Keeping Our Faith In Los Baño

We all face illnesses, financial hardship, family problems and just regular day to day stress of living in this modern world. How many times in our lifetimes do we think that life is just too difficult and wish we did not have go on? I have felt that way many times through out my life.....yet my problems did not seem to be that bad when I heard of other people's problems.

Just recently I read a book about people who had to face a severe hardship that looked like there was no end in sight. In 1941 after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, American people in the Philippines, of whom most were missionaries, were put in prison camps. At first they were all in hiding, but soon the Japanese issued the order that if they did not turn themselves in they would be shot. The ones who did not, were indeed shot.

Our Aunt Lois Hess Lupole, was a prisoner in Los Baños Internment Camp, Laguna Province, on Luzon, in the Philippines at age five with her family. She gave me the book, Escape At Dawn written by Carol Terry to read. Carol Terry was a young missionary on her way to India. She told of the hardships that they had to physically endure. Many of the people were old and not in good health after a few months of starvation, living on slugs and weeds and much worse. There were families with children, as our aunt's. Can you imagine the feeling a mother or father would have knowing that your children were starving and there was absolutely nothing you could do? One father stopped eating and divided his share of what food they were given between his wife and child. They were there for three years which to all of them seemed like forever.

When they first came to Los Baños Internment Camp, the guards took all their books and writing materials away from them. Which included what? Their most important possession! Of course, all their Bibles! Finally they asked for the Bibles back and the guards had a meeting and decided they could have the Holy Bibles back but not the New Testaments. The guards did not know that the New Testament was in the Holy Bibles too!

The one thing that was constant in all the hardships they went though was their belief in the Word and their faith saw them through. Right up to the end with everyone suffering from Beriberi which is what you get from being malnourished and eventually you will die from it. Many people did give up hope. Carol Terry tells of going off by herself to be alone with God. To talk to him about the situation they were in and ask for his assistance. She kept her faith and never said or thought that God had abandoned them. As many of the others felt the same way even in a death camp being guarded by Japanese soldiers who hated Americans. One of them would put some food in front of a child's nose and then eat it in front of the child. They tortured these people, as well as others in unspeakable ways.

A Philippine man was sent into the American soldiers camp by the Philippine guerrillas to tell them that there were over 2000 people being held in the Los Banos prison camp that was many miles back into the Japanese territory. The message was then sent to General MacArthur. After that, it became General MacArthur's uttermost goal to free those people. I won't go into the behind the scenes details of what the American soldiers had to do.....but when the prisoners started seeing American planes dipping their wings to them........they had hope! God had answered their prayers. They were still starving and were scared that the soldiers wouldn't make it in time but they knew they were aware of them being there at last.....after 3 years.

One night, one of ladies said she saw a vision of angels coming from the sky. The next morning, February 23, 1945 at dawn, the United States Army's 11th Airborne Division, assisted by Philippine guerrilla forces, carried out a lightning-swift raid forty kilometers behind Japanese lines and rescued 2,147 American and Allied civilian prisoners of war, men, women, and children. Most of the Japanese garrison were killed; the rest scattered. The prisoners had to be taken out of there safely through enemy territory by the soldiers. Going across a lake on amphibian type vehicles.....we are talking about over 2147 people who were so starved they could barely stand let alone walk. It was found out later that the prisoners were scheduled to be executed that very morning at roll call. Did God send those American soldiers or what? Their prayers were answered!

Not one prisoner was killed or seriously wounded; all were transported safely behind American lines. Not one paratrooper of the battalion directly involved was killed. In a crucial blocking force to the west of the prison camp, four 11th Airborne troopers were killed. The Philippine guerrillas suffered two men killed. Tragically, shortly following this magnificent rescue, Japanese forces returned and wreaked vengeance on the town of Los Baños, massacring some 1500 helpless Filipino civilians.

Carol Terry prayed all through her ordeal and risked her life many times through out this ordeal. It never crossed her mind that God was not with them. In the end she felt that God gave her this burden to bear to make her strong for what she would have to do in her life. In her case it was being a missionary in India at a little girl's orphanage. Now I will look at my burdens to bear in a different manner. Keeping your faith in the Lord and knowing that he is with you no matter what. Even if it seems to you that he is not there, he is. Just have faith that you will get you through it with him.

Our Aunt Lois said that her grandmother always knew they would be rescued and come home because she prayed for it. And she had faith.

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2016 Kathleen G. Lupole

Updated: August 2016

An Inspiration To Her Faith

Mom Lupole Playing Her Cowbells

Last year, as my mother in-law was wheeled from her hospital room, down the hall, to the operating room, the orderly wheeling her stopped, "I'm going to let her sit here, and wait for Dr. Anderson. You can wait with her. I'll be back for her."

She had a few minutes to tell her family any last words she had to say, before she underwent the operation to remove one of her legs. Soon, her doctor appeared, dressed in his scrubs.

As her family members all reached out to say their good byes before she was wheeled through the intimidating operating suite doors, her daughter, Pat showed the surgeon her other leg, "Dr. Anderson, look at this leg. It's worse than than the one you are taking off. Can't you take them both off at the same time?"

He reassured us, saying, "It looks worse than it is. But it really isn't. It might come back after the other one is taken off. I'd like to give it a chance." I think, in all realty, he thought, she might not make it through the first operation, let alone a second one, at the same time.

Dad & Mom Lupole in happy times

Her husband for 63 years had tears running down his face, as he tried to say any last words to his best friend and love of his life. It was the only time she shed tears over the ordeal she was about to face, but not for herself, for her husband.

"I love you, Bob," she managed to get out, trying to smile at him.

"I love you too," he answered her back, not knowing if he would lose her today.

My husband, Larry, her son, did not believe she would survive this operation. "How can she make it through this operation when she is diabetic and already in kidney failure?" he asked me.

She suffers, not only from Diabetes, but congested heart failure, has a pacemaker in, and because of the kidney failure, goes to dialysis three times a week. Bad arthritis has also hindered her movement in many ways. Not to mention, her age, of 82 years.

The hospital employees led us to a waiting room that was away from the regular waiting room, as we would have filled that room to capacity! We had many people stopping by all day to see how she was making out. She made it through the operation, and afterwards, we all donned hospital gowns to go in, and say a few words to her. Everybody taking turns.

In May, she was back for the second operation, to take her other leg. But this day, as we sat in her hospital room waiting for the surgeon, with the pastor of the church she was the organist at, she was sick. We felt the surgeon could not get there fast enough. She had gangre, and it appeared to be affecting her whole system. When the surgeon finally came, we felt like running her down the hall ourselves!

I was not brought up in a religious home myself. My parents, both were. But when they had children, they both worked, and I guess it wasn't something they felt was important for us, or had time for. They were good parents, and I am not faulting them for this. But that's just how it was when I was growing up.

When I married my husband, Larry, I knew his family was very religious. Though he wasn't as much, as the rest of his family. His mother, would really grind on me many times about going to church, about accepting Christ as my savior, about reading the Bible, etc. All it did, was to turn me off from it. I was never against it, I did believe in God, and did pray to him when someone was sick, or needed help. But I did not understand there was more to it than that.

My mother in-law is well known around Binghamton, New York, and the surrounding area, as she is a very talented musician. Playing a slew of musical instruments, including the musical saw and the cowbells, as well as the organ and violin. Her notarity comes from having played them for many years in the area nursing homes and churches. She even played the violin in the senior's orchestra. Every year she would win the talent show at the county fair, playing her musical saw, until they asked her not to enter, and give others a chance!

One of the hardest parts for her, has been the fact that she can no longer play her musical instruments. In fact, she had to send her beloved piano and organ to her daughter, Pat's house, so she could come home, and use her dining room for her bedroom. She thought she'd be able to come home, and do all the knitting, crocheting and needlepoint she never had time to do. But even that was not to be, as her finger on her right hand has arthritis so badly, that she can't even do that. She has to be satisfied sewing on her sewing machine and reading. Her son, Ken, who lives with his parents, has taken over most of the care of their home and his mother. He keeps the house running smoothly!

Wouldn't you think she would be very depressed? Nope, not my mother in-law! She's not depressed at all. I mean, she was a woman on the go! She used to go places and do things all the time. Now, she can only go to church rarely, as it is so much work to get her ready to go somewhere. I asked her recently, if she has depressing moments, and she said no, she does not.

I believe her. You see, her husband, Bob, her close knit family, and her faith in God has seen her through this. She has a real enthusiasm for life and the Lord. I found myself, seeing her as an inspiration to me. She made me question myself on where I stand with God, and what I want my life to be. I started reading the books written by Norman Vincent Peale, and reading them to my husband.

I marveled at her strength to be able to accept what she has gone through. Her faith is the cornerstone of her ability to live with complete dependence on others. She feels that she is lucky to be alive, and yes, she misses her legs and to be able to move around freely, but she is thankful for what she has. Her family and her faith.

Heart of God in Owego, NY.

My husband, Larry and I went to church for the first time together on Easter Sunday this year. We read the Bible every day together now. I have accepted the Lord as my savior, and want to live my life by following the Bible. I have also found that other areas of my life have improved at the same time. It must be my positive thinking!

Only a few months ago I had a conversation with her that ended with me telling her that nothing or no one would ever change my mind about following the Lord, and she said she was so glad to hear me say that. I believe that my mother in-law was instrumental in bringing me to becoming a real Christian, and wanting to learn more. I now feel that same enthusiasm, that she has always had!

As I am writing this now, she is in a hospital room waiting for her 84th birthday on January 13th, hoping to live to share that final birthday with her beloved husband, Bob. Yesterday, as my husband and I went to visit her there, she was surrounded by her family, and even though on heavy pain medication she shared a happy day with us all. Her granddaughter was there with her family, her husband and their eight children, and they sang the most beautiful song to her. I know that made her so happy, as her heart is in music. She listened intently to their singing, as the oldest was only 8! Not one was off key, as my husband, a musician also, told me later.

She did live to see her birthday and her son, Ken brought a beautiful cake for his parents' birthday. You see not only did they share 65 years of marriage, but also the same birthday four years apart. Her hospital room was kept pretty full that day as her sister in-laws and grandson and his family joined the rest of us there.

On January 17th, she went home to be with the Lord. Her death was a very profound experience with me. I have worked in the health care field and am very familiar with death and the dying process. But her death was like no other. She was watching someone or something on the ceiling. Her eyes were moving back and forth quite a bit. She even looked clearly toward the window, as if watching something. I do not think she could see the snowflakes coming down....but she was definitely seeing something or someone.

Everyone seemed to think she was in pain, but I do not think that was the case. I think she was in the transition period. I mean, here is a woman who had no strength to lift her hand to scratch her face, yet she was raising both of her arms up, as if toward someone up above! Even as she died, she was a testimony to her strong faith and love of God. I will never forget her or the wonderful things she taught me.....or tried to teach me. There is no doubt in my mind that I will see her again.

Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole

Updated: August 2016