Jacob Deshazar: Forgive Your Enemies is in a children’s series of books on Christian Heroes. It tells the story of one of Doolittle’s Raiders, who conducted the first US bombing run on the Japanese islands in 1942. All of the planes ran out of gas over occupied China after conducting the mission, and one of the airmen who was captured by the Japanese was … Jacob Deshazar.
Jacob was filled with anger towards the Japanese during most of his captivity - for their cruelty, the execution of some of his compatriots, and their lack of adherence with UN rules for treating POWs. I won’t ruin the story of how his attitude was turned around, but suffice it to say that after the war ended, Jacob returned to Japan as a missionary.
He recalled how angry he had felt when he learned of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and how that anger had motivated a drive to make the Japanese pay for their actions. Now he marveled that he was in Hawaii on his way back to Japan, not to extract revenge but to tell the people the greatest news Jake had ever heard - the gospel.
The books is well-written and simple enough for children who like to read. Highly recommended!