In 1942, the
providence of Manitoba raised over 60 million in the sale of Victory Bonds. The
city of Winnipeg itself had 40 million of that alone. Not bad for a city of
about 250,00 at the time. How did they get the people to give so much?
They let the Nazis take over.
No, there wasn’t a real invasion of Canada but a fake one, On February 19th, the Canadian troops dressed as Nazi soldiers marched into town. Bombers flew overhead. Important officials and leaders were arrested. Churches were barred from holding services. Armed soldiers searched buses. One of the principals of a local elementary was “arrested” and replaced by a Nazi propagandist. There was even a book burning in front of the city library. (The books used were scheduled to be destroyed anyway; they had fallen into disrepair.) For one day the city simulated what it would be like if the Nazis were able to take power.
Citizens of Winnipeg and those of neighboring
towns were alerted to the ruse a few days beforehand—scaring people to death
was not the goal here—and how to escape the rule of the faux Nazis. The city was divided into 45 districts and when
your district raised a preset target amount for the Victory Bonds effort, you
and your neighbors went free.
It worked better than expected. They raised 33
percent more than their target amount. The event was called If Day and helped
the citizens of Winnipeg and the world see how important the war effort was.
Sometimes I believe we
need to have an If day. Nothing as dramatic as what went on in Winnipeg but
times when we consider where we would be if the Lord was not watching over us.
When we contemplate how blessed we are and how without his grace it could all
be taken away in a moment. Where we might be without Jesus and his sacrifice.
If we think about
that it might make us a little more committed to his cause.
If the LORD
had not been my help, My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.
Psalms
94:17
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