Christ Community Covenant Church

Don Whipple-Hosts of Heaven

Recently Don Whipple related this story and hopes that by sharing this very personal experience that you will be encouraged during difficult times by this example of God’s amazing grace, deliverance, and faithfulness.

Don Whipple had served his country well and had come home from WWII with a desire to do God’s will, wherever that might lead. He had given his life to Christ in Hawaii before surviving 36 days on Iwo Jima, and after finishing some additional duty in the Far East, was discharged from the Marines in March, 1946. Once home Don married his childhood sweetheart, Joan, and in 1954 they were blessed with their daughter, Debbie. By then God was already opening doors that would allow him to share his passion for Christ in far away places.

By 1955 Don was a new young father attending Rockmont College, pastoring a congregation in downtown Denver, and the director of both the Denver Youth for Christ chapter and the Christian Serviceman’s Center that he founded after the Korean War. Despite these varied opportunities to share the Gospel, Don felt God’s call to do missionary work. He and Joan had applied to do a couple of Southeast Asian crusades, but had been turned down because Joan could not testify on the application to a clear calling to the mission field. In spite of that disappointment the couple’s interest in mission work was sparked, and when YFC asked Don to go to Singapore to work in their largest division as Vice President of YFC Southeast Asia International they decided to go for it. Don had been many places and had faced incredibly difficult circumstances in his young life, but Joan had never been out of the state of Kansas and was somewhat uncertain about going overseas, especially with a small child. She was a trooper though, so they applied for their visas and began to make plans to leave Denver. Don resigned his position; they bought airline tickets, packed and shipped barrels of goods to Singapore, drove to California and sold their car, and boarded a Pan Am flight to Honolulu, Joan’s first flight ever! There was some concern that they had not yet received their visas, but YFC thought it would be alright for them to leave confident that their visas would eventually catch up with them. After five days in Hawaii they were told that Singapore wasn’t issuing any more visas, which apparently wasn’t true, but they headed for their next stop – Japan - anyway.

It was a rocky start for the little family the morning they arrived in Japan. After multiple taxi rides they were dropped off at the railroad station where crowds of people arriving early for work made boarding difficult. With bags, luggage, and baby Debbie in tow they finally made it onto the train that would take them to Tachikawa Airfield. There they would be meeting a friend from the U.S. that they would stay with before continuing their journey. But as the train passed by stop after stop Don grew concerned that they had missed theirs. Using what little Japanese he knew he asked other passengers which stop was the Tachikawa Airbase but none seemed to understand. The couple feared they were well on the way to getting lost when, as they neared the next point, a young high school boy stood up and told them that Tachikawa was the next stop!

It was raining hard when they arrived and Don tried to shield Debbie and their luggage with a sheet of plastic while he looked for information on how far they were from the airbase. He found a phone but the operator couldn’t understand him and was no help, so he left Debbie and Joan and went in search of someone who could give him directions. Not far from the station he met another young Japanese boy who asked him in perfect English if he could help. He led Don around a large building not far from where they were and there, in front of him, was the airbase! Happy to have found it so close by Don went back and collected Joan, Debbie, and their belongings and they were all relieved to see their friend who met them at the airbase gate.

During their stay in Japan the couple met a Navigator working for World Vision who told them that, because of the war, Saigon was no longer issuing visas either. He suggested that they buy an airline ticket that would take them from Tokyo through Bangkok to Singapore. That itinerary would give them a 15 day visitor’s visa which would also allow them time to get their U.S. visa situation straightened out. Baby Debbie had, despite Don’s efforts to protect her, gotten soaked by the rain the day they arrived and came down with tonsillitis. After a few days, they were able to leave and flew from Tokyo to Hong Kong. When they went to their hotel to secure the room reserved for them by YFC, they found that Bill Bright from Campus Crusade for Christ had been given their room by mistake! He heard them inquiring about it and graciously gave up the room and found another.

The family’s flight was routed through Vietnam where the war had just started. As their plane took off from the airport in Saigon, Don and Joan could hear the guns and see flashes of artillery fire as the war raged below them. Clearing Bangkok using their visitor’s visas, they finally arrived in hot, humid Singapore in the middle of the night. There the Chinese Director of YFC, Mr. Liewkeekok, a gentleman with whom they had become friends back in the States, helped them find a hotel room. That was most helpful, but the ceiling in the room was covered with small lizards which was pretty disturbing to Joan! Don pointed out to her that they kept the mosquito population down in the room, so they put up with the little creatures for the night. The next morning they felt encouraged when their friend took them to a large hotel for a hearty Western breakfast, that is until they encountered a cobra that snapped at Don! Thankfully he only lost a cufflink, but it was quite a welcome to their new home!

Searching for an apartment in Singapore was a challenge as many of them only had dirt floors. Joan, who was a meticulous housekeeper, wouldn’t dream of that so she and Don kept looking until they found one with a tile floor. They were next door to a couple with the Evangelical Free Church and were happy to make friends with other couples in the building from various other church organizations and denominations. But Don and Joan were the only ones from YFC and sometimes they missed the support of their friends. After that experience, Don would always recommend that missionary couples be sent out in pairs.

After settling in Singapore Don got a letter that had been sent to YFC asking if there was someone with experience working with young people who could come to Indonesia to help with the teenage kids there. After the war was over many of them had broken away from the tradition of remaining with their parents and had formed gangs. Don agreed to go and was instructed to come to Jakarta, on the island of Java, to a hotel where he would contact an Indonesian friend of his by phone. Don called his friend when he arrived and was given instructions and an address to give to his taxi driver. At first the driver refused to take him to the location stating that the address was in a “very dangerous part of town”. But Don impressed on him the importance of his meeting and, despite some trepidation, the driver brought him to the address he’d been given.

The dimly lit street was in a run down, desolate part of Jakarta. While the driver waited Don walked to the address praying every step of the way the words of Psalm 34:7, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them”. A small, gruff old man answered Don’s knock and in broken English asked what he wanted. After being questioned for several minutes Don was told that the man he was looking for wasn’t there. The old man pulled out a small slip of paper with another address and told Don to give it to the taxi driver. The next place was even worse than the first, but the driver took him to the address only to be told again that the contact was not there. This happened several more times and Don grew anxious as he was sent from place to place. Finally - at the sixth address – a little Chinese lady met him at the door and said his contact would be there soon.

At last a 70 year old man entered the room and apologized for putting Don through such a long night of searching. The man confided that he never knew where he would be from one night to the next in order to avoid detection by the Chinese forces. His work was under constant scrutiny and he went to great lengths to safeguard himself and the money he had set aside to fund his work. Don learned that he had removed his funds from the bank and bought a small fleet of Mercedes Benz cars, then put them into the care of trusted friends. Whenever he needed money his associates would sell one of the cars back to the dealership for cash. This arrangement provided him with the necessary funds needed to continue his work without detection. The old gentleman promised Don that a driver would pick him up the next morning to take him to villages around the outskirts of Jakarta where he would be meeting with men and women who were Christian leaders from the area. These meeting places were volunteered by locals, many of whom were widows. The gatherings would provide a forum for Don to discuss their concerns for the young people and together they could focus on planning current programs and strategies for the future.

Since the island had been infiltrated by Chinese soldiers Don never knew what he would encounter around the next corner as they drove through the Indonesian countryside. Living in Singapore he often visited towns north of them in Malaysia, a British Colony also infiltrated by the Chinese who regularly kidnapped American and British citizens for ransom. Many times, often late in the evening as he drove back to his home from Malaysia, he would imagine what he would do if he came across soldiers on the road. Now there were enemy soldiers on Java and once again he would go over in his mind how he would handle the situation if his car was ever stopped. One morning, as they made their way to another meeting, those feelings of apprehension were tested when Don, his driver and interpreter were suddenly detained by Chinese Communist soldiers.

Standing in the middle of the road the soldier waved the car over to the side with his machine gun in hand. He made it clear through the interpreter that he wanted Don to get out of the car because they had to “vaccinate” him for smallpox and cholera. Don immediately pulled out his health card which proved he’d recently been given those vaccinations, but it was pushed away. The more he protested, the angrier the soldier became. Rather than endanger his companions Don reluctantly took the interpreter’s advice and got out of the car. The soldier abruptly stuck a machine gun in his back and began waving his hands toward an opening in the jungle. With the soldier behind him, Don headed down the dark jungle path while silently calling on God for His favor and protection – not for his own sake – but for that of his wife and daughter.

About 200 yards down the trail they encountered another soldier who had two large horse size syringes, about an inch in diameter, lying on a shelf next to the path. One syringe had dark and the other light colored liquid in it. The first soldier used his gun to flick open the buttons on Don’s sleeve and pushed it up so that the other soldier could insert the needles into his upper arm. He took no care in driving it in and shoving the plunger down, then pulling the needle out, tossing it into the weeds and doing the same with the second syringe. Don had no idea what they were pumping into him and his heart pounded as he pleaded with God to help him. Suddenly the face of the soldier vaccinating him began to contort before his eyes forming bulges and crevices that looked like his guts had been pushed up into his head! Not a pretty picture – but it was the only thing he could think of to describe what was happening in front of him. He saw the muscles in the soldiers face roll and cramp until the man’s eyes nearly disappeared! What was going on?! Suddenly the soldier began to scream at the top of his lungs for Don to GO! GO! GO!

Stunned at what he’s just witnessed, Don turned quickly and began to walk slowly up the path knowing full well there were soldiers behind him with guns, but also convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that God had just intervened on his behalf. He could feel the Lord’s overwhelming presence all around him – like he had just been bathed in pure water and was walking on holy ground. Although he couldn’t fully understand what had just taken place, Don retreated up the trail to the car at a measured pace and in perfect peace. He never saw anything else and suffered no ill effects from the “vaccinations” he’d received.

About a week later Don was staying at the Missionary Alliance House in Saigon and shared his experience with other missionaries. They told him how they had witnessed an army of the Hosts of Heaven - like God had sent to the prophet Elisha - surrounding the villages in the Vietnam highlands. They believed God had dispatched them to deliver those villages from the enemy soldiers because they were never attacked. A missionary suggested that perhaps God had done the same for him that day and Don considered that explanation a real possibility as he recalled the terror and spasms he had witnessed on the soldier’s face. He already knew in his heart who had delivered him and could only imagine what God had allowed those enemy soldiers to see. After such a transforming experience he was once again assured that God loves the least of us and was no longer concerned about who or what he might meet on the road. Soon after their discussion he was able to drive calmly to the airport and return to Singapore.

Don is convinced that the soldiers may have also seen some version of the Hosts of Heaven surrounding them on that dark jungle trail and that they recoiled in fear at the sight. He will never know for sure but said that, even today, it never ceases to amaze him that God was there in his time of need and intervened on behalf of a “young Kansas farm boy”. What he saw and felt in the jungle that day had a profound affect on him and has allowed Don to live his life without fear knowing that God truly did hear his prayers. d

2 Kings 6:14-17 (The Message)
14 Then he dispatched horses and chariots, an impressive fighting force. They came by night and surrounded the city.15 Early in the morning a servant of the Holy Man got up and went out. Surprise! Horses and chariots surrounding the city! The young man exclaimed, “Oh, master! What shall we do?”16 He said, “Don’t worry about it—there are more on our side than on their side.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O God, open his eyes and let him see.” The eyes of the young man were opened and he saw. A wonder! The whole mountainside full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha!