In the Face of the Tsunami

After the tsunami fiercely struck the Japanese island of Oshima, smashed boats lined the coastline of the once peaceful tourist spot.  There is one boat, however, that was not destroyed, and its captain has become a local hero on the island.

As the tsunami approached, most everyone on the island ran to the hills.  Instead, Susumu Sugawara ran to his beloved boat, the “Sunflower.”  He steered it out into deeper waters directly into the path of the approaching tsunami.

“I knew if I didn’t save my boat, my island would be isolated and in trouble,” he told CNN.

Sugawara said he was accustomed to seeing waves up to 5 meters, but the first wave of the tsunami that he encountered was 4-times that size!  “I talked to my boat and said you’ve been with me 42 years.  If we live or die, then we’ll be together, then I pushed on full throttle. … I climbed the wave like a mountain.  When I thought I had [reached] the top, the wave got even bigger.”

Sugawara described how the wave then crashed violently upon his boat, but he and the Sunflower managed to stay upright.  “I closed my eyes and felt dizzy.  When I opened them, I could see the horizon again, so I knew I’d made it.”

Sugawara focused on steering his boat through other waves of the tsunami until the sea was completely calm.  He stayed at sea for several more hours in order to pump water from his boat’s engine room.

Then he directed his boat back toward Oshima, unsure of what he might find – if anything.  He had to navigate carefully past debris from wrecked houses and boats.  The island of Oshima was in complete darkness; the only way he could find his way home was with the guide of raging fires of a neighboring town.

When he finally made it back to the island, he immediately began helping his neighbors and fellow citizens.  For the first two weeks, he was the primary connection between the island and the mainland.  Twenty days after the tsunami when CNN gave its report, he was still making hourly trips to the mainland.  Passengers who could afford it were asked to pay 300 yen (US $3.50) toward fuel costs; those who had no money were welcomed aboard.

Sugawara’s heroic efforts remind us of Another who actually gave His life so that others might live…

As JESUS, the Son of God, approached Golgotha, He was facing the “tsunami” of the sins of the world.  Yet, because of His love for the Father and for US, He “stayed the course” and died on the cross to pay the price for our redemption (1 Peter 1:18-20).  Through His death, burial, and resurrection, the “Captain of our salvation” paved the way to “bring many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10).  He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life;” He is the ONLY way to the Father and eternal life (John 14:6).

He died so that YOU might be saved and have eternal life!  You can accept His offer by placing your faith and trust in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turning from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confessing Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).

Won’t YOU submit your life to the Loving Captain and be saved? 

David A. Sargent, Minister