering the Marines trying to get off the beaches (23,000
casualties). The Japanese couldn't stop these messages. A captured
Japanese officer declared the Japanese code breakers on the island
had broken all the other codes — but not the Marines! The
Japanese Chief of Intelligence, Lieutenant General Seizo Arisue,
said they were able to break the Army and Air Force codes, but
not the "Marines" (the Navajos). I understand that Hollywood
(usually inaccurate) made a movie about the Navajo code talkers,
and while I have not seen it, I would be surprised if it brought
out the key role a Christian missionary played in saving our nation.
Everyone wants to see God. Most people's
lives would be radically changed if they could see God. Many would
willingly serve and even risk their lives for God if they had
seen Him. Philip Johnston proved people can see God — by
Philip's demonstration of God's character attributes through a
human vessel. Philip Johnston and his family demonstrated the
reality and nature of God by their selfless Christian ministry.
God only knows that it may have taken two generations of Johnstons
demonstrating God's character to win the trust of the Navajos
— and just in time for the survival of the United States,
too. The Navajos saw forgiveness in the lives of the Johnstons,
and therefore were able to forgive the wrongs done to them by
the U.S. government.
Concerning "seeing" God,
Hebrews
1:2-3 says that Jesus was "the express image
of His person." The NAS translation says Jesus
was "the exact representation of His nature."
Along these lines, Colossians
1:15 says Jesus "is the image of the invisible
God." And 2nd
Corinthians 4:4 says Christ "is the image
of God". In John
14:9, Jesus said, "He
who has seen Me has seen the Father."
This is obviously not referring to His height, weight, eyes, and
nose. What is meant by these scriptures is people had seen the
nature of the Father — the character of God, when they saw
how Jesus lived and acted. It is important to note that Jesus
performed no miracles for His first 30 years — He just demonstrated
what God was like each and every day. It is solid Christian character
that sways the masses toward God. I am all for miracles and supernatural
ministry, but if such a miracle-working minister has a major moral
failure — the masses no longer are able to receive ministry
from such a person. And the New Testament even teaches that such
a minister is disqualified from public ministry leadership (1st
Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus
1:5-11). Certainly God can forgive, and He can use people
in marvelous ways, but usually many years of living right needs
to be demonstrated before a fallen minister can resume position.
Public ministry leadership is scrutinized by the unbelieving masses
who do not understand forgiveness and restoration.
There is a historic, classic difference
between "image management" (what many politicians do)
and "authentic Christian character". Even some ministers
and priests have engaged in image management for the hour or two
they are in the pulpit. It is easy to show your best side for
two hours. The harder part is the other 166 hours in every week.
When the Johnstons lived with the Navajos for decades, the Navajos
knew their character thoroughly. They had "seen" Jesus.
And it changed their lives. While I am an advocate of supernatural
ministry, let me point out that the Johnstons were Presbyterians
and probably never worked a miracle or healing in all those decades
among the Navajos. They probably could have had an even greater
effect on that reservation if supernatural ministry had been added,
but the power of just their Christian character was enough to
win the battle for their souls.
We need to keep striving to develop
and manifest the character of God to those around us. If people
really get to know us, they should be able to say, "He
is a man of God" or "She is a woman of God."
No human is perfect, but our overall Christian character should
easily overshadow our various faults. And focusing on Christian
character does not mean abandoning the gifts of the Spirit and
Charismatic ministry, but Christian character will make the positive
effects of Charismatic ministry much more permanent. Charismatic
ministry's greatest criticism has been the lack of character in
some who have performed supernatural results for a time. Of course,
Charismatic history is littered with names of men and women who
did remarkable ministry for a time, but moral failure removed
their influence and demand in the society in which they lived.
Keep remembering Galatians
6:9-10, "Let us not grow weary while doing
good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially
to those who are of the household of faith."
Endeavoring to live the Word,
Dale & Judi Leander |