Event Report: Woodside SDA Church

A Connection to Saburo Arakaki
Tonight I had the privilege of participating in a special presentation and signing for Rainbow Over Hell at Woodside SDA Church in Sacramento, California. I was interviewed for about an hour by our good friend, Jim Lorenz, pastor of the Woodside Church.

During the interview, I learned that there is a connection between Saburo Arakaki and Woodside SDA Church. Apparently, one of the first pastors of this church was Louis Venden (whose acquaintance I had the pleasure of making just last week). Elder Venden left Sacramento for Japan, where he served as a missionary. In Japan, he attended the pastoral ordination ceremony of Saburo Arakaki.

Incredible Stories
At the reception and signing that followed, I heard a number of incredible stories. I'm honored to share some of them here (names removed for privacy):

-One attendee's brother was on the USS Robinson during the Battle of Saipan. He told me that his brother still vividly remembers the horrific scene of Japanese women leaping from Suicide Cliff. This American war veteran was 18 years old--the same age as Saburo Arakaki--during that brutal battle.

-Another attendee said that his brother was actually shot in the hand by Saburo Arakaki himself. In 1987 when Arakaki returned to Saipan, Guam, and Hawaii for the filming of the Japanese TV documentary about his experiences, he met this man he had shot years earlier. These two men who had once fought against each other became friends. Their friendship continues to this day.

-A woman told me that her husband has difficult emotions about the Japanese people, because he was held in one of the Japanese POW camps during World War II. She hopes that Rainbow Over Hell will be a healing story for him. I share her wish.

-Another woman participated in prison ministries between 1946-1948 in Hawaii and believes she may have visited Saburo Arakaki in prison.

-One U.S. Navy veteran was on a ship involved in shelling the island during the Battle of Saipan.

I am truly amazed and honored to have heard all of these stories. My only regret is that I did not have my guestbook out for people to sign, so that I might have some record of those who generously shared these stories with me.

Call for Stories
If you attended the Woodside SDA Church event and shared your story with me, I would love to hear from you.

If you did not attend this event but have stories to share from the Battle of Saipan or if you have a connection to Saburo Arakaki, I would love to hear from you as well.

Please send me your stories. Sharing stories like these continues the healing process for those who fought on either side of that battle, and it creates a bridge across what was once enemy lines. Rainbow Over Hell is a story about hope, grace, and forgiveness, and as such, it has the power to create bridges between hearts.

Email: webmaster@rainbowoverhell.com

Sharing the Book
Author Tsuneyuki Mohri has said that his wish is that this book be like a rainbow of light encircling the earth. If your father, brother, uncle, friend, or neighbor fought in World War II, please consider sharing Rainbow Over Hell with him so that this circle of light and healing might continue to expand.

War stories like Rainbow Over Hell are important in any age, but perhaps even more so in times like these. As such, it is a privilege for me to be a part of the effort to bring this story to American audiences.
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