Hello and welcome to the John Mark Komer Teachings Podcast.

My name is Yinka Dawson and I'm your host.

Each week we feature teachings by John Mark or other voices in the formation space

and it's great to have you with us.

As we continue our Advent series with our week on joy,

we're re-sharing a teaching from one of our

teaching fellows, Ken Shigematsu. He gave this teaching to the Ten Church in Vancouver, BC, where he

serves as a senior pastor. He's also the author of several wonderful books, God in My Everything,

about spiritual rhythms, and now I become become myself about overcoming toxic shame.

Today Ken impacts how the arrival of Jesus brings what talking called the sudden joyous

turn, a miraculous shift in our story that gives us cause for deep and lasting joy, even in the midst of sorrow.

Here's Ken. During World War II, 30 allied soldiers

were captured and in prison behind German lines. There was a rumor that they didn't have any chaplains among them.

So this guy named Dr. Ray Bakke, who is an urban professor of missions, shared this story.

And he said, I knew this chaplain named Mirdo McDonald, known as Chaplain Mac, who when he heard there were no chaplains for the prisoners, raised his hand, along with another Scottish chaplain, and volunteered to be flown over this prisoner of war camp or near it and to be dropped into the area by parachute.

And so they board this plane. They're dropped off by parachute and they're pretty much

immediately captured and taken as prisoners into this POW camp. And there was this

high-wired fence that was separating the American barracks from the British barracks,

making very difficult for the two sides to communicate.

But every day, Chaplain Mac, this Scottish guy, would come to the fence to connect with his Scottish chaplain friend.

And there was a German guard that was always there and a big sign that said, no speaking in English,

no speaking in French, no speaking in Italian.

...