Rescue the captives

Rescue the captives

"One of the magnificent late 19th century British military expeditions conquered no new lands for

Queen Victoria. You won't find it mentioned in standard history books, but because of the monumental logistics, military historians compare the landing in Ethiopia in 1868 to the Allies' Invasion of France in 1944.

In 1868 Emperor Theodore III of Ethiopia held a group of 53 European captives (30 adults and 23 children), including some missionaries, in a remote, 9,000- foot high bastion deep in the interior. Among them were a British consul and a special diplomatic emissary sent to secure the release of the prisoners. By letter, Queen Victoria pleaded in vain with Theodore to release the captives. Finally, the government ordered a full-scale military expedition from India to march into Ethiopia- not to conquer the country and make it a British colony, but simply to rescue a tiny band of civilians who had suffered in prison for more than four years.

The invasion force included 32,000 men, heavy artillery, and 44 elephants to carry the big guns. Provisions included 50,000 tons of beef and pork and 30,000 gallons of rum. Engineers built landing piers, water treatment plants, a railroad, and telegraph line to the interior, plus many bridges. All of this to fight one decisive -battle, after which the prisoners were released, and everyone packed up and went home. The British expended millions of pounds to rescue a handful of captives. Today our world is packed with millions of people who need to be rescued. These captives need the rescue of Jesus described to Paul. "Open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's power to God," Jesus told him. "

(Final Analysis, Jim Reapsome EMIS, Wheaton College, Il, 1999, pg 17-18)