Read. Carry. Share.

Last week my daughter gave me a taste of some yummy chocolate. Sweet, and smooth and just so melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The following day I noticed the bars were Cadbury chocolates which my older daughter brought back from a trip to Ireland. Deliciousness explained. 🙂 The brand name reminded me of a story I heard my entire childhood, one I was quite proud of once I understood my connection to it. 

Helen Cadbury (born January 10, 1877), the granddaughter of the famous English chocolatier, was twelve years old in 1893 when she gave her life to Christ. Excited about her conversion, she witnessed to her best friend the following day in school. The young ladies read the Bible together, and eventually Helen’s friend also asked Christ to be her Savior. Through the enthusiastic outreach of the two girls, 80 of their schoolmates came to know the Lord. Helen firmly believed that “If we could get people to read the Book for themselves, it will surely lead them to Christ.”

Helen and her friend organized a group of girls who would sew pockets into their dresses to carry New Testaments. They were adamant that Christians should Read the Word of God, Carry it with them, and Share it with others. They called their evangelistic club The Pocket Testament League, a local group that would grow into a world-wide missionary outreach which continues to this day. Through the years, Helen’s New Testaments were whittled down to a booklet of the Gospel of John, considered the most evangelistic of the four Gospels.

In 1965, Charles and Betty Bruynell, my parents, set out for South America with The League, eventually making their way to Brazil where I was born.

My father turned Helen’s story into a bit of a comedy routine when he’d speak in churches about his work. He’d pull one booklet out of his coat breast pocket to show how handy it was to carry with him. Then, ham that he was, he’d pull a few more from the inside pocket. Then from his side pockets. His front pants pockets. The back pockets. It was like the clown car where a seemingly impossible number of clowns pop out of a tiny vehicle. Except there were no gimmicks to Dad’s stunt. By design, each booklet fit perfectly well in his pockets. I loved that routine. It never got old for me, and he always received plenty of laughs.

As a child, I thought it was so cool that the mission I considered myself part of had such a connection to the Cadburys. But now, with the advantage and wisdom of age, I was humbled as I read about Helen’s fervor. I still think my tiny connection to this great warrior of God is cool, but it’s convicting to realize I don’t have that twelve-year-old’s zeal.

Ah, the exhuberance of youth, you might say, but no. Helen’s evangelistic passion didn’t diminish as she grew older. In adulthood she married Charles Alexander, an American evangelist with close ties to Dwight L. Moody, and in 1908, they officially founded a mission they named–you guessed it–The Pocket Testament League.

In England, The League’s little booklets were distributed to soldiers heading to the trenches in WW1. Throughout the decadence of the Roaring 20s and the economic difficulties of the Great Depression of the 30s, Christians in Great Britain and America armed themselves with these Gospels to reach out to the lost. During the 40s and 50s, the movement spread through Asia, and PTL literature made it into the hands of Captain Mitsuo Fuchida (of Tora! Tora! Tora! fame) who led the first wave of air attacks on Pearl Harbor. Searching for the truth of God’s grace for some time, Captain Fuchida became a Christian, an evangelist, and worked for awhile with The League.

I could go on naming famous individuals who were touched in some way by The League, but this post is long enough already. For me, the takeaway is that through the vision of a pre-teen girl in love with her Savior, millions have been and continue to be introduced to Christ. What a legacy!

On March 1, 1969, at the ripe old age of 92, Helen Cadbury stepped from this life onto the Streets of Gold. I have no doubt she was greeted with the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

For more information about The Pocket Testament League and its history, go to: League history. The page contains a written history as well as a cool little video you can watch.

Helen wrote a biography about her husband, Charles Alexander. You can find a digitized version through the Internet Archive here: Charles Alexander: A Romance of Song and Soul-winning

Captain Fuchida wrote several books, one in particular about his conversion. It seems to be mostly out of print, but Amazon offers a .99 kindle version or a free audible version: From Pearl Harbor to Calvary

And if you’re into old war movies, you can find the movie here: Tora! Tora! Tora!