The Welsh hymn singing programme Decra Canu Decra Canmol was being broadcast from Blaenanerch Chapel. The chapel had been a focal point for the 1904 revival in West Wales. As is often the case during the programme, a visit is made to a nearby place of interest. On this occasion the place visited was indeed unique.
During the Second World War prisoner of war camps were set up all over the country. One was located at Henllan, near Newcastle Emlyn, not far from Blaenanerch. At one time it housed 1500 Italian p.o.w’s, many of which were employed on local farms.
During their enforced stay in Wales they remembered the faith of their homeland and set about converting one of the huts into a place of worship. Leading the group was an artist named Mario who painted a mural of The Last Supper on a wall behind the altar. But with no paint available, they had to make their own, using naturally sourced dyes from plants, fruits, grasses, and using fish oil as a binding agent. Given that food was also scarce; to use fish oil in this way entailed a degree of personal sacrifice. Bully beef tins were recycled into candlesticks.
Whilst we do not accept many of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church we can but admire the fervour and passion of those who out of scraps created a beautiful place to worship God. It would have been easy to have taken the line that Israel did in Babylon, when they hung their harps on the riverside willows and asked, "How shall we sing the Lords song?" (PSALM 137:1-4).
Surely it could be said of the Italian prisoners they had kept the faith (REV 14:12) in a strange land. This reminds us that we are in a strange land, that this world is not our home, yet the challenge is the same: to keep the faith in an alien environment, to leave behind a lasting testimony to that faith.
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