Burma Save and Other Signs

CT: "Kelley shared the story of a family that was attacked by a mob shortly after they converted to Christianity. He narrated that a local Buddhist monk was infuriated after learning about their conversion and mobilized a mob of 100 people to surround the family's home.
Apart from the new Christian family, another Christian family was staying with them, so there were four adults and five children in the house at the time of the attack.
"The Buddhist monk and the mob surrounded [the house] with rocks. Some of them were ten pounds — I mean, these were large rocks. And they threw hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of rocks at this home to show their displeasure with them coming to know Christ," Kelley recounted.
The parents protected the children by shielding them and putting metal boxes over their heads. The families survived the attack, although they suffered injuries. When the villagers came to see the home the next day, they found the families emerging out of the home.
"They actually started to communicate with them and they said, 'We forgive you.' And that act, that supernatural gesture of forgiving people who tried to kill you the night before, had four people receive Jesus," Kelley stated.
Kelley said that the families not only held fast to their faith, but also became a bold witness to others when they decided to forgive their attackers.".......

The Christmas Truce of 1914:
We shook hands, wished each other a Merry Christmas, and were soon conversing as if we had known each other for years. We were in front of their wire entanglements and surrounded by Germans – Fritz and I in the centre talking, and Fritz occasionally translating to his friends what I was saying. We stood inside the circle like streetcorner orators. Soon most of our company ('A' Company), hearing that I and some others had gone out, followed us . . . What a sight - little groups of Germans and British extending almost the length of our front! Out of the darkness we could hear laughter and see lighted matches, a German lighting a Scotchman's cigarette and vice versa, exchanging cigarettes and souvenirs. Where they couldn't talk the language they were making themselves understood by signs, and everyone seemed to be getting on nicely. Here we were laughing and chatting to men whom only a few hours before we were trying to kill!⁹ 

Some of those who went out to meet the enemy in the middle of No Man's Land on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day negotiated a truce: we won't fire if you won't fire. Some ended the truce at midnight on Christmas night, some extended it until New Year's Day. 

One of the main reasons Christmas truces were negotiated was in order to bury the dead. Though some had died recently, there were corpses out in No Man's Land that had been there for several months. Along with the revelry that celebrated Christmas was the sad and somber job of burying their fallen comrades. On Christmas day, British and German soldiers appeared on No Man's Land and sorted through the bodies. In just a few rare instances, joint services were held for both the British and German dead. 

Yet many soldiers enjoyed meeting the un-seen enemy and were surprised to discover that they were more alike than he had thought. They talked, shared pictures, exchanged items such as buttons for food stuffs. An extreme example of the fraternization was a soccer game played in the middle of No Man's Land between the Bedfordshire Regiment and the Germans. A member of the Bedfordshire Regiment produced a ball and the large group of soldiers played until the ball was deflated when it hit a barbed wire entanglement. 

This strange and unofficial truce lasted for several days, much to the dismay of the commanding officers. This amazing showing of Christmas cheer was never again repeated and as World War I progressed, the story of Christmas 1914 at the front became something of a legend. 

·         This experience has been the most practical demonstration I have seen of 'Peace on earth and goodwill towards men.