This story is related in a book written by Douglas Connelly called Angels Around Us: What the Bible Really Says.

Mutsuko Hasegawa of Hiroshima, Japan, was brought to Christ by a missionary named Mabel Francis.  Mutsuko hoped to become a missionary like her teacher, but a pre-arranged marriage by her family to a non-Christian man prevented that from happening. 

Mutsuko and her husband had three daughters.  When World War II broke out, her husband joined the emperor’s army.  He was killed in battle, and she was devastated to the point of considering suicide.  Then the Lord spoke to her and reminded Mutsuko of her desire to become a missionary.  Perhaps she could raise her daughters to be missionaries also.

She got her life back on track, but then sensed that God was speaking to her again.  She heard:  “Escape to the mountain, escape to the mountain.”  She heard this over and over again.  Finally, Mutsuko and her three daughters packed up their belongings, hired a vehicle, and left the city of Hiroshima. 

The next morning at 8:16 a.m. she watched from the safety of the mountains as a blinding flash and a mushroom cloud covered the city below her.  The atomic bomb had been dropped by the United States on Japan.

This brings to mind the story in the Old Testament (Genesis 19) about Lot and his family.  Just like the Lord led Lot’s family from danger, He led Mutsuko and her daughters to safety from the destruction of the city they had left behind.  

Mutsuko and her daughters were spared, and she realized her dream of becoming a missionary.