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TRILJMPfl ~AND SACRIFI ...: . OF AMERICAN 5APTIS . MISSIO'N ARIES DURING WW II PHILIPPINES, . :;,.
IN 110PEVALE Wilma Rugh Taylor, editor Elmo Familiaran, consulting itor Ann Qualls, artist Worldwide Gifts of Green Lak Green Lake Conference Center,- WI . ., ;.
NO GREATER LOVE
Copyright 2007 Š by Wilma Rugh Taylor ALL RiGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the author or Worldwide Gifts of Green Lake Conference Center, Green Lake, WI. Worldwide Gifts of Green Lake Conference Center Green Lake, Wisconsin
ISBN 978-1-60402-440-1
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PREFACE n December 20,1943, twelve missionaries commissioned by the American Baptist and the Woman's American Baptist Foreign Mission societies (now International Ministries, ABC I USA) died in the custody of the Japanese Imperial Army on the Island of Panay in the Philippines. So that a new generation may be inspired by the events of their lives hiding in the Panay hills, their capture and martyrdom, their story is retold in ANN Q U ALLS this memorial edition along with the stories of fellow missionaries interned by the Japanese TH E: LOVE: LY ORCHIDS Of TH E: ISLE: Of PANAY who suffered months of extreme hardships. The accounts retold here from Internation- 5E:CAME: SYM 5 0 LlC Of al Ministries and American Baptist Historical THE: SWE:E:T f A IT H Of Society archives and other sources is not one of THE: MISSIONA RIE:S. vindication but of reconciliation. It is not a tale of crimes committed but of grace granted. For throughout all the wars of history and all the atrocious acts by man against man, and amid all the terrors and tears of violence, God performs his awesome mercy.
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To God be the Glory, Wilma Rugh Taylor hristianity was brought to the Philippines in 1521 by Spanish conquistadors in large part as an instrument of imperial colonial policy. The Spaniards became the colonizers of Filipinos for almost four centuries, until 1898. It was not until the turn of the 20th Century, the beginning of the American colonial period, that Protestant missionaries came to the Philippines. Eric Lund was the first missionary sent by the ABFMS to the country in 1900. In 1894 Eric Lund met in Barcelona a young Visayan and native of Panay Island named Braulio Manikan. Manikan had gone to Spain to study civil engineering. He was raised a Roman Catholic and became a Baptist under Eric Lund's tutelage. Together they went to the Philippines and established the first Baptist mission on Panay Island in 1900. In February 1901, the "First Baptist Church" in Jaro, Iloilo City was organized. The 1930s saw the seeds of global despotism and militarism sprouting in strategic regions around the world. In Europe, the Third Reich was growing like a cancer alongside Fascist Italy. In the Pacific,
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the imperial lust for global domination was a gathering storm in Japan. Many American Baptist missionaries responded to the call to missionary service in Asia during that time-to the Philippines, China and Japan in particular. In December 7, 1941 the Air Force of Imperial Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack on the Philippines commenced the following day. The United States declared war against Japan. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society had a total of twenty-one commissioned missionaries serving in the Philippines. Eleven were to have a tragic end in less than two years. Ten of the missionaries connected with the hospital and the college in Iloilo were put in prison in a couple of different locations. They were eventually liberated in 1945 by American Forces. On the final return to the Philippines of General Douglas McArthur, supreme commander of the US forces in the Pacific, the Japanese dug in for a final battle. As the Japanese were gradually being beaten back from their positions, they adopted a "scorched-earth" policy. They destroyed everything in their path of retreat that had anything to do with Americans, and anyone who stood in their way. When the Japanese Imperial Army invaded the Philippines, one of the things they did was go house to house and confiscate Bibles. They then took these Bibles to the town plaza and burned them, in part to send a message and instill fear. At night, my grandmother and grandaunts would gather the children (my father and siblings and cousins) and recite to them scripture passages they had memorized. They required the children to memorize them as well in the belief that they will never see a copy of the Bible again. The Japanese knew the source of strength and fortitude in the people they came to conquer; it was not in their military might, but in their faith. he sufferings of everyone involved in those war years - Americans, Filipinos and Japanese - combatants and innocents alike, can best be understood within the overarching framework of the events of the war in the Pacific. Those were very long and hard years that brought unspeakable suffering to countless many. American Baptists had missionaries in Asia during that time. But the group in the Philippines faced a unique experience. Unlike the missionaries in China who were brought to one central camp upon their capture, the missionaries in the Philippines for a good period of time were scattered on different islands across the archipelago. More importantly, the path that their lives were to ultimately take decisively changed forever the direction of Baptist history in the Philippines. My ancestors were one of the first converts to the Baptist faith by missionaries of the then American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. I am
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a fourth generation Filipino Baptist. My view of the world was shaped in powerful ways by grandparents, granduncles and grandaunts, and parents who passed on to every succeeding generation the Baptist faith that they inherited from American Baptist missionaries. Each of these generations would raise up one or two who became church leaders and pastors. Their faith stories were formative to my own faith. My maternal grandfather was one of the first graduates of the divinity school established by American Baptist missionaries in Iloilo City. He had a fierce faith, like Gideon. I will be speaking more about him in the latter part of this book. When I came to the United States for my seminary studies in the fall of 1979 in response to a dramatic call to ministry that came right before I was to enter medical school in the Philippines, I had absolutely no idea how my personal journey would become one of the little threads that God would weave into the yet expanding fabric of the American Baptist missionary story in the Philippines during World War II. In 1997, I was called to be director for missionary recruitment for International Ministries, ABCUSA. It was then that I realized that God has brought my own "missionary" journey full circle. I have been called to now serve the same people who gave my ancestors their Baptist faith, and mine.
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his is where my own personal journey enters this project. For many years now I have longed to find a way to pay tribute to the memory of the American Baptist missionaries in the Philippines. After all, I and my ancestors are their spiritual children . I do consider it a deep responsibility to be a "witness" to the transformative work of American Baptist missionaries during the years of World War II. The little part I play in this book is my humble tribute to them. The full and complete story of the twenty-one American Baptist missionaries to the Philippines during World War II still remains to be told. There has not been a publication that I know that has attempted to do so in one book. There are many individual accounts, interview tapes, anecdotal records, and essays that are sitting in their own solitary places that yet wait to be mined and organized into one narrative. At the time of this writing (Summer 2007), the American Baptist Historical Society is preparing to relocate at Mercer University. Much work preoccupies the time of the Society in this moment in storing away its priceless records for the transition. It is the hope of the editors of this book that when time, quietude, and opportunity allow-more research will be done that will provide vital new updates to this edition. Elmo D. Familiaran, June 2007
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS GRATITUDE to International Ministries Executive Director Dr. Reid Trulson; American Baptist Historical Society Director Dr. Deborah Bingham VanBroekhoven and archivist Betty Layton; Worldwide Gifts of Green Lake manager JoAnn Blait~ and the Green Lake Conference Center and President Ken Giacoletto; Central Philippines University; James W. Zobel, MacArthur Memorial archivist; Betty Beaman, Pat and Bob Coats, former International Ministries missionaries; my husband Norman, who uplifts me with his love in all my endeavors, and to my children and grandchildren who give me much joy. I was blessed to have the contributions of co-editor, Reverend Elmo Familiaran, who shares the story of his grandfather and his account of the incidents of Hopevale. Wilma Rugh Taylor I will forever be grateful to Wilma Rugh Taylor, good sister in Christ, and her graciousness in inviting me to participate in this project as co-editor. She had already done most of the information gathering and had created the first draft of the book by the time she found and invited me to the project. God sent her to me that I may fulfill a dream. I am also very grateful to Rosemary Farnum Gilson, daughter of Marlin and Melva Farnum, for sharing with me the priceless Jim Sugaya story. I must thank my wife, Marie Fe, for her gentle patience as I added this irresistible work to an already overflowing plate. Elmo Familiaran
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TABLE. OF CONTE.NTS 1. 5APTIST WORK IN THE PHILIPPINES
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2. THE INVASION OF THE JAPANESE IMPERIAL ARMY
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3. LIFE IN THE INTERNMENT CAMPS
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RACHEL OLIVE BUCHNER DOROTHY KlNNEY CHAMBERS AND R. FRED CHAMBERS PAUL AND GLADYS COOK COLLYER AND JOHN AND PAUL FLORA G. ERNST RUTH LAVINIA HARRIS HENRY S. AND ANNA MARTIN WATERS, WILUAM, GEORGE, AND MARY ALICE HENRY AND LAURA PATRlCK MUNGER RICHARD ALAN MEYER, SON OF HOPEVALE MARTYRS, DR. AND MRS. FREDERlCK MEYER AND DONAL PAUL ROUNDS, SON OF MARTYRS MR . A 0 MRS. ERLE ROUNDS
4-. THE RESCUE OF SANTO TOMAS INTERNMENT CAMP
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5. THE MARTYRS OF HOPEVALE
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"THE MARTYRS ANTIPHONY," A POEM BY DR. DAVID ROSE JENNIE CLARE ADAMS JAMES A 0 CHARMA MOORE COVELL DOROTHY ANTOINETTE DOWELL SIGNE AMELIA ERICKSON FREDERlCK AND RUTH VIOLET SCHACHT MEYER FRANCIS AND GERTRUDE COOMBS ROSE ERLE AND LOUISE CUMMI GS ROU
OS AND ERLE DOUGLAS
AMERlCAN CITIZENS MARK AND FERN CLARDY, JOHN AND TERRY AMERICAN MILITARY OFFICER JOHN KING
6. GUERRILLA WIFE SHARES HOPEVALE LIFE l CONVERSION OF CAPTAIN MITSUO FUCHIDA
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8. PEGGY COVELL SOWS SEEDS OF MERCY AT GRANADA
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9. RESCUE Of SILLIMAN UNIVERSITY MISSIONARIES
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10. NO GREATER LOVE
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11. THE POEMS IN THE PILLOWCASE
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POEMS OF JENNIE A DA MS
EDITORS' NOTES ON SOURCES
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AUTHOR'S PAGE
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A50UTTHE:: E::DITORS WILMA RUGH TAYLOR, retired English and Journalism teacher, is the author with her husband Norman of This Train Is Bound for GLory: The Story of America's Chapel Cars (Judson Press] . She wrote GospeL Tracks Through Texaas: The Mission of Chapel Car Good WiLL [Texas A & M Universi ty Press], and Sister of the SoLid Rock: The Story of Edna Barnes Martin and the Eastside Christian Center [Indiana Historical Society]. Her work has appeared in the American Baptist Historical Society QuarterLy and other historical journals. She graduated from Ottawa University in 1956 and received her M. S. from Butler University. A frequent visitor to the Cathedral of the Glen at Green Lake, she considers this book to be an important contribution to the American Baptist story, and in many ways, this research has strengthen her faith and her understanding of God's grace. She and her husband volunteer at Green Lake, where he is active in the restoration of Chapel Car Grace. They are the parents of four children and six grandchildren. ELMO FAMILIARAN serves as associate regional pastor and area minister in the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey. Immediately prior to this ministry, he served as director for missionary recruitment at International Ministries, ABCUSA, from July 1997 to December 2003. His primary duties revolved around the agency's work of recruiting, screening, enabling, and training American Baptists for international missionary service. Born and raised in the Philippines, the Reverend Elmo D. Familiaran comes from three generations of Filipino Baptists who were brought to the Baptist faith by American Baptist Foreign Mission Society missionaries. Both of his parents come from a long line of pastors, church leaders and pioneer church builders. He is the son of Rev. Moley Familiaran and Elsie Dianala. Moley Familiaran was the deputy general secretary for Cooperative Christianity and the ecumenical officer of ABCUSA at the time of his death in 1992. Agraduate of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago in 1983, Elmo was ordained in 1984 by North Shore Baptist Church in Chicago where he also served on the pastoral staff for nine years. After extensive postgraduate studies in the department of religion at Temple University in Philadelphia from 1990-96, Elmo currently is a doctoral candidate at the New York Theological Seminary in New York City. Throughout twenty-seven years of pastoral, institutional and judicatory ministry, Elmo has served on numerous ecumenical, local, regional, and national denominational commissions and committees, including the General Board of ABCUSA. Elmo returned to the Philippines in 1980, after his first year of seminary, to marry Maria Fe Magallanes. Elmo and Maria Fe live in Florence, New Jersey. 107
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They have two children: Gabriel, born in 1986, and Maria Elsie, born in 1987. ANN QUALLS' formal art training began when she won a poster contest in the fourth grade resulting in lessons at a Shreveport art gallery. After completion of an Education and Art BA Degree in 1951, she began her teaching career as an elementary school art teacher in Hillsboro, Texas. Full-time teaching was reduced to private art lessons during her children's preschool years, returning later to teaching. "My mother's love of flowers and her lovely gardens, as well as my husband's lifelong interest in birds, challenged me to try to interpret God's beautiful creations on paper and canvases," Ann said. Approximately ten years ago, Ann painted a bird series which led to a line of greeting cards. Ann said, "It was a blessing to collaborate with Wilma Rugh Taylor and Elmo Familiaran in No Greater Love, the poignant story of Jennie Adams's poetry and the narrative tracing of the lives of Jennie and the other Hopevale missionaries. For this project, I drew inspiration from the work of Philippine photographer Romy Ocon." At the present time, Ann volunteers in Troster Arts and Crafts at the Green Lake Conference Center. PICTURE ON BACK COVER: THE ROBERT L. MOORE, JR. CATHEDRAL IN THE GLEN, GREEN LAKE CONFERENCE CENTER [AMERICAN BAPTIST ASSEMBLY] The day after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese pilots attacked Clark Field, Philippines, killing many Air Force personnel stationed there. Twenty-nine-year-old ROBERT L. MOORE, JR., USAF, was among the casualties. An active member of the First Baptist Church of Los Angeles since 1933, he worshipped in the Clark Field chapel and sang in the Post Choir. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Moore, Sr. of Los Angeles, gave the Hopevale Memorial at Green Lake in memory of their son and in memory of the eleven missionaries who were martyred by the Japanese Imperial Army at the isolated refuge called Hopevale. There at that spot, the missionaries had worshipped at a lovely Cathedral in the Glen build by Dr. Francis Rose, one of the martyrs. It was the hope of Robert's parents, that this lovely place [Green Lake], " ... shine the traffic of Jacob's ladder upon all who tarry here, seeking that light and peace which only heaven can bring. For verily this peace shall be to thousands none other than the gate of heaven."
Source: The Robert L. Moore, Jr. Hopeva/e Memorial Vesper Circle and Cathedral in the Glen brochure, GLCC Communications Office 108
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In the Wisconsin woods fringing Green Lake's glacier waters, near the heart,of the Green Lake Conference Center; is a path leading to C} speci~1 placea hol'y place-a replica of th~ er~ginal Hopevale -Catbedral, a_ memorial to the American 5aptist missionaries killed b'y-' the Japanese on the Island of ana,Y during World War II.
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Gome visit and be blessed.