With a heart filled with gratitude I wish to testify to the many blessings and healings I have received through Christian Science.
During World War II my family and I were in Indonesia. There we spent the war years in prison and concentration camps. I should like to tell of one of the many experiences I had during these years. It happened during the first months that the Japanese army was in control. We had not yet been put into the concentration camps.
I wanted to visit a friend of mine, who was a Christian Scientist. It was in the dark of evening, and I went in a kind of cycle-taxi which was wheeled from behind by an Indonesian. I had to go through a part of the town where the Japanese troops were stationed. There was a great deal of yelling, and at one time we were stopped. When I arrived at my friend's place, I was thoroughly frightened.
My friend told me that there was nothing to be frightened of. She said that the Japanese soldiers were perfectly friendly to her because she saw them as children of God. She then told me to memorize Mrs. Eddy's hymns so that I would know them if I found myself in a difficult situation. I started to do so right away. Later I was ten weeks in a Japanese prison, where we were not allowed to have any books. Mrs. Eddy's hymns and the ninety-first Psalm were a constant help.
After the war was over we first went to Singapore. The Christian Science church there had been used by the Japanese as a printing place, but had not been damaged. A woman from India had preserved all the Christian Science books. Some young British officers had opened the church, and we found a joyful welcome there.
One Sunday I was asked to remain for a meeting after church. The naval officer who was First Reader told us that his ship was leaving on Wednesday, and I was asked to take his place. I accepted gladly, but then I got panicky. The officer looked at me in astonishment and said, "But it is such a blessing and such a joy to read in this church." Of course I read, and it was indeed a joy and a blessing.
After a few months in Singapore we left for New York City. When we arrived we first stayed in my brother's apartment. From there we looked for an apartment for ourselves, but were unable to find one. At the time I did not know a single Christian Scientist in America. I visited a Reading Room, and there I learned that a practitioner was living in the same building in which I was staying. She immediately took up prayerful work for us, and with her help we found an apartment that met our needs. My children were accepted as students at a school and college for the children of Christian Scientists. The following year I had the joy of receiving class instruction in Christian Science.
While I was on a flight across the North Atlantic, our plane made a forced landing in the ocean. Throughout the experience I held to the ninety-first Psalm, and these words from Science and Health came to me clearly (p. 454): "Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept." All sixty-nine passengers and crew members were safely rescued.
About four years ago my father and I were spending a few weeks in southern France. On one of the first days that we were there I visited the Reading Room and had a good talk with the librarian. Only afterward did I remember that I had not previously spoken French for many years. In Christian Science language barriers fall away. When my father passed on while we were there, the Christian Science Society proved a haven. I am most thankful for the help I received from the local practitioner in those trying days.
During the time I was in Singapore I was a member of the Christian Science Society there. Because the workers were few, the help of The Mother Church was specially appreciated. In Holland I have been a member of a branch church. But I have also lived in Sumatra, where there were no branch churches. Always I have been grateful for the knowledge of the ever-present love of The Mother Church. I have witnessed the truth of Mrs. Eddy's words in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 154), "The spreading branches of The Church of Christ, Scientist, are fast reaching out their broad shelter to the entire world."— Blaricum, The Netherlands.
