4
The War Cry | MAY 2015
T
he movie Unbroken tells part of the story of the early life
of Lucky Louie Zamperini, an athlete for Jesus Christ.
Young Louis Zamperini was bad news. Angry and rebellious,
he had a taste for alcohol and a penchant for fi ghting. Like
many kids, he didn't think much about the consequences of
his actions. With the bravado that made him tough and
resilient, he almost drowned one day after plunging into the
ocean. He was pulled out unconscious, but he survived, with
the new nickname Lucky Louie.
His teen years gave him an outlet for the energy that had led him to mischief:
competitive distance running. Before long he had set the interscholastic record in
the mile. "Newspapers started calling me Zamp the Champ," he says. "I relished
every moment in the limelight, knowing at last I could make something of myself...
I won a scholarship to the University of Southern California and at 18, I made the
US Olympic track team in 1936 to compete in Germany."
During the Second World War he was deployed to Hawaii as a master bombardier.
Sent to search for a B-25 reported to be shot down, his own aircraft crashed into the
sea. Louis and another crewmember spent 47 days in a life raft, making landfall in the
Marshall Islands where they were captured and then sent to Yokohama, Japan.
Moved from camp to camp and in a state of near starvation, he was beaten by
a sadistic offi cer dubbed "the Bird." On one occasion, the Bird beat him severely,
then forced him to hold a six�foot four�by�four hardwood beam overhead at
arm's length. After 37 minutes, he punched him in the stomach, causing the
beam to fall on Louie's head, knocking him out. All Louie could think about was
revenge: "I would dream of strangling my prison guards."
After the war, Louie found himself unsure of what to do next. Broken, he sank
into despair, turning to alcohol and brawling. He once woke up with his hands
around his wife's neck, thinking she was one of the prison guards he wanted to kill.
Finally, he came to Jesus Christ under the ministry of Billy Graham. In 1950,
Louie returned to Japan as a missionary. Seeking the former prison guards, he
was able to meet with several and forgave them. Louis Zamperini became an
athlete for Jesus.
MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL COMMANDER
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
W
ILLIAM
B
OOTH
FOUNDER
A
NDR�
C
OX
GENERAL
D
AVID
J
EFFREY
NATIONAL COMMANDER
The Salvation Army Territorial Commanders
P
AUL
R. S
EILER
Central Territorial Commander
B
ARRY
S
WANSON
Eastern Territorial Commander
D
ONALD
B
ELL
Southern Territorial Commander
J
AMES
M. K
NAGGS
Western Territorial Commander
The Salvation Army National Publications Department
Allen Satterlee
Editor�in�Chief
Frank Duracher
Assistant Editor-in-Chief
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The Salvation Army, an international
movement, is an evangelical part of
the universal Christian church.
Its message is based on the Bible.
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National Publication of
T H E S A L V A T I O N A R M Y
MAY 2O15
Volume 135 | Number 7
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�2015 The Salvation Army
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken
from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright �1996,
2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
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T
he connection between the body, mental health and
spiritual wellbeing is well established. Although each are
not dependent upon the other for optimal health and
performance, there is interplay. A person with the fl u seldom
feels like singing praises to the Lord or taking on a chapter of
heavy reading, but a soul that is full of blessing tends to feel
better physically and understand things more clearly. We
know that exercise produces endorphins that in turn make us
feel better emotionally. There is a connection because God created us in a single
integrated unit, not components slapped together by bailing wire and duct tape.
It is no surprise, then, that many athletes fi nd in their physical exertion clarity
of mind that allows them to more easily connect with God. Indeed, the Bible
frequently uses athletic metaphors to speak of the Christian life (see 1
Corinthians 9:24-26; Galatians 2:2; Philippians 3:13,14; 2 Timothy 4:7,8; Hebrews
12:1,2 among others). It makes sense that if the Bible uses athletics to represent
its truths that God can use athletes to speak His truth.
We commend the athletes profi led in this issue not only for their physical
prowess, but for their use of the public platform given to them to glorify Christ.
Like them, our challenge is to use the gifts God has given to speak out His truth
to a world that is crashing into itself. What will you do?