In 1901, a seven-year-old Indian girl named Preena escaped from a Hindu temple and ran to Amy Carmichael, a young missionary from Ireland. Preena’s widowed mother had dedicated her to be “married to the gods,” which meant a life of abuse. Her hands had been branded with hot irons after an earlier escape. She had heard Amy speak of a God who loves everyone. Amy checked the story and found the evil was even greater than she imagined. She said, “I must do something about it!” That one rescue launched a 50-year work of rescuing girls and later boys, and the Dohnavur Fellowship still carries it on today. One child’s courage can change a missionary’s whole calling.
In the summer of 1940, Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat in Kovno, Lithuania, when Jewish refugees from Poland began crowding outside his consulate. Many of them held questionable visas to the Dutch island of Curacao, and they needed permission to pass through Japan to get out of Europe. With no clear instructions from Tokyo, Sugihara decided to help. He wrote transit visas for hundreds and hundreds of people, and before his consulate closed that fall he even gave visas to refugees who lacked proper travel papers. Tokyo sent a cable reminding him of the rules. He kept going. In 1984, Yad Vashem honored him as Righteous Among the Nations.
Julio Diaz was a 31-year-old social worker in the Bronx who always got off the subway one stop early so he could eat at his favorite diner. One night in early 2008, a teenager pulled a knife on him on the platform and took his wallet. Julio handed it over, then called after the kid and offered him his coat too, since it was cold out. The boy was stunned and asked him why. Julio said if you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, you must really need help, and he invited him to dinner. At the diner, the kid noticed Julio was even kind to the dishwasher and said he didn’t think people actually acted that way. When the bill came, the boy gave the wallet back, Julio gave him $20, and the teenager handed over his knife.
