God's Arms Around Us

December, 1941. William R. Moule, American miner working in the Philippines, his wife who was expecting a baby, and their two young children found themselves trapped by the invading Japanese. Rather than go into a concentration camp - and believing that the war would soon be over - the Moules took to the mountains. God's Arms Around Us is an epic of courage and faith - the experiences of a family that survived nearly three and a half years of horror - fleeing the enemy, searching for food, building concealed shelters, and eventually enduring captivity. The baby was born while they were still in hiding. There was no possibility of a Robinson Crusoe-type survival - staying in one place and making the most of it. The Moules had to be on the move continually, climbing mountains, fording streams, trekking across strange terrain in the darkness with enemy planes overhead and patrols covering the paths. Yet through it all, very seldom did William Moule lose his Irish sense of humor, and very seldom did his wife, Marge, fail to smile with him. When malaria struck in 1943, they could no longer stay on the run. Captured, they were taken to Japanese garrisons, then to Camp Holmes, and later to Bilibid Prison in Manila. The Japanese tortured Moule in an attempt to uncover his part in guerrilla warfare and his acceptance of a commission in the United States Army. The infamous Bataan Death March is graphically related here, as described to Moule by a survivor. Throughout the harrowing years, the Moules never wavered from their trust in God - their certainty that He would keep His arms around them "Marge and I," say William Moule, "brought three little kids through an ordeal that most single men couldn't survive, but we had the will to survive, and we had faith."