By Rev. Dr. Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

The Baptist missionaries who were martyred in Hopevale, Tapaz, Capiz.

On December 20, 2025, we solemnly commemorate the 82nd anniversary of the martyrdom of American Baptist missionaries at Hopevale, a secluded refuge in the hills of Katipunan, Tapaz, Capiz. These devoted servants: Jennie Clare Adams, Prof. James Howard Covell, Charma Moore Covell, Dorothy Antoinette Dowell, Signe Amelia Erikson, Dr. Frederick Willer-Meyer, Ruth Schacht Meyer, Rev. Dr. Francis Howard Rose, Gertrude Coombs Rose, Rev. Erle Frederich Rounds, Louise Cummings Rounds, and the young Erle Douglas Rounds, gave their lives in service to Christ and to the Filipino people.

A Christmas they never reached

By early December 1943, the missionaries were entering what should have been a cherished season of hope. It was to be their second Christmas in the mountains, after evacuating in 1942. Life in Hopevale was difficult, yet it was also marked by prayer, fellowship, creativity, and unwavering faith.

As the Christmas season drew near, historical accounts show that the missionaries were planning a special service to celebrate the birth of Christ. They had already begun gathering together, preparing their simple homes, and arranging a time of worship—even choosing hymns that they hoped to sing.

They could not have known that their preparations for Christmas worship would become their final acts of faith on earth.

A Hymn preserved through fire

Among the belongings miraculously preserved after the massacre was a typewritten Christmas hymn: “When Christmas Morning Dawns,” translated into English by Signe Amelia Erikson, one of the martyrs.

Its survival is remarkable; an act of providence ensuring that Hopevale’s voice would continue speaking to future generations.

This hymn, originally Swedish, carries themes of repentance, innocence, longing for Jesus, and the joy of His coming. It was almost certainly chosen for their planned Christmas gathering.

Here is the full text as translated by Signe Erikson:

“WHEN CHRISTMAS MORNING DAWNS”

Translated by Signe Amelia Erikson

At dawn of Christmas morning, I wish to go to the place
Where God throughout the night hours,
Upon the clean straw rests;
Where God throughout the night hours,
Upon the clean straw rests.

How good you were who wanted
To this old earth come down;
No more in sin shall follow
My childhood days again,
No more in sin shall follow
My childhood days again.

We need you now, dear Jesus,
You greatest children’s friend;
I wish no more to trouble
You with my sins again,
I wish no more to trouble
You with my sins again.

These words which are simple, quiet, full of longing, reflect the heart of the Hopevale community. Even while being hunted, even while facing hunger and danger, they prepared to welcome Christ with childlike faith.

Christmas hope in the shadow of martyrdom

On December 20, 1943, before the missionaries could hold their Christmas service, Japanese soldiers captured and executed them. Their bodies and belongings were burned, yet not everything perished. Filipino Baptists preserved the surviving fragments — letters, notes, drawings, and Signe’s hymn — and later entrusted them to Central Philippine College.

What remains today is more than history. It is testimony.

As we remember their sacrifice 82 years later, the message of Hopevale resonates powerfully:

• Christmas is the story of light entering darkness.
• Faith prepares for Christ even when death draws near.
• Hopevale’s unfinished Christmas becomes a symbol of hope that cannot be extinguished.

The missionaries did not reach Christmas morning in 1943, but the hope they carried — the hope expressed in Signe Erikson’s hymn — continues to shine. Their legacy reminds us that the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.