Prisoner of the Lord
Lawrence Donkin served with a British infantry unit in the North African campaign. His capture by German troops in Tunisia was the start of an amazing odyssey. He was held in an Italian prisoner-of-war camp until Italy surrendered and his guards walked away. After weeks of evading the Germans he made his way to Switzerland where he was interned until 1944.
After the war Donkin returned to his home and wife in England. On a day in 1950, while starting out to sea, his wartime experiences flooded back into his memory, and he began to recall the many miraculous incidents that had enabled him to survive the war. His weapon had mysteriously jammed just before his capture, preventing him from firing at that moment, saving his life. On a dark night in Italy he had bumped into an iron bar that saved him from falling into a deep pit. Most important of all, while evading the Germans, he had picked up a New Testament lying on a schoolroom floor and had started reading it. In all these events, he became convinced that he was seeing “the preserving Hand of God and His saving grace.”495
Reading from the New Testament that he brought home from Italy, he came to Chapter 11 of Matthew and Jesus’ compelling invitation: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”(Matthew 11:28–31 KJV). Donkin’s response to that invitation changed his life forever:
So, I was drawn to the Lord Jesus and responding to his words, “Come unto me,” I received him as my Lord and Saviour, so, I, a sinner by nature was saved…I who was a prisoner of war and escaped am now a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ, and, after 40 years, I have never wanted to escape from him, nor will I ever want to.496
All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
—Matthew 11:27