By Donald McGilchrist
From as early as the extended days of prayer for the nations that Dawson Trotman undertook in 1931 in the hills above Loma Linda, California, Navigators had a vision for planting the Gospel in every country. World vision was the shorthand for reaching the nations—and it was preached with passion.
One example is Bob Boardman’s willingness to sacrifice after losing much of his voice from an injury as a US Marine in Okinawa. As he was carrying a disabled Marine, he was seriously wounded when a Japanese sniper’s bullet went through his throat and a finger.
Initially left for dead, Bob was later evacuated and given surgery in various naval hospitals in the United States, particularly in the Philadelphia Naval Hospital. From that time on, Bob’s voice was reduced to a hoarse whisper, which he jokingly called “Japanese laryngitis.
He heard God calling him back to Japan to spread the Gospel among his former enemies. One of Bob’s high school Bible classes was in the village next to where he was wounded. Bob remembers: “It was a wonderful privilege to go back with different weapons, different purposes and be right on the spot where the trauma took place in 1945.”