SHADOW OF THE SUN
Menno was not supposed to be here. Hidden in the shadows of a gargantuan fig root, the Dutch headmaster snatched a moment to pencil another secret letter to his wife. He poured his soul into the tiny note he knew would never be sent, and if found, was punishable by death. Thousands of burial mounds of WWII POWs already lined the Burma railroad as it snaked northward through Thailand. “Don’t lose hope, Flor,” he wrote, exhausted from another tortuous day building the train line. “God will not abandon us.” Writing kept him alive.
Young and fragile, Flor had barely passed the mission’s medical requirements before being swept away to the Dutch Indies. Menno, her indomitable-spirited husband and protector had vowed to take care of her when they set sail in 1928. But now she stood alone. Facing the hallway mirror, she pinned back strands of disheveled waves from her delicate, porcelain face. She knew she had no choice. With Menno conscripted to fight the invading Japanese Imperial Army, Flor was left to protect her seven children and the two families taking refuge in her home. The angry rebel mob yelled obscenities outside, yet Flor stepped into the night, desperate for help.
Menno and Flor Giliam never imagined the cost of answering the call to the Dutch East Indies: separation, Japanese internment, starvation, and the constant shroud of death. Nor had they envisioned the God-sized answers to simple children’s prayers and the blessings purging would bring. It changed their lives for good.
CHAPTER EXCERPT
PROLOGUE
Djatibarang, West Java, March 1942
Oppressive, sweltering heat settled on the armed Dutch fighters hiding in the trees along Djatibarang’s riverbank. A tall Frisian soldier swatted a buzzing mosquito with one hand. In the other, he held a detonator. Pensive and focused, he waited for the command that would signal the destruction of the towering railway bridge before him. It was March 1942, and the Japanese Imperial army had advanced rapidly across the Dutch East Indies island of Java. All able-bodied Dutchmen living in the colony had been called up for military duty, even citizens like missionary school headmaster Menno Giliam.
Perched on a lookout twenty meters away, a young sergeant received the signal from the munitions crew and flagged Menno: All clear! Menno slammed the detonator handle. The sound was deafening, the explosions spectacular. Wood, metal, smoke, and fumes shot skyward as sections of the once heavily traveled railroad folded and collapsed like dominoes into the river below.
Their heads protected under military-green helmets with leather back flaps, the soldiers ducked, taking cover from the sudden rain of railroad debris. An eerie quiet followed. Soon the thick dust parted revealing only the bridge’s concrete foundations standing.
Awestruck by the power of the blasts, Menno wiped beads of sweat from his brow with the back of his arm. “Good!” he said, leaning into a young, ruddy soldier next to him as they both stood up to observe their achievement. “That should slow down the Japs — for now.”
The intensity of the assignment gave way to celebration. The men, thrilled with the success of their mission, rose from their hiding places to exchange triumphant shouts and collect their equipment. Menno, smiling, turned to pack the detonator, but his eye caught something on the opposite ridge. Movement?
“Get down! Get down!” He shouted. “Could be Japs!”
The men dropped for cover, rifles cocked. Breathing heavily, they feared their slightest movement could expose them.
Too late! A salvo of bullets ignited from the rifles of the highly disciplined, khaki-clad Japanese rapidly descending into the river’s gully. The small company of Dutch army recruits scrambled for cover. Terrified and outnumbered, they quickly abandoned all efforts to return fire.
THE BOOK
Letters were strictly forbidden. Weighing the consequences, Menno continued to secretly write. The tiny, unsent notes to his wife Flor kept the POW’s hope alive as the former headmaster struggled to survive the brutality of POW labor camps. While he toiled under the shadow of the Imperial Japanese flag, Flor and his seven children, also interned by the Japanese, endured the horrific conditions of the women and children’s camps on the island of Java.
Tragic yet heartfelt, vivid and historic, Shadow of the Sun is based on the gripping true story of Menno and Florence Giliam, a young Dutch missionary family separated by WWII Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING…
“Shadow of the Sun brings to life a heroic Dutch family in the midst of the horrors of World War II. But this is a universal story of godly faith and trust in the valley of the shadow of death. Their crucible in the furnace of affliction — that reads like a movie — is a timely lesson to trust God even in the most desperate situation. This family’s steely love for one another will inspire, encourage and warm your heart like it did mine. And perhaps like me you’ll end up with tears in your eyes at the miracle of God’s everlasting faithfulness.”
— Chris Mitchell, CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief
“Shadow of the Sun draws us close into the drama of the unspeakably high price that has been paid for freedom and democracy. Through the true-life story of a missionary family torn apart and brutalized by WWII, this historical novel deeply touches the soul in a most needed way.”
— Lorna Dueck, Fmr. CEO of Crossroads, Yes TV, Tricord Media, and TV Host for Context Beyond the Headlines
“Marney Blom has penned a gripping, must-read story based on true events of her ancestors. With the backdrop of southeast Asia during World War II, the story engages the heart and shares inspiring lessons for today. Most of all, the story poses a question to each of us, what are we living for?
Marney is a gifted storyteller. I love a great book you can’t put down — one that stirs the emotions and offers “take away” truths. You will find these qualities and more in Shadow of the Sun. Grab your tissues, take time to absorb the anointed narration, and prepare to be changed!”
— Patricia Bootsma, Co-Senior Leader, Catch the Fire Canada
“My cousin Marney paints a vivid picture of a missionary family’s suffering under Japanese oppression in WWII. The very personal accounts of suffering in Japanese prison camps in the letters our granddad wrote to grandma are deeply moving. How did they manage to survive and how is it possible to have so little bitterness toward their enemy and perhaps even towards the God whom they were serving in their mission work? Where was He in all this? Yet, right in the middle of these desperate circumstances they find Him. The story left me with a loss for words, wondering at the grace of God and the fact that I exist. I warmly recommend this book.”
— Menno A. Helmus, Founder, Team Leader, Vineyard Benelux
“An amazing book that grabs your heart from the first page to the last! We travel with the Giliam family each step of the way through the horrors of war, feeling their pain, tasting their fears, yet finding the true Light in the midst of terrible darkness.
The book answers the question God is asking each of us today: If I am all you have, am I enough? This family found the answer through severe trial.”
— Ian Ross, Executive Director, Father Heart Ministry
“This is a gripping page-turner and a story vividly and skillfully woven by their granddaughter, who has employed her grandfather’s unsent letters, miraculously rescued and preserved. Shadow of the Sun not only captivates through its accounts of miraculous and divine protection, but exposes the inner workings of the soul in the face of severe suffering. It is not possible to read this true story without doing one’s own soul- searching and re-evaluation of priorities.”
— Wayne Hilsden, Co-Founder and President, King of Kings Community Jerusalem; President, FIRM (Fellowship of Israel Related Ministries)