Life Lessons from the Hiding Place

Life Lessons from the Hiding Place

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE __ "V

The End of the Great War

In 1917 the United States came to the aid of the French and the British. The Germans had lost ground and on November

10,1918, the German kaiser fled to the Dutch border for refuge from the revolution in his own country. The official end of the First World War took place at 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918. The Allies had lost five million men in the previous four years and three months, and on the German-Austrian side three million had died.

On November 11, President Woodrow Wilson announced to the American people: "The armistice was signed this morning. Everything for which America fought has been accomplished. It will now be our fortunate duty to assist by example, by sober, friendly counsel and by material aid in the establishment of just democracy throughout the world." On that same day, however, a news release told of the German foreign secretary's "earnest" appeal to President Wilson "to mitigate the fearful conditions" of the Versailles agreement, which "the German government had to accept."

Mother Cor's Strokes and Death

At the end of 1918, Mother Cor, who a few years earlier had experienced a mild stroke, suffered a major one. Corrie, busy with housework in another part of the Beje, decided to check on her mother. Running into the kitchen, she found Cor at the sink with the water running out of the basin and onto the floor. Her mother was "staring strangely," Corrie said later, and could say just one word: "Corrie." Assisting her mother to bed, Corrie called for the other members of the household and dispatched the shop apprentice to fetch Dr. van Veen. At first it seemed that Mother would not live, but after two months of serious illness and semi-consciousness, she opened her eyes and looked around her. Though she suffered initial paralysis, she regained

WORLD WAR I

the use of her arms and legs and was even able to be present at Nollie s wedding on July 23, 1919. But she never spoke again. Communication was possible through a little game, something like Twenty Questions: "What is it, Mama? You're thinking of someone!" "Yes." "Someone in the family?" "No." "A woman?" "Yes." Mother passed away in 1921. Nearly six decades later, Tante Corrie and I were standing at the sink in her bathroom. The previous year she had suffered a stroke that had taken her powers of speech, but she had made a fairly good recovery from initial paralysis. On this morning of her second and major stroke, I was assisting her in getting ready for the day. As I helped her find the sleeves of the jacket to her dress, Tante Corrie looked at me strangely and began to lean to the right. I took hold of her and led her to her bed. She lost all the strength regained on her right side and was in a partially conscious state. It seemed she could not live. But one day after several weeks of serious illness, as suddenly as she had lost consciousness, she woke up and looked around. Although she regained strength and lived for four more years, her speech never returned. We worked out a system of communication very similar to the one she had used with her mother decades before.

"Tante Corrie, are you thinking about a person?" (The Ten Booms were usually thinking of people other than themselves.)

"Yes." "A man?" "No." "Does she live in the United States?" We were to play the Twenty Questions guessing game for nearly five years.

The Years between

the World Wars

1921-1939 fin her later years Corrie was fond of saying, "Every A / experience God gives us, every person He puts in our V, y lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see." During the two world wars God brought many experiences and many people into the lives of the Ten Booms. Between the wars Corrie and Betsie worked with young women and became foster parents of many children. And the letters during this time help us to know Betsie better.

Father Casper

"This is the saddest day of my life," said Father when his wife passed away in October 1921. "Thank you, Lord, for giving her to me."

THE YEARS BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS

For me, these words sum up the attitude and living faith of the Ten Boom family. In the deepest grief he had yet known, Casper simply stated that fact, and then turned to the Lord with a thankful heart that his deeply loved Cor had been given to him for 37 years. Years later, telling about that day and the months that followed, Corrie said that her father displayed no self-pity. He knew where his wife was, and he knew that life and the Lord's work had to go on.

In Corrie's writing and speaking of Casper, we see a resolute, notin-a-hurry kind of Christian leader. His matter-of-fact Dutchness was part of that, but this watchmaker's stability was based on an active and daily living faith that "all our times are in God's hands, even the difficult ones."Theologians call this the sovereignty of God, which, simply said, means that He who is all-loving and always good determines the paths His children take, allowing pain and suffering to come to them for an eventually good purpose. Casper ten Boom lived his life from that perspective. So did his daughter Corrie. It was the basis for all her witness and work and is the main life lesson of this book.

Tante Corrie's Greatest Lesson

I am often asked to tell the greatest lesson I learned during my seven years with Tante Corrie. The answer is "a high view of the sovereignty of God." But I do not usually say those words because through overuse they have lost their real meaning for some, and for new Christians in our generation they can sound a bit pompous and not very practical. But the truth is that I can describe just about any lesson I learned from her and it will come back every time to: "All my times are in His hands."

From Corrie I learned, for example, how to deal with my ten¬ dency toward self-pity. During the months we traveled together my tasks as her companion included things like travel arrangements, stage arrangements, diet needs and crowd control—all in fastmoving repetition as we journeyed from city to city. I was busier than I had ever been, and my tendency to feel sorry for myself

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE was encouraged by the way I was treated sometimes by those who invited Corrie to speak. One such difficult occasion took place in a flat, northern city in the United States when her host, a minister, seeing that I was Corrie's servant, began to treat me in a cold and distant manner—as though I were his servant, too. I found this most unfair. I had enough to do already. Why was this unpleasant man making life more complicated?

Tante Corrie was aware that I was feeling off-balance about this, but she did not really understand the effect the minister's behavior was having on me. This does not mean that she was uncaring. She was just resolutely doing her job as speaker and counselor. In her mid-eighties she could have been forgiven if she had complained about fatigue and inconvenience, but I never saw in her any hint of self-pity in all the time we were together.

On this and another occasion, she took me to task quite firmly about self-pity, calling it a particularly destructive sin. She helped me see that even the most difficult things in our lives cannot occur unless the Lord allows them. "It is not so much what happens, but how we take it that is important," she taught me. "All our times are in God's hands, even the difficult ones." I can see now that while the minister's treatment of me was wrong, so was my reaction. A "poor-me" attitude blinds us to God's larger purposes. After her imprisonment Corrie prayed that God would help her see her sufferings "a little bit" from His point of view. He answered that prayer. He showed her that her sufferings could be used in a far-reaching, redemptive way in the lives of others.

Children Join the Household

As soon as the war ended, the Ten Booms looked for ways to help' German children. Many of them were suffering from severe malnutrition as a result of their country's defeat. Always happy when making plans, the sisters discussed the possibil¬ ity of bringing some of the children to Holland, providing them with good food and loving care and sending them back

THE YEARS BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS

1 ► to their country healthy. Father had many contacts among the watchmakers of Holland, and he wrote letters to them asking if they could provide temporary homes for German children. Many responded, and arrangements were made for the children to arrive by train on a certain day to be met by their prospective host families. Father, Betsie and Corrie went to Haarlem's railway station to see that each child went with the proper family.

One shy, thin girl of about ten had not been assigned to a family. "We'll take her home with us," said Father. And the host family of eight-year-old Willy, who lived on the streets of Berlin, was not at the station to meet him. Father discovered that because of illness at their house, the family was unable to take Willy. He, too, was taken home to the Beje. These were the first of many children who went to live there during the post-World War I years.

A Change at the Beje

In the early 1920s, after the German children returned home, a change occurred in the division of labor in the Beje. Of the three aunts, only Tante Anna was still living. Ail the years the children were growing up and during the final illnesses of her sisters, she had worked hard at housekeeping. Now her own health was failing.

Betsie had long been her father's helper in the watch shop, although she and Corrie did change tasks now and then. Corrie's main job had always been in the household assisting Tante Anna. Although as a younger woman she had not shown a particular liking for housekeeping, Corrie grew to find the work "challeng¬ ing and creative."

When Betsie became ill during a flu epidemic, Corrie had to take her place in the watch shop, where she had previously spent little time. "I felt as if I had two left hands," she said, recalling those early days. "It was a different world—meeting people, re-

LIFE LESSONS HIDING PLACE

membering their particular likes and dislikes, seeing in facts and figures the precarious balance of the family business."

After Betsie recovered, Corrie made a suggestion: "Why don't we exchange jobs for a few months, so I can learn more about shopkeeping? I am so terribly ignorant of what goes on in the business." Her sister agreed. As the months passed, both sisters were happy with the arrangement. Betsie had a particular flair for beauty and order, and this was reflected in rearranged cup¬ boards, flowers on the table and new variety at mealtimes. The new working arrangement became permanent.

Holland's First Woman Watchmaker

Corrie settled into her new work with characteristic enthusi¬ asm. She saw ways to improve the business, such as asking Father why he closed the windows of the watch shop in the evenings when far more people walked through the Barteljorisstraat at that time than during the day. Realizing that the stock of watches and clocks was insufficient, she purchased more and soon had a larger inventory than the watch shop had ever known. That side of the business was soon left in her hands.

After a while, Corrie realized how useful it would be if she were able to help not only by running the shop but also in actual watch repairing. She asked her father if he would teach her the trade. Immediately Father agreed, telling her that he would like to send her to Switzerland for training and that she could well become a better watchmaker than he was.

"He had a great trust in my abilities," she said. Corrie inherited this trait from him—trust in the abilities of others. She was able to make a person feel he were the only person in the world who could fulfill a particular task.

Through the sale of an expensive watch, Father was able to send Qorrie to Switzerland to learn watchmaking by serving ap¬ prenticeships in two factories. She gained her certificate in 1924

THE YEARS BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS

at the age of 32 and became, as she liked to tell, "Holland's first licensed woman watchmaker."

The Foster Children

After Tante Anna's death in 1925, only Father, Betsie and Corrie were left in the Beje. The same year, a new way of life came to the old house with the arrival of foster children. Many Dutch missionaries worked in Holland's large colony of Indonesia, and their children completed elementary and some high school grades in that country. But when the time came for further education they were sent to the Netherlands. Many of the children did not have relatives or friends with whom they could stay. Having visited the large institution-like housing where many of them stayed, Corrie and Betsie felt sorry for the children who were paying such a high price of separation and loneliness. When Wil¬ lem, therefore, came to the Beje one day with a special request, they quickly responded, and after saying, "Let's pray about it first," Father did, too.

Willem, a member of the boards of several mission societies for Indonesia, had just heard about three missionary children who urgently needed somewhere to stay in Holland. Before long, Betsie (40), Corrie (33) and Father (65) became the foster parents of two girls and a boy: Puck (14), Hans (12) and their brother Hardy (15).

Betsie and Corrie shared their new responsibilities. Betsie took care of food and clothing, and Corrie, who reckoned her tasks were more fun, was responsible for sports and music.

The Generosity of the Ten Booms

There was never much money at the Beje. Most Dutch families had to economize as much as possible. Many were out of work in the years between the wars, and there was much poverty. This

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE meant there were fewer clients in the watch shop. Most people did not have the means to buy items such as clocks and watches.

In spite of this, the Ten Booms' generosity to needy children increased. More children joined the household, including two girls named Lessie and Miep. At one point the Beje was home for seven children. "I never had so much fun as in those years when the foster children were with us in the Beje," said Corrie, recalling memories later in life. But it must be noted that Corrie frequently used that expression. She lived firmly in the present with an eye to the future. I heard her say "I have never had such fun" countless times, and I am sure she was right in each case!

More than fifty years after she came to live at the Beje, Hans, one of the first foster girls, described life there in a letter: Life with the Ten Booms was simple but a lot of fun. They understood the art of enjoying every small thing. I remember especially that Tante Corrie and Tante Betsie both enjoyed life intensely because they believed that everything that was given to them was a gift from God. But they did not over¬ spiritualize.

Tante Corrie was a very gifted person. She would say about her gifts: "Those are things a person cannot make for herself. You must, therefore, thank God for the gifts you have been given."

Hans went on to tell about Father's attitude in a house that was always busy not just with the foster children but with the friends whom they often brought home: Opa (Grandfather), as we young ones called him, was never bothered by all the noise going on around him. He just kept working quietly. He always saw good in us. "They are wonder¬ ful children," he used to say. "They never quarrel."

In those years at the Beje I grew from a girl to a young woman. I thank God even now that he gave me these substitute parents while my own father and mother were missionaries in

THE YEARS BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS

Indonesia. It was a privilege to spend those important years with the Ten Boom family.

Of course it was actually not always the case that the children never quarreled. As in all normal households they needed disci¬ pline now and then, and Corrie applied it. Father, however, was never aware of disharmony.

It might seem that Corrie was busy enough in the watch shop business and in caring for the foster children. But she also gave Bible lessons in schools and held classes and a special church service on Sunday afternoons for mentally disabled children, for whom she had particular respect and love.

The Clubs

And there was to be much more work. In keeping with her family's enthusiasm for learning of the needs of others, she found herself one day at a meeting of the Association of Women Friends of the Young Girl. She heard a speaker talk passionately about the help and guidance needed by girls aged thirteen to eighteen. Sun¬ day school classes ended when a child reached the age of twelve or thirteen, and the YWCA (Young Womens Christian Association) provided group meetings only for girls of eighteen and above.

Betsie and Corrie talked about the need for structured Chris¬ tian activities for the young girls who in their early teens would be faced with decisions that would affect their whole lives. They began making plans.

Betsie, who had taught Sunday school at the St. Bavo, the Great Church, for many years, obtained lists of her former pupils. Invitations to be part of a new club were issued, and teenage girls responded. The name of the first club was the Church Walk Club. Corrie and Betsie met the girls on one of Haarlem's bridges each Sunday at 8:30 a.m.They took a long walk together to the dunes, where they played games and talked before walking back to the 10:00 a.m. service at church. The club grew in number and soon

LIFE LESSONS from Me HIDIN G PLACE began to meet on Wednesdays, too, for an evening of games and a short Bible story with a practical application.

From this small beginning many other clubs were formed. It was soon necessary for Betsie and Corrie to find and train more leaders. Both were strong motivators—"even Betsie in her quiet way," said Corrie—and it was not long before an enthusiastic group of able young women began to get together every week to discuss activities for the next club meetings. They learned games from each other to play with the girls, and Corrie taught them how to give a Bible message with a short story so that each leader knew how to do it in her own club. Soon, more and more girls showed the desire to be part of these clubs, of¬ ficially known as Haarlem's Girls' Clubs. Their purpose was to teach the girls the Gospel and keep them off the streets. Dur¬ ing weekly meetings of the club leaders, everybody took a turn telling a story from the Bible while the rest critiqued. The types of questions asked were: Was the Gospel clear?

How was her first sentence? Did it attract attention?

Was there humor?

What help was offered for the girls this week?

What importance did the story have for eternity?

Did she describe colors, movements?

Did she draw clear pictures with good illustrations?

Was it an inspiration for action, for faith, for endurance?

This training was invaluable not just for the girls but for Cor¬ rie herself. In thousandsof talks across the world in 64 countries she applied the speaking principles she taught her club leaders in the 1920s and 1930s. When I was with her in the mid-1970s, she still took each speaking appointment very seriously, prepar¬ ing arduously for each talk. Sometimes we went over her talks together. My respect rose when she, who had given basically the

THE YEARS BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS

same message countless times, asked me to be sure to tell her if there was anything she had left out.

In the 1920s so many enthusiastic members joined the clubs that the garden and park areas where they had been meeting were no longer suitable. Premises were rented.

There was a club for every activity in which the girls showed interest: music, singing, folk dancing, English, sewing, embroidery, gymnastics, and so on. Eventually Corrie was to start a mixed club, almost unheard of at the time, where boys and girls could get to know each other in a natural setting. Halfway through the evening, the club leader gathered the girls together and read a short piece from the Bible, after which they had long discussions.

Once each year the clubs came together for a performance in Haarlem's concert hall, where nearly every club had the opportu¬ nity to demonstrate its abilities. The performance started with all 250 to 300 girls marching onto the platform. They then sang a song, and Corrie gave a five-minute talk to the approximately one thousand people in attendance. One year her subject was "God's Telephone Number Is Never Busy," and another year, "Have You Tuned Your Radio to the Right Station?"

The young men of the mixed Friends' Club provided musi¬ cal accompaniment for the whole evening. Describing the first performance, Corrie later wrote: They were nervous about playing, and I wanted to boost their confidence. I took a violin in my left hand and the bow in my right hand. Then I turned the bow over so that it could not touch the violin's strings and acted as if I were a real musi¬ cian. I don't know how many people in the concert hall saw my antics. There was no music coming from my violin, but we had lots of fun. And I needed to help the boys only that one time.1

Under Corrie's leadership, a Christian Girl Scout movement, the Triangle Girls, grew out of the Haarlem's Girls' Clubs. Many girls became part of the movement, including some with physical

LIFE LESSONS jjwiwHIDING PLACE __ ■* handicaps. As the club work grew, Corrie began to hold summer camps for the girls. At first they used tents, then later a building that had room for about sixty girls.

Decades later, Kitty, one of the club girls, wrote about her experiences: I came to know Tante Corrie when I was fourteen. I first met her in the Haarlem Girls' Club where I took the catechism class. After that, I was confirmed in the St. Bavo. In those days nearly all the club girls belonged to the working class. Our families had little money. There was a lot of unemployment. But because of the Girls' Clubs I was able to attend several camps and even went on a journey along the Rhine River.

At the camps we had a campfire each evening and we always paid good attention to what Tante Corrie said in her talks. Her simple way of telling things made a deep impression on me and many others. And she always gave us something to think about after the talk ended. I always listened closely, looking at her beautiful, friendly eyes, which spoke so much love to us. Tante Corrie was a wonderful pedagogue. And she had such a great sense of humor that I can hardly describe it. She laid in my heart the basis of faith.

The Rise of Anti-Semitism

Willem ten Boom, after working in village pastorates—first in Made and then in Zuijlen—began to be increasingly concerned at the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. He spent much of his spare time studying the subject at the University of Utrecht.

He said to Tine, "I was captivated by the subject of anti Semitism from the start, but now that I am really getting into it, it is taking possession of me. I can no longer get away from it. The Jewish question is haunting me. It is so dangerous. Anti-

Semitism has repercussions that will affect the whole world." Leaving the pastorate in 1926, he began working for the Society

THE YEARS BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS

for Israel, and this led to doctoral studies at the University of Leipzig in Germany. The title of his thesis was "The Birth of Modern Racial Anti-Semitism in France and Germany."

From Leipzig he wrote to Tine, who was home with their four children: "I expect that in a few years' time there will be worse pogroms than ever before. Countless Jews from the east will come across the border to seek refuge in our country. We must prepare for that situation."

Betsie

It would not be long before the gathering clouds of war would darken and Betsie would lose her life. She and Corrie shared a deep sisterly love, respect and closeness. They enjoyed being co-workers, co-conspirators and co-planners for the good of thousands in their home city—those in their Bible classes, Girl Scout and club members, their foster children, neighbors and friends, many of whom visited the Beje. Photographs, writings and stories from this time show us what Corrie was like—a strong, extroverted leader and an unconditional lover of people with a huge sense of humor and an infectious faith.

But what was Betsie like? In the few photographs we have of her she allows no smile and even looks a bit formidable. I think Corrie wanted us to know Betsie better because in her mideighties, when we were living in California, she sent letters to friends, relatives and previous club girls and foster children asking them to send her their written remembrances of Betsie. She wanted to write a book about her sister. Her stroke in 1978 prevented that desire from materializing, but I often thought about the slim, cream-colored file hanging in its green casing in the left-hand drawer of her desk with the tag "Book, Betsie" in her handwriting. And I felt regret that Corrie's version of Betsies life would never be told.

She had written notes, however, that were intended for her proposed book, and she had kept several letters about Betsie.

LIFE LESSONS from CHIDING PLACE

These give us insight into some of the lessons Corrie wanted us to learn from Betsies life. She starts with a reference to foster child Lessie: Several years of Betsies and my life were occupied with our foster children. When the girls were all in their crowded bed¬ rooms at night, Betsie, Father and I came together and talked over what had happened during the day. Then we prayed and committed all of them to the care of the heavenly Father whom we knew loved them and from whom we expected the wisdom and love we needed to guide these teenagers....

I do not remember ever to have laughed so much as in that time. Once Betsie said, "I told Lessie today to give a spring cleaning to the kitchen cupboard. She did it with much joy, singing the whole time, but boy, how impractical she is! Girls who grow up in Indonesia do not learn housekeeping because their parents have servants who do that work. But as for my girls here, I will teach them housekeeping."

"How will you find time for it?" I asked her. "They all are studying to be teachers."

"Yes, and the day they finish they will find a job and leave the care of their Aunt Betsie. But I have found a solution. I have written to their parents about my plan. I told them: 'There is a great chance that your daughter will marry in the future. I can congratulate the young man who will bring Puck to the altar and is willing to stay with her for better and for worse. I know that as soon as she has her teaching diploma she will get a job. How can I teach her the noble art of cooking and housekeeping when she is so busy at the moment with her studies and later with her job? What about giving me permission to keep her at home for a year before she goes to the last class at college?'

"I also have written about my plans to the mission board and wonder what they will think of my revolutionary thoughts."

I remember how in the following days Betsie received enthusiastic letters one after the other from the parents and mission boards. So Betsie took the girls away from school one at a time, and she taught all of them how to cook, clean and

THE YEARS BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS

organize the big household. We also found we could finally enjoy the music, sport and other hobbies for which we had not had enough time when they were studying. And most of the girls helped me at the Clubs, first as Club girls and later as assistants.

How did it work out? Later when I went to the house of one of the married girls, I remember that the kitchen, closets and rooms all were arranged in the same way as in our house. Hans' daughters told me that when there was an argument about a household decision their mother said, "Tante Betsie said ..." and that convinced them. Certainly the menus were like Betsies—Betsies soup, Betsies puddings. Betsies spirit was alive in that home. She had the art of making everyday life important and joyful."

What did Betsie look like, and how did her voice sound? In a letter written six decades later, a woman named Jo who as a child visited the Beje one afternoon in 1911 gave her perception of the difference between Corrie and Betsie: "Betsie had a soft speak¬ ing voice, which suited her angelic and fragile being. She kept working at the housekeeping very quietly—a very caring woman. It seemed to me that Tante Corrie was the strong one, someone everybody could depend upon whenever that was necessary."

Previous club girl Henk van Langelaar described, "Once I was at the Beje for a meal. Tante Betsie reminded me of fine china." And a family friend said, "She always reminded me of a cameo brooch." Another foster child recalled: "I remember Betsie as a 'Martha' figure, an always-serving Christian."

A relative wrote:

You asked me to tell you my memories of Tante Betsie. The thing I remember most is the connection she maintained with the family ancestors through old letters, daguerrotypes and old pictures, which she lovingly colored and framed. The past lived for Betsie (in contrast with her brother and sisters who much more—sometimes exclusively it seemed—looked

LIFE LESSONS foam (CHIDING PLACE toward the future). How Betsie enjoyed books like David Copperfield and those by Louisa May Alcott! She loved, understood and knew about antiques, and especially art. She transferred her love for paintings to me during the various visits I made with her to the Frans Hals Museum. At first I went with her reluctantly to do her a favor, but her enthusiastic descriptions of the pictures won me over and I developed a permanent interest in art. I also remember her scrapbooks in which she glued colorful advertisements for recipes and foreign newspaper clippings.

Sometimes she received letters from Indonesia from the parents of the Beje foster children in which they requested that she buy and send them certain items that could not be found in Indonesia. Those were not always easy errands. She once told me she had to go to many shops before she found the desired article. Nothing was ever too much for her. I remember that she was always cheerful and very neatly dressed

Hans Kapner, whose home I just described and whom I men¬ tioned earlier as one of the first foster children to come to the Beje, wrote: The first thing I want to say about Tante Betsie is that she was there. She was always there. She was a balanced, quiet woman who was involved in every part of the life of the Beje. You could really say that she had a central place in the Beje. She never sought the limelight, but if for some reason she had to give the lead, she stepped forward with controlled grace.

Betsie was the only member of the family who could not sing and who did not play an instrument. Even so, she was very musical and enjoyed good music intensely. She was able to determine musical nuances and to direct our attention to them.

She was definitely before her time in the way she used language. I always noticed this trait, for instance, when Grand¬ father and Tante Corrie were not there and Betsie prayed at the table. The first time I heard her address God without

THE YEARS BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS

using "Thou" or "Thine" I felt a bit shocked, as she just called Him "You" in the modern way. But later I thought, "Yes, that is how it should be. That is how we speak to each other, that is how you talk to your friend; so why not talk to your great Friend in such a way?" That helped me a lot later when I was a teacher. It meant much more to the children if I did not use old-fashioned terms in prayer.

I think Betsie was a very intelligent woman. When we arrived at the Beje as foster children, she was auditing a class in Hebrew in the top [last] class of high school. She used the Hebrew often at home, following Grandfather's Bible reading in her Hebrew Bible. Sometimes she would say, "I thought that this is the way it should be translated." And when Grandfather or Tante Corrie had to give a talk somewhere, it was often Betsie who suggested a subject or came up with the idea on which the speech would be based.

She was always happy when I came to the kitchen to study while she cooked. She liked me to study aloud and often com¬ mented, "Oh, how interesting." She was particularly interested in history.

She had a great need of gezelligheid, both for herself and for others. She showed this in all kinds of small ways in ordinary daily life. On Sunday afternoons, for example, we always drank tea upstairs in the parlor. She laid a large tray with a matching mat and took the best cups from the cupboard and the silver candy dish. Then we all drank tea together with a cookie. Oh, it was so gezelligl

As Christmas approached each year we polished all the silver in the house—tableware and everything that had to do with Christmas—until it shone. The Christmas table was always tastefully decorated and cheerful.

Tante Betsie had the idea, which became a tradition, of taking tea in bed to every member of the family on Christ¬ mas morning. She took me into her confidence about it and gave me a large tray, telling me how she would like it to be set with a cup of tea for everybody and a slice of Christmas bread. And she wanted there to be a lighted candle on the

LIFE LESSONS from HIDING PLACE tray. I served everybody, after which I ran back to bed and under the covers because soon the Salvation Army would play Christmas carols behind the towers of the St. Bavo in the early Christmas morning. Everybody in the house always enjoyed hearing these carols while still in bed. We always had wonderful celebrations, especially Christmas, New Year's Eve, Sinterklaas, Grandfather's birthday, etc.

There was a very small roof to the Beje, rather like a balcony, next to Grandfather's room. Betsie grew plants there. She tended to them every day. One would have thought they had litde chance to grow there, as they received so little sun, but with Betsies care they thrived. She also took good care of her plants in the parlor. She did this kind of task with a lot of warmth.

Betsie had a strong sense of humor. She laughed a lot when we came from school with silly stories. Sometimes Grandfa¬ ther told us slang Amsterdam words or popular expressions and Betsie would say, in a pretending official voice, "Now, Father.. .." But you could see the fun dancing in her eyes.

On New Year's Eve 1891, when Betsie was six years old, Mother ten Boom recorded the following in her diary: Our Betsie is a lovely girl, sensible in everything. She looks pretty with her long fair curls, and though she is very pale she is in good health. She is hypersensitive and must be treated very carefully because she notices everything and ponders it all. We have to take care that she does not see and hear too much. It is astonishing that she has such a strong memory. Things we have forgotten altogether she remembers exactly with all the details. She is very anxious to learn and carries pencil and paper or slate and slate-pencil with her. She likes this far better than needlework. It is lovely to see how much she enjoys all good things that come her way and how every time she has something special she thanks the Lord for it without you having to tell her to do so. I cannot but say good things of her. She certainly has her faults, but so few that I really should not know what to say about them.

THE YEARS BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS

Betsie must indeed have had her faults, but, of course, her family and friends do not describe them. We will, therefore, never know any weaknesses in her character. These descriptions make it hard for me to relate to her because it puts her in a saintlike position. But how could she have been so loved if she were not a real person, just like you and me, with lots of failings?

In 1917,26 years after her mother described her six-year-old daughter, Betsie showed her true faith in a profound statement that Corrie in her notes described as a simple but serious mes¬ sage for us all. As Europe headed into the final year of the First World War, Betsie said, "It is going to be a harder winter than we have ever had before. We must show through our joy the worth of being a Christian. We should already be doing this, because seeing the dark clouds approaching is often harder than being covered by them."

The Deepest Hell That

Man Can Create"

7939-/944 fin the late 1930s many in Holland did not recognize the y signs of approaching war. Their country had remained V, ^ neutral in the First World War, and they reckoned that would surely be the case with this war. The Dutch government tried to ignore the signs, assuring the people they did not need to worry because Holland's desire for neutrality would be respected. At the end of 1939 the prime minister assured the people in a radio broadcast that there was absolutely no cause for alarm. He quoted an old Dutch poem, whose author I do not know: People often suffer the most By anticipating suffering that never happens. They, therefore, have more to bear than God gives them to bear.

"THE DEEPEST HELL THAT MAN CAN CREATE"

But many did take note of the warning signs. Queen Wilhelmina was one of them. In her autobiography she wrote, "By the spring of 1938, when Hitler invaded Austria, the answer [to the question of what national-socialism would mean for the rest of Europe] was plain to me. German policy would result in a European catastrophe."1

As daily life went on, news reports told of one country after another being overtaken by the Germans. In April 1940, Hitler invaded Denmark and Norway.

War!

At three o'clock in the morning of Friday, May 10,1940, the first German shock troops invaded Holland's most southerly province and took some of the bridges over the river Maas. At the same time a large number of aircraft flew into Dutch airspace. And at about 3:15 a.m. the first ground fighting took place when German soldiers removed the Dutch border patrol in the north of the country to clear the way for an armored German train.

Corrie was jarred awake at about four o'clock by the sound of loud explosions coming from the direction of the airport. In The Hiding Place she describes the invasion: I sat bolt upright in my bed. What was that? There! There it was again! A brilliant flash followed a second later by an explosion that shook the bed. I scrambled over the covers to the window and leaned out. The patch of sky above the chimney tops glowed orange-red. I felt for my bathrobe and thrust my arms through the sleeves as I whirled down the stairs. At Father's room I pressed my ear against the door. Between bomb bursts I heard the regular rhythm of his breathing.2

When she reached her sister's room, Betsie was sitting up in bed. "I groped toward her in the darkness, and we threw our arms around each other. Together we said it aloud: 'War.'"3

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE

Holland held out for five days, during which the large port city of Rotterdam was heavily bombed. Soon came a proclama¬ tion from the queen that she had decided to take the difficult but urgent step of moving the seat of government away from Holland for as long as necessary. When Corrie heard the queen had left she wept: "I had not cried the night of the invasion but I cried now, for our country was lost."4 The Netherlands sur¬ rendered on May 15,1940.

During the first year of German occupation, life was fairly normal, but slowly the enemy began to apply restrictions. Nobody was allowed outside after 10:00 p.m.This curfew later was changed to 8:00 p.m., and then 6:00 p.m. Total blackout was ordered. Food was rationed. As time went on radio sets, gold, tin, copper and even bronze church bells had to be handed over to the Germans. The number of people who were allowed to comprise a group was limited. In 1940 the Nazis shut down the Girls' Clubs.

Although attacks on the Jewish population were minor at the beginning of the war, it was not long before the Germans began discriminating against them, starting with the requirement that they all wear a yellow star bearing the word "Jew." Then came attacks on Jewish businesses and synagogues, and they were denied access to shops, restaurants and theaters. Next, the transportations began. Rumors circulated about what might be happening to those who were deported.

Hitler's vision for postwar Europe was that Holland would become a province of Germany. Aryan Dutch men and women who were favorably disposed to Germany would be allowed to stay in Holland. Everybody else would be transported elsewhere. All Jews would be exterminated.

The Underground

By the beginning of 1942 the family at the Beje was involved in underground work. They began finding hiding places for Jew¬ ish refugees.

"THE DEEPEST HELL THAT MAN CAN CREATE"

Every Dutch citizen was required to have an identity card on his or her person at all times, and it had to be produced in order to claim ration coupons. As Jewish people began to seek underground addresses it became necessary to obtain coupons and false identity cards for them. These were also needed for the young Dutchmen who otherwise would have been transported to Germany to help with the "labor force."

A very effective motivator, Corrie soon was surrounded by able young Dutchmen whom she called her "boys." They carried out underground errands for her. Willem and Tine's second son, Christiaan, nicknamed Kik, was one of them.

The first to become a refugee in the Ten Boom household was Hans Poley, a young man who came under suspicion of being involved in illegal activities. Having heard of the underground work carried out at the Beje but never having been there, Hans' first meeting with the family was in May 1943: Carefully following instructions, I turned right into a narrow alley. It was empty, so I pressed the button on the post of the green door. Quick steps sounded and the door opened. "Welcome! Come in, quickly," Corrie's cheerful voice greeted me.

"I am Tante Corrie," she said, "and I do hope you will be very happy here." She led the way, turning left up a short staircase onto another landing where she opened a door into a small room. The curtains were drawn to prevent light from being seen from outside. In the middle was an oval table where a stately lady was busy with her sewing. To the right, next to the stove, sat an older man who could have passed for a patriarch. He had snow-white hair with a beautiful full beard, and he looked at me over his gold-rimmed glasses.

"Father,''Tante Corrie said, "this is Hans. He will stay with us for some time." I did not know who to address first—the lady or the obvious master of the house—but he solved the problem. "Well, my boy, we are glad that you trust us to offer you shelter, but we have to expect our ultimate protection

LIFE LESSONS fjwm, CHIDING PLACE from our Father in heaven. We do hope that our Lord will bless your stay. Sit down here."5

Barteljorisstraat 19 became a well-known address for illegal activities. It housed refugees, and many underground workers met there to discuss plans and act as couriers. But in spite of the danger and tension of which they were constantly aware, Corrie, Betsie and Father made the best of the situation. They invited their Jewish guests to lead classes in any subjects they might be qualified to teach. They held classes in Hebrew and astronomy, and everyone in the house attended the Italian lessons—including Father, who, always ready to learn a new language, arrived each time with a notebook in his hand. In the evenings the members of the household came together in the living room, sometimes with a wood fire burning, and sang.

A few years later Corrie wrote some notes that describe life in the Beje during the year of 1943: As was always the case, there was a happy mood that day. The house where "the three old people lived" was full of the kind of fun caused by the coming together of fourteen people. The overtone was provided by Eusie, who once again was asking whether he really did look very Jewish [or not]. Since there was nothing about him that did not look Jewish, the rest of the company never tired of naming every visible characteristic of his race. Especially Mary and Martha, the two Portuguese Jews, appeared to be very knowledgeable on the subject. There were three young men from Friesland having a meal with us. They had come to Haarlem in connection with their illegal work, and one of them asked how it was possible to keep our work secret from the neighbors when there were such noisy conversations going on.

"First, tell me [if] I would be recognized as a Jew on the street, sir, and then I will tell you how we keep our presence here a secret," replied Eusie.

"THE DEEPEST HELL THAT MAN CAN CREATE"

He had just received the comforting news from his house¬ mates that he would perhaps be able to walk fifty meters without being recognized as Meyer Mossel, a cantor in the synagogue in Amsterdam, and was about to make up a detailed speech about how the underground activities were kept secret when a ladder was placed against the window and the window cleaner started his work. The curtains were only partly closed, and the man had a good view of the whole company. We were not very pleased with that because we did not know him. It could not be guaranteed that he would keep quiet about what he had seen. Very quickly I, the three Frisian boys, four more boys of their age, our Jewish guests and the others who happened to be in the house at the time conferred with each other about how we could best distract his attention.

It was Eusie who came up with the solution: "Let's act as if it is Tante Betsies birthday!" Without hesitating for a mo¬ ment he started to sing that favorite birthday song: Oh how happy we are today. It's Tante's birthday, it's Tante's birthday.

The noise level increased, and the window washer could never before have heard a birthday song that could not be finished because of the laughter of the singers. The situation was saved, the size of the group explained. He probably did not notice that Father did not know what to do with himself for laughing and that Betsie could hardly stop her familiar noiseless laugh.

After supper, while those who had to stay inside (those who because of their appearance could not be seen outside) did the washing up, a serious talk took place with the Frisian young men about the technicalities of hiding refugees. They only knew about the hiding places in the farms in the countryside and could not imagine hiding such a large number of people in a city, near the police station and only a short distance from the notorious Nassau Square. What would we do if the Gestapo came?

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE

We were able to calm down the boys. We told them of our system of locks, the opening of which would cause a delay of at least two minutes to anybody wanting to enter the Beje. The house had two doors, one on the main street leading into the shop and one from the alley to the corridor. Both doors had four locks, and if undesirable visitors arrived it was Betsies job to go to whichever door had been knocked on and fumble with the locks for a while. She was then to maintain that she could not get that door open, but would make her way to the other door, which she surely would be able to open.

In the time that all this took, there was plenty of opportunity to press one of the many buttons that had been placed all over the house. They would cause bells to ring on all three stories. Everybody in the house would hear the alarm signal.

When they heard the alarm bell anybody whose presence in the house could cause difficulties was to go straight to the hiding place in my room. Every refugee was trained to disap¬ pear in ninety seconds. If the alarm went at night they first had to fold up their sheets and blankets and turn their mattresses over.

Corrie went on to explain that she and Betsie and Father had given a lot of thought to the situating of the hiding place: It was quite a long time before we decided upon the false wall in my bedroom. Originally we thought the best place for it would be in a space behind one of the cupboards in the dining room. We worked out that it would hold four people, three sitting down with their backs to the wall with their legs stretched out and the fourth lying across the legs of the other three. But the space was closed off by only a thin partition. Also, as the number of refugees in the house increased, we started to think about a place that might hide them better.

For a short while we experimented with a small space in the attic above the front bedroom. This could be reached only through a hatch high in the wall of another bedroom. In order to help anybody to safety we would have to use the household

THE DEEPEST HELL THAT MAN CAN CREATE

stepladder. There were too many problems. The older people and the ladies did not want to climb. It would take far too long to hide eight people. Also, the people in hiding would have to make their way through a very narrow passageway past a big beam. We had tried to remove some of the beam with an ax and a saw, but the passageway was still too narrow. Another problem was that there would always have to be somebody in the bedroom to close the hatch after the last refugee was inside, and then that person would have to hang an improbably large etching of the Great Church in The Hague in front of the hatch. So that hiding place was rejected, too.

And then we found the right place. My own bedroom had a blank wall. A second wall was built a short distance from the first wall, and in the left-hand corner of that second wall a cupboard with shelves was built of which the lowest portion of the wooden back of the cupboard could be pushed up. It was ideal. There was room for six to eight people between those two walls.

Ready for use on June 2, 1943, the hiding place was about eight feet long, two feet wide and nearly ten feet high.

The inhabitants of the Beje began to drill with enthusiasm. At the most unexpected and confusing moments Corrie pressed one of the alarm bells. And then a lot of action took place. Nobody wanted to be the last person to disappear into the hiding place.

Corrie wrote:

One cold evening when the whole family had just gone to bed, I pushed the bell for the first night alarm and the droll procession began. Piet was the first to get to the hiding place. He was wearing his pajamas and carrying his clothes. He knelt down somewhat frantically in front of the cupboard, poked his head inside and disappeared. It was as if he had been swal¬ lowed by an enormous monster. The last I saw of him was an arm, which reached quickly through the opening to grab his clothes. By this time the others had arrived. One by one they slipped behind the wall from a kneeling position. Eusie came in last, wearing monstrous pajamas with a blue stripe.

LIFE LESSONS fyomihe HIDING PLACE

Once he was inside I quickly replaced a few boxes and linens on the bottom shelf and closed the sliding panel.

When the practice was completed and the refugees had been given the all clear, they talked about it. There were a few objec¬ tions. Carrying clothes inside the hiding place cost unnecessary time. It was decided that from then on the refugees would hang their clothes in the hiding place before bedtime. There was also the difficulty about coming out at the end of an alarm. This time I just came into my room and called out "Everything is all right. Come out." But we had heard from acquaintances that sometimes the Gestapo would follow a person suspected of hiding refugees through his house and make him say a sentence like that. We therefore appointed Betsie to knock three times on the panel after every alarm and say: "Come out, children." If they heard any other words the hidden guests were not to raise the panel and were to keep perfecdy still.

The "Blow" Comes

September 9, 1943, less than six months before the Beje was raided, Italy capitulated. That evening proved to be one of the busiest the Beje had yet known. The Ten Booms still had a radio because when the Germans demanded all radios be handed over, they had parted with only a very small, spare radio. The main radio was hidden upstairs in the hiding place. The rumor spread quickly through Haarlem that the Italians had given up the fight. People were even beginning to say that the Germans soon would surrender. Since many friends, co-workers and acquaintances knew there was still a radio in the Beje, they came from all sides to hear the great news of the capitulation for themselves. So many people came that it became impossible to listen through the headphones in the hiding place on the third floor and relay the news to the first floor downstairs.

In the end, they brought the radio downstairs and attached the loud-speaker normally used with their record player. Father

THE DEEPEST HELL THAT MAN CAN CREATF"

sat cheerfully in the middle of a group of some thirty people, listening to the news reports that kept streaming in. Happily, there was no raid that evening. "It would have been a big catch for the Gestapo," said Corrie.

Some resistance workers visiting the house for the first time, after hearing about all the happenings at the Beje, would become fearful and act as if they wanted to leave as soon as possible. And Corrie would simply explain, as she did to a nervous courier: We do not do these things out of personal bravery.... We just live in the belief that God has given us this work, that we understand the danger, but that we know we are hidden under the wings of Him whose care and protection we experience daily.

Toward the end of 1943 the Beje became even more deeply involved with the underground, and a couple of close calls neces¬ sitated having to find temporary safer accommodation for the Jews on at least one occasion. In her papers, Corrie tells how all in the Ten Boom household understood the danger of what they were undertaking: Father was also completely aware of the possible consequences of our undertakings. We said to him more than once, "You do know, Father, it could happen that we are discovered. Then we will all go to prison and with your poor health you would not survive." Father was 84! He would then go quiet and say that he would obey if God asked him to give his life to protect the old people of the covenant.

The blow came on Monday, February 28,1944, between five and six o'clock in the evening. Tipped off by a Dutchman who worked as their agent, the Gestapo raided the Beje, which was busy that afternoon. Four Jews were staying as guests, and they were upstairs. Willem had held a Bible study in the dining room, and some of the members had not yet left the house. Nollie also had come to the Beje with her son, Peter, to visit Father. Peter was

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE playing the piano with his back toward two resistance workers who were discussing some plans when the alarm bell sounded. The Jews made straight for the hiding place, and the two resis¬ tance workers, whose presence would have aroused suspicion, were pushed up the stairs and through Corrie's bedroom into the hiding place. So the place held Martha, a Portuguese Christian Jew of about 60; Eusie the cantor, about 55; Mary, about 45, a Portu¬ guese Jew; Ronnie, a Jewish young man of about 25; and the two young Dutch resistance workers, Hans and Reynout. Although the family was arrested and the house thoroughly searched, the hiding place was not discovered. After 47 hours those in hiding were released through the cooperation of Dutch police who were sympathetic to the underground and had been informed of the refugees' plight by other resistance workers.

In her papers Corrie describes her thoughts as she, Betsie and Casper were loaded into a police van that would take them away to the Scheveningen prison near The Hague: "In my heart was a great sense of peace. I had long expected this catastrophe. Now the blow had fallen, [and] I accepted it as the close of an exciting chapter of my life. In my mind I kept telling myself, 'Don't ever feel sorry for yourself.'"

Scheveningen

After a journey of about an hour, the doors of the prison closed behind them and Betsie and Corrie were ordered to stand with their faces toward a red brick wall. Father was allowed to sit on a chair. When the sisters' names were called they passed by Casper, who looked up and said his last words to them softly: "The Lord be with you, my daughters." He was to die in prison ten days later.

Corrie was suffering from pleurisy, which was later thought to be tuberculosis, and she was placed in solitary confinement for the three months of their imprisonment at Scheveningen. Betsie was confined in a cell with other women. Although of-

THE DEEPEST HELL THAT MAN CAN CREATE

ficially they were allowed to write and receive very few letters, some were smuggled in and out, and it is these letters to family and friends that give us insights into prison life. Corrie some¬ times wrote brief descriptions of her feelings about life in cell number 384: A cell consists of four stone walls and a closed door . .. how gready a prison deprives people of the most elementary condi¬ tions of life. If God still grants me the opportunities, I hope to work in the area of rehabilitation. I will now also dare to visit a prison cell, although I did not dare before now.

Corrie s first letter to "Nollie and all friends" was written on April 11, 1944. She thanks them for the parcel they had sent: "It was perfect! All those colors! I am using the threads from the bath towel to embroider everything." She writes that her main difficulty has been her worry about Betsie and Father, of whom she had heard nothing. She also says, "I am grateful that I am alone, I who love company and people so much! I see my sins more clearly, my own SELF in upper case letters, and I see much more superficiality in myself than I had previously realized. I am continuously looking at Him and trying not to be impatient. I will not be here one minute longer than God deems necessary."

Every two weeks the Red Cross brought packages to the prison for delivery to each prisoner. On one occasion her cell door opened and the prison guard insisted Corrie come and take the package from her even though she was weak with her illness. Remarks Corrie: Unkindness is so depressing! I unpack the box. The items are nice and tasty. They were chosen by understanding people who knew what would be good for us. Will this be the last parcel? In another two weeks will we be ... ?

Look out, thoughts! It is better to concentrate on and con¬ template the Savior. With Him there is certainty. With the LIFE LESSONS fjtom ike HIDING PLACE other there is only uncertainty and delayed hope, which hurts the heart.

Betsie was the first to learn of Father's death, but she did not receive that news until a month afterward in a letter from Nollies daughter Cocky. She wrote back to her niece: April 11,1944

Dear Cocky,

So our dear father has been promoted to Glory. The Lord Himself crown his head with the martyr's crown. Many years ago I had a premonition of this, but I steadfastly put it out of my mind. I often thought that a person in whom Christ was shown to such advantage, who lived so close to the Savior, to whom eternal things were so real and who had the gift of prayer in such a wonderful way—such a person had all the conditions for becoming a martyr. And then I would think, He is not going to die in his bed. God did not let His sovereignty slip through His fingers. No, this all had to be this way, even my being here in prison... .

Cocky, tell everybody who is praying for me that they should especially thank God because miracles are happening here every day. The rush of great waters came to me, but I did not despair for one moment. The Lord is closer to me than ever before in my life. Even in those first terrible days I felt His nearness. I knew that this was not punishment because He suffered completely for me at Golgotha. This horror had come to us from His loving hand to purify me.

Corri'e's 52nd Birthday—April 15, 1944

Corrie's birthday came while she was in Scheveningen. Later she recalled:

THE DEEPEST HELL THAT MAN CAN CREATE

I was alone, given cold food (nothing hot) and had no op¬ portunity to get fresh air. No books. Everybody was snarling, and I felt so sick and miserable. A doctor gave me a shot, and I told him that it was my birthday and then he gave me a firm handshake. He himself was a prisoner. Never did I appreciate a handshake so much as this one!

Betsie and Corrie were allowed no contact in Scheveningen, and Corrie did not learn of Father's death until three weeks after the news reached Betsie. She wrote to Nollie and family: His going will leave a great emptiness in my life. The Lord will surely provide many others to whom I can give the love and help I gave him, but that which he gave me can never be replaced. But what a privilege it was that we could enjoy him so intensely for so long. For a few days I was upset. Now that has passed. During the last few days there was such tension inside me. I did not dare to think things through, and when you are so alone it is difficult to get away from your thoughts. Now that is gone and I am thinking much about the future. I am making plans and am experiencing much peace. How good the Savior is to me! He not only bears my burdens, but He carries me, too!

In a letter smuggled out of Scheveningen prison Corrie de¬ scribes one of the few times she was allowed out of her cell into the fresh air. It is not clear whether while walking in the garden she actually came to the terrible yard she describes or whether she was mentally reliving a description somebody had made of it.

When I had gone through the door it was bolted behind me, and I was alone again. Even in the garden there was only loneliness for those of us sentenced to solitary confinement.

After nine weeks, this was my first time outside. Red flow¬ ering shrubs, colorful little primroses, grass, yellow dunes and a wide blue sky. My legs were stinging from their unfamiliar movement, but I walked and walked, on and on, on the rect-

LIFE LESSONS ^^HIDING PLACE

angular path around the center lawn. I drank in the colors and the air.

Tremendous emotion made my heart beat faster, and then an unspeakable melancholy descended within me. I saw the colors through my tears. In me and around me was more loneliness than in the cell, and all of a sudden I did not see any beauty, just a bare yard, and felt an atmosphere of death and cruelty. At the end, they had dug a long, narrow pit. It looked like a freshly dug grave. Half the shrubs were without leaves and were dead. Around the yard was a high, hard wall with pieces of broken glass in sharp points liberally cemented in its top. And in the north was the tall prison, bare and cold with rows of barred widows. Near the south wall was the gruesome stench of burned bones, and I could hear Kik telling me, "There are already three crematoria in Scheveningen." Behind the south wall the rattle of a machine gun broke the silence. And then, once again, everything was terrifyingly quiet. It was two o'clock and was as if everything around me was a ghost city and I the only one alive. I walked on and an uncontrollable homesickness surged up in my heart.

Then suddenly I remembered Enoch. He was not filled with homesickness when he walked with God, and so I was no longer alone either. God was with me. Hand in hand we walked on and saw the blue sky and the flowers and the flow¬ ering shrubs, and I could see the yard as part of a beautiful free world where I would be allowed to walk once again. In the same way, earth is a lonely garden and heaven the liberty where great joy awaits us as children of the light.

Vught

On June 5, the day before D-Day, Betsie and Corrie were re¬ united when they were suddenly transported from Scheveningen prison to Vught, a German concentration camp in the south of Holland. They were delighted to discover each other while wait¬ ing at the railway station for the train that would take them on a

"THE DEEPEST HELL THAT MAN CAN CREATE

slow, twelve-hour journey to their new destination. With many other women prisoners they were placed in a large room, where for the next twelve hours they sat on wooden benches without back rests. They were given neither supervision nor food.

Betsies diary:

Tuesday, June 6: Unexpectedly brought to Vught in the night to Barrack 4. Corrie and I were together in the train compart¬ ment. We enjoyed it immensely. Everything terribly strict here, but still so grateful not to be in a cell any longer.

Thursday, June 15: Transferred into the camp here. We sleep, eat and sew side-by-side and are now so happy! Both had physicals and are fine. Corrie's lungs fully recovered. Must get up at five each morning. Wear overalls and wooden shoes. Have fun walking on wooden shoes. Each day and by night we are experiencing thousands of miracles.

The sisters were assigned tasks at Vught. Betsies first job was the braiding of heavy ropes, a job so hard on the hands that she eventually was released to lighter duties in the sewing room. Corrie worked in the nearby Phillips factory.

Through every preserved letter shine Betsies trust, light-heart¬ edness and love. Although often suffering from hunger, she was grateful for the smallest thing and her famous flair for living allowed her to be ever grateful instead of complaining. I cannot find the faintest trace of self-pity in any of her writing.

Sunday, June 25: We had to report to the sewing room. The morning flew by. In the afternoon, fifty of us gathered out¬ side. Wonderful! Then slept and did laundry. In evening, a discussion circle. Nice. Had a wonderful Sunday. Beautiful weather.

Later she expressed thanks for a thimble and a piece of cake given to her by a Belgian woman prisoner: LIFE LESSONS fyomthe HIDIN'G PLACE

Yesterday, many blessings. Had a good talk with Smid.

Received butter and cheese. Washed a blanket. Cabbage soup. Corrie doing well at Phillips. We enjoy the beauties of nature, the skies, very much. The weather is cold, just right. Every day some sunshine. We receive amazing strength for this harsh life. I am often very hungry. Corrie brings me a warm meal from the factory, and I eat it while we stand at roll call.

On July 6, through a letter from the outside, Betsie and Corrie learned that the Beje and the watch business had been released by the Germans. "We understand that the condition of the house is not bad," wrote Betsie in her diary. "Just what I expected from the Lord."

While Betsie continually displayed such solid faith, joy and even cheerfulness, Corrie's strong imagination and descriptive powers cause us to sense deep emotion in these writings. On August 13,1944, Corrie wrote to the family: We are able to witness here and there, but not nearly as much as we had expected. There is much bitterness and communism, cynicism and deep sorrow. The worst for us is not that which we suffer ourselves, but the suffering we see around us. We are learning to put the worst in the hands of the Savior. We are very peaceful, in rather good spirits, but not cheerful. Our health is fine. My hair has turned gray. Life is hard. It is as if I have been drafted into the army but in the harsh German way. But don't worry too much about that. In many aspects it is not too much.

Betsies letters seem to'display a more childlike and pure faith than those of Corrie, as if she was somehow protected from the cruelty, murder and deprivation going on around her. She celebrated—no doubt, for her that is the right word—her 59th birthday on August 19.

THE DEEPEST HELL THAT MAN CAN CREATE"

Ravensbriick

On September 4 Corrie and Betsie, along with many other women prisoners from Vught, were transported to Ravensbriick concentration camp in Germany on a very slow-moving train. The boxcar should have held about forty women, but eighty were shoved into it. The conditions were terrible; there was no space to sit comfortably, very little water and hardly any fresh air. Tante Corrie told me once that those three long days and nights in the boxcar were the worst time of her ten-month imprisonment.

Ravensbriick was the only major Nazi concentration camp for women, and about twenty European nations were represented there. At the time of Corrie and Betsies incarceration, the popula¬ tion of the camp was about 80,000. She and Betsie were officially registered as prisoners on September 8, 1944. By the end of the war more than 132,000 women and children had been imprisoned in Ravensbriick, and it is estimated that 92,000 of them died there by starvation, execution or weakness. One of them was Betsie.

The camp authorities forbade any receiving or sending of mail, so we have no written record between the end of August and the end of December, when Corrie was released. (Two dates, Decem¬ ber 28 and December 30, appear on her discharge certificates.) But she described the happenings at Ravensbriick in her books

The Hiding Place and A Prisoner and Yet..., the latter written early in the year after her release.

In Ravensbriick Betsie and Corrie encountered a world that they had never imagined. Lying, pushing, shoving, filthy words, lice, vermin, starvation, dirt, manipulation and hard labor were their daily lot. Tante Corrie called it "the deepest hell that man can create," where the guards had had "lessons in cruelty."

But God did not allow their spirits to be broken, their love of planning to cease or their prayers to stop. Corrie wrote in The Hiding Place: As we prayed, God spoke to us about the world after the war. It was extraordinary: In this place where whistles and LIFE LESSONS fyomtke HIDI'NG PLACE loudspeakers took the place of decisions, God asked us what we were going to do in the years ahead.

Betsie was always very clear about the answer for her and me. We were to have a house, a large one—much larger than the Beje—to which people who had been damaged by concentration-camp life would come until they felt ready to live again in the normal world. She would say, "It is such a beautiful house, Corrie! The floors are all inlaid wood, with statues set in the walls and a broad staircase sweeping down. And gardens! Gardens all around it where they can plant flow¬ ers. It will do them such good, Corrie, to care for flowers!"6

In the days before her death, Betsie described another phase of the work they would both carry out when they were released. Was she seeing visions or having dreams?

A camp, Corrie—a concentration camp. But we are in charge. The camp was in Germany. It was no longer a prison, but a home where German people who had been warped by his philosophy of hate and force would come to learn another way. There were no walls, no barbed wire and the barracks had window boxes. It will be so good for them . . . watching things grow. People can learn to love from flowers. . . ,7

Corrie asked Betsie if this camp in Germany was to take the place of the house in Holland. No, Betsie told her, the house in Holland would come first. It was ready and waiting.

As she weakened, Betsie gave new details about that house, and of the barracks in Germany. "The barracks are gray, Corrie, but we will paint them green! Bright, light green, like springtime."8

Betsies final instruction about the future was that she and Corrie would travel the world together. "We must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here."9 Betsie always spoke in the plural when 'describing the future to Corrie, who desperately hoped

THE DEEPEST HELL THAT MAN CAN CREATE

that her sister would indeed live to see the fulfillment of her three dreams. Corrie asked her if they would be together when the work Betsie had described came to pass. "Always together, Corrie! You and I.. . always together."

And in a way they always were together because Betsie s story, forever combined with that of Corrie, would circulate the world. While they were in the camp, Betsie predicted that both she and Corrie would be free by the new year. She passed away on Decem¬ ber 16. After her own release two weeks later, Corrie described her anguish at the loss of her sister but then used very comforting words to show us through her eyes her last glimpse of Betsies face: "... full of peace, and happy as a child. She looked incredibly young. The care lines, the grief lines, the deep hollows of hunger and disease were simply gone. In front of me was the Betsie of Haarlem. It was a bit of heaven in the midst of the surrounding hell."10

In chapter 41 quoted an excerpt from one of the letters Tante Corrie received in the last years of her life when she asked for remembrances of Betsie. The letter was from a woman named Jo who had visited the Beje when she was a child. I quoted her perception of the difference between Corrie and Betsie: "It seemed to me that Tante Corrie was the strong one, someone everybody could depend upon wherever that was necessary." But it was the next sentence, which I have saved until now, that really describes much about Betsie: "But it seems that during the war years Betsie was the stronger spiritually." Tante Corrie marked that part of the letter; it surely would have been part of her unwritten book about her sister.

In the coming chapters we will see how Betsies words were fulfilled through the beautiful house in Holland, the former con¬ centration camp in Germany and the more than three decades of Corrie's world travels.

Ill

Corrie Begins to Tell

Her Story

7945-/947 'orrie was discharged from Ravensbriick concentration camp in the last days of 1944 and made her slow, cold and hungry way by train back to the Netherlands. Germany was in ruins. As the train passed through Berlin she realized that it was New Year's Day 1945. Betsie had been right. They were both free.

Upon her arrival in Holland, Corrie spent ten days in a nursing home in the northern city of Groningen and then stayed two weeks with her brother and family at their home in Hilversum.

She was shocked to see that Willem looked very ill and to learn that Kik, the younger of Willem and Tine's two sons who had

CORRIE BEGINS TO TELLHER STORY

been active in the underground, had been arrested and sent to Germany. No news of him had been received. But she did learn that the Jews who had been in the hiding place were safe except for Mary, who for some inexplicable reason had gone out into the street shortly after finding another temporary hiding place, where she was arrested and transported to Poland.

Holland was not yet free, and permission to travel was limited. This was also the infamous "Hunger Winter" of 1945, during which, to save themselves from starvation, the Dutch ate even tulip bulbs.

After some difficulty obtaining transportation to her old home¬ town of Haarlem, Corrie arrived there during the last week of January, delighted to be reunited with Nollie and her family. Then she returned to live in the silent family home.

Home to the Beje

Much had been stolen from the Beje. After the Germans had "unsealed" it during the summer of the previous year it had been used to house homeless families. Four Oriental rugs were gone, as were her typewriter and the clocks and watches left for repair at the time of her arrest. But many priceless things were left, including her piano, the family's Frisian clock and an oil painting of her father given to him as a gift from the people of Haarlem on his eightieth birthday.

Corrie inquired about the many friends and co-workers from the underground work and learned that the group was still oper¬ ating but on a smaller scale. When she asked about the mentally retarded children and adults she had formerly taught, she learned that their families had hidden them in the back rooms of their houses from the regime that did not think they were "fit to live." Their special schools and institutions had been closed down. Corrie took several of them into the Beje.

All this might be thought enough for a person to undertake in those first few months of recovery from imprisonment, but Cor-

LIFE LESSONS ^wHIDING PLACE

rie was busy with another time-consuming task. She was used to being awakened early in the morning at Ravensbriick for roll call and found that she still automatically awoke long before dawn, unable to return to sleep. Not wanting to waste those hours, she got up and began writing her first book, Gevangene en Toch ...

(A Prisoner, and Yet...). Remarkably, this book was ready for the printer by the summer of 1945.

Corrie Begins Telling Her Story

Corrie often described the early days and months after her release as she began to tell others about her experiences. Remembering Betsies words, "We must tell them, Corrie, what we have learned in this terrible place," she invited all her neighbors to come to the Beje. They all had been very sorry when the Ten Booms were arrested and wanted to know what had happened to Father and Betsie.

As Corrie recounted their experiences, one of the neighbors said, "I am sure it was your faith that carried you through."

"My faith? I don't know about that," replied Corrie. "My faith was so weak, so unstable. It was hard to have faith. When a person is in a safe environment, having faith is easier. But in that camp when I saw my own sister and thousands of others starve to death, where I was surrounded by men and women who had training in cruelty, then I do not think it was my faith that helped me through. No, it was Jesus! He who said, £I am with you until the end of the world.' It was His eternal arms that carried me through. He was my certainty.

"If I tell you that it was my faith, you might say if you have to go through suffering, 'I don't have Corrie ten Boom's faith.' But if I tell you it was Jesus, then you can trust that He who helped me through will do the same for you. I have always believed it, but now I know from my own experience that His light is stronger than the deepest darkness."

From this beginning, Corrie began to tell her story to any¬ body in-Haarlem who would listen. She rode her bike through

CORRIE BEGINS TO TELL HER STORY

the city streets and suburbs to bring the message that when the worst happens in the life of a child of God, then the best remains and the very best is yet to be. Whether she spoke to people individually or in groups, the message was the same, beginning in that Dutch Hunger Winter until the end of her speaking life decades later.

During one of the early meetings in Haarlem, after she had talked about Betsies vision of a large home for rehabilitation, Tante Corrie was approached by a woman whose face she rec¬ ognized. She was Mrs. Bierens-de Haan, the owner of a very large house in the wealthy suburb of Bloemendaal. The lady told Corrie that she had five sons, all of whom had fought in the war. Four had returned safely. She believed God had told her during the meeting that if the fifth son came back, she should make her house available for Betsie ten Boom's vision. The fifth son did return and Corrie was invited to visit the house, where she found inlaid wood floors, a sweeping staircase and bas-relief statues set along the walls just as Betsie had described.

On May 5, 1945, the Allies liberated Holland. And at the beginning of June, less than six months after Betsies death, the beautiful house—named Schapenduinen, meaning "Sheep Dunes"—received its first guests. Through the coming years hundreds of people who had suffered mental and physical an¬ guish during the war would receive rehabilitation there and in the larger house that eventually took its place.

For the rest of that year Corrie continued to receive and ful¬ fill many speaking appointments, including one in the city of Nijmegen, where she gave her first talk in English to a group of Canadian servicemen. They told her they hoped she would one day come to speak in their country.

And during that year Corrie told her story to one very sig¬ nificant person. The Dutch collaborator who had betrayed the Beje by tipping off the Germans had been arrested, brought to trial and sentenced to death. His name was Jan Vogel, and Corrie wrote him a letter.

LIFE LESSONS from the IIIDIN-G PLACE

Haarlem, 19 June, 1945

Dear Sir,

I heard today that you are very probably the person who betrayed me. I went through ten months in concentration camp. My father died in prison after ten days and my sister after ten months.

That which you meant for harm, God meant for good for me. I have come closer to Him. A severe punishment is awaiting you. I have prayed that the Lord will accept you if you turn to Him. Remember that the Lord Jesus bore your sins, too, on the cross. If you accept that and want to be His child, you will be saved for eternity.

I have forgiven you everything. God will forgive you, too, if you ask Him. He loves you and sent His Son to earth to pay the price for your sins—to bear the punishment for you and me. You need to give an answer to that. When He says, "Come to Me, give Me your heart," then your answer must be, "Yes, Lord, I want to. Make me Your child."

If you find it difficult to pray, ask if God will give you His Spirit. He will give faith in your heart.

Never doubt the love of the Lord Jesus. He is waiting to receive you with outstretched arms.

I hope that the deep path you now must take will work toward your eternal salvation.

Sincerely, Corrie ten Boom

To America on Fifty Dollars

It is not clear who suggested to Corrie that she visit the United States to tell her story, but she quickly made plans to go there. She saw it as God's guidance in fulfillment of Betsies dream that

CORRIE BEGINS TO TELL HER STORY

they would go around the world with their story. In her diary on January 26,1946, she recorded: Planning a foreign trip is wonderfully exciting, and for me it is doubly wonderful because it is such a contrast with my last foreign journey. Then I was being taken against my will to the land of the enemy, but now by my own free will I am going on an evangelization journey through a friendly country. What an adventure! I know so little about what is awaiting me. I will have $50 with me and some notes of introduction, but I do not know anybody there. What a privilege to have been called to evangelize in another part of the world—I, a weak, sinful, little person. But I know that God's power is made perfect in weakness. I experienced that in the camps.

Leaving the rehabilitation center in the hands of a Dutch board and a caring staff, Corrie moved on to the next challenge. After considerable difficulty in obtaining her visa, Corrie left Holland for America on a cargo ship. Fifty dollars was all she was allowed to take out of the country. An American businessman whom she had met in Holland, however, had given her two checks, one small and one somewhat larger, for her to use if necessary. "You can pay me back later," he said.

Arriving in New York City, Corrie went to the YWCA and found a room. One of the addresses she had been given in Hol¬ land was that of a group of Christian Jews who had immigrated to America and held meetings in New York City. She called them and learned that they were from Germany. They invited her to speak to them, but the English speaking notes she had made on the trip across the Atlantic Ocean could not be used. Her first talk in the United States was in German.

After staying at the YWCA for a week, she received a letter from somebody who had heard her speak at the Jewish meeting. Knowing how difficult it was to find rooms in New York, this lady whom she had never met offered Corrie the use of a room

LIFE LESSONS fyomthe HIDING PLACE in her house. She accepted quickly and became the woman's guest for the next five weeks.

Corrie spent her days looking up the addresses she had been given in Holland. The Americans were polite and some seemed interested, but nobody asked her to speak. She even began knock¬ ing on the doors of churches, offering to tell her story. But few people were interested. After a couple of weeks she began to run out of money. Her daily food for some time was what she described to me as "a Nedick's breakfast." It cost ten cents and consisted of a cup of coffee, a doughnut and some orange juice.

"One day on that first visit to New York," she recalled to me late in her life, "I met some American girls. They invited me to have lunch with them as their guest. I had chicken and gravy and potatoes and vegetables. Oh, it tasted so good. That day I started to love the Americans!"

As the weeks progressed, Corrie felt increasing resistance to her message. Nobody was interested in an older Dutch woman who wanted to give talks. Nor did they seem to understand that there was such a thing as God's guidance.

"But God's guidance is much more important than common sense. I know He has told me to give this message in America. I can tell from my own experience that the light of Jesus is stronger than the deepest darkness."

"We have ministers to tell us that," was the response. "Of course you have. But from my own experience I can tell people that what the ministers say is true."

"It would have been better if you had stayed in Holland. We don't need any more preachers. Too many Europeans are coming to America. Something should be done about it."1

After five weeks of no work Corrie was beginning to wonder if she should indeed return to Holland, when the first of a chain of events took place that were to lead to open doors all over the United States. First, she met a Dutch minister who had heard about her story. She stayed with his family in the pastoral manse

CORRIE BEGINSTOTELLHERSTORY

for five days: "What a joy to eat good Dutch food again." A week later after a service in a different church she met Irving Harris, editor of the magazine The Evangel. He was interested in her story and asked if she had any written material he could publish in his magazine. She gave him a copy of one of her lec¬ tures and before they parted, Mr. Harris gave her the name and phone number of a Mr. Abraham Vereide in Washington, D.C.

Reluctant at first, Corrie finally called Mr. Vereide and received a warm invitation to come to Washington.

More Than Sufficient Work

Twenty-five years later Corrie wrote about Mr. Vereide in her news magazine It's Harvest Time.

In the U.S.A. I started to bring the Gospel, but no doors were open to me until I met Abraham Vereide. He introduced me to many people. It was my joy to work with him in the Interna¬ tional Christian Leadership Breakfast Groups. Abraham was a man full of the joy of the Lord, always prepared to tell everyone about Jesus, whom he loved. His introductions were always unusual. Once I was with a group of highly educated people. Abraham did not forget the title of any of the people in the group. I wondered how he would introduce Corrie ten Boom, just a licensed watchmaker. Without hesitation he said with a smile, "Corrie ten Boom was graduated from the University of Ravensbriick." It certainly had been training in that prison camp! I was still more moved when he put his arm around my shoulders and said, "Corrie ten Boom, God's own girl."

From that time on, Corrie had more than sufficient work. Soon she was able to pay back the businessman who had given her the two checks "to use if necessary." Something of the scope of her new work is shown through some notes she made in Toronto on June 2,1946: "It is no small thing to be put to work in Canada. I

LIFE LESSONS -fawn the HIDING PLACE —-- > see so many possibilities that I could stay for the rest of my life in Toronto and have enough work. In the last fourteen days I have held 24 talks, four newspaper interviews and a radio interview."

During her time in Canada she met a Mrs. Bobbie Halliday from whom she received much kindness through the coming years, not the least of which was the supply of clothes. When I started traveling with Tante Corrie in 1976 she told me that according to Mrs. Halliday she had only one dress on her first visit to America. "But," said Corrie to me thirty years later, "I cannot have had just one dress. I must have been wearing one and had another in my suitcase."

She began to write letters in English from time to time, which were mimeographed and sent to the new friends she had made, and she kept in touch with her Dutch friends through a column in a Dutch evangelical magazine. Because Mrs. Halliday kept copies of these letters we are able to follow Corrie's early travels with some accuracy.

The first of these letters, which I have been able to track down, was written from Prairie View, Kansas, on July 15,1946, about four months after she met Abraham Vereide. Among other places where she had already spoken were New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Staten Island, Vermont, Ottawa, Toronto, Detroit and Grand Rapids. She must have already shared with some of those new friends her difficulty in understanding Ameri¬ cans and her lack of fluency in English, for she said: The language difficulty is no more a real brake upon the work, or [my] not understanding the American people. I accept them now as they are. When they are different from the Dutch I don't judge but try to understand their elementary needs. To many thousands I brought the message during the last months ... thirty lady lawyers at a dinner of the Women's Bar Association at Chicago accepted me extraordinarily. A Jewish Women's Congress did not accept me at all, and one asked me: "Why did you speak of Jesus? Did you not know that you were speaking to Jews?" I certainly did.

CORRIE BEGINS TO TELL HER STORY

Underneath the mimeographed letter, Corrie added a note in her own handwriting: "Your dress, Bobbie, is a real blessing. I am sure that I am quite ladylike with it... when I spoke for the lady lawyers I was so glad I had that dress."

Two months later, in October 1946, after having spoken in California and Utah and 22 times in Iowa, Corrie wrote: My health is splendid, and in my heart is an ever-growing joy. To bring the light makes you so happy. It shines into your own heart ... to everyone I may tell about the victory of Christ! How good it is to know that all work in God's Kingdom is for His sake. Jesus works in our hearts the love of God by His Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). What rich children of the King we are! Why do we so often live like beggars?

How do people respond? Sometimes they tell me I come over too strongly. I think they say that because I see more and more that we may not be content with living as if we are only partly a child of God. Sometimes God's Spirit shows the people their sins and brings them to the happy deed of giving their life to Him. Some have been strengthened by my telling of the small and large miracles God did and does in my life and dare now bring their own difficulties to Him. Yes, God does miracles even now in my life. Is it not a miracle that I might give more than 160 lectures and I am not tired?

On December 14 I hope to leave on the Queen Elizabeth for England and then be home at Christmas.

Corrie had much to do, however, in the intervening two months. On November 19 she wrote to Abraham Vereide requesting his prayers and the use of his influence to free Hans Rahms, a Ger¬ man judge at Scheveningen who tried to secure Corrie and Betsies freedom after their arrest. He was then interred in Germany.

Will you try to get free Hans Rahms, at Hammelburg bei Bad

Kissingen 9793 Internment Camp in Germany?

In April 1944 he questioned our family, set free 32 people who were in prison with us. He knew that most of them were

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE - underground workers. He changed my Protocol and tried in several ways to set free my sister and me but did not succeed because another judge got our trial. Hans Rahms bstened with real interest when we spoke of the Gospel and allowed my sister to pray with him. When it is useful, I will take him in our house in Holland for a time with his family. Will you get permission for that? Pray that they may be saved for eternity.

In the same letter to Mr. Vereide she wrote: "People say that Molotov [the Soviet foreign minister] will be on the Queen Eliza¬ beth on December 14. Pray that I may bring him my message. God is a God of miracles."

Because there is no further mention of Molotov, it seems that she was not able to bring him her message. But as for Hans Rahms, he must have been released because several years later she renewed her acquaintance with him on a visit to Germany and explained the Gospel and his need of the Lord Jesus as his Savior. Rahms accepted Him and later she wrote, "I know his sins were forgiven and that his name was written in the Book of Life."

Home Again

From that first of countless travels abroad, Corrie arrived back in the Netherlands shortly after the death of her brother, Willem, who passed away in December 1946 of tuberculosis of the spine, contracted in prison. Just before he died, Willem opened his eyes to tell Tine, "It is good, it is very good, with Kik." Although they had long surmised that Kik was no longer alive, not until 1953 did the family receive confirmation that he had died in 1945 in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Father, Betsie, Willem and Kik—four Ten Booms—had given their lives for shielding and saving Jewish refugees.

"We Are Able to Live as

King's Children"

1947-1953

Worries home in Holland was now the beautiful re¬ habilitation center in Bloemendaal near Haarlem. It was to her room there that she returned from her ten-month adventure in the United States.

One of her first tasks was to tell the Dutch Christians what she had learned in America. Just as the Ten Boom family, under Fathers example, had looked for and received fellowship and instruction from Christians outside their own denomination, Corrie showed the same spirit to her new friends across the Atlantic in a circular letter dated June 27,1947: It is half a year since I left America. How much that time in your country has meant to me! All you many people I know are my friends who pray for me.

LIFE LESSONS from CHIDING PLACE

Amongst other things my work in Holland has been to tell people here what I learned in America. For example, I tell them about Youth for Christ, about Breakfast Groups, about the Chris¬ tian Businessmens Committee, about the Gideons, to show them how America understands the mission call. It inspires the Dutch. I hope that people here will get the same spirit of action. Many people in Holland have a wrong idea about America, just as I had before I visited you. During my trip through your country I learned to love the American people.

The house in Bloemendaal had been open for a year. Corrie wrote: Most of the war victims are back into society. Now all sorts of tired people needing a period of rest spiritually and physically can come to the beautiful house with its large park. We also held eight conferences during a two-month period for young people who want to use their spare time for the spreading of the Gospel.

We need a far bigger house where we can have longer con¬ ferences, a Bible-school, a retreat and rehabilitation home at the same time. We know that God will give us the house and the money we need for it at His time.

In July 1947 she wrote to Bobbie Halliday, her clothes sup¬ plier from Canada: My dear Bobbie, Today I wear the green dress you gave me last year! So often I think of you, also during the winter when in the cold I had your nice warm cardigan.

Like most effective Christian leaders, Corrie read a lot. Until a stroke took her ability to read when she was in her mideighties, she read avidly with an attitude that always wanted to learn. Her letter to 'Bobbie continued:

"WE ARE ABLE TO LIVE AS KING'S CHILDREN

Did I send you the book In His Presence by Kenyon? This book gave me much blessing. Write if you did not get it, and I will send it. I cannot believe everything that is in it, but it gave me much light and made Jesus' victory more real for me. We are God's children. We may go to God's throne every moment of the day or night. We have legal rights to take all the promises of the Bible. Demons reign over us by bluff; they have no real power. Perhaps they have a little bit, but the power of Jesus is far and far greater.

Then she made a request to Bobbie:

My house "Schapenduinen" is blessed. It is not large enough, and there is a chance I can get an unfurnished house where people can sleep in their own rooms. Can you perhaps help me by sending curtains or tablecloths? In America I saw those cotton bags for chicken food. Could you get them? Don't worry if you can't. God will take care of everything.

A Face from the Past in Germany

In the latter part of 1947, nearly three years after her re¬ lease from imprisonment, Corrie went back to Germany. It was then that she had an encounter with one of her former guards. Those who know Corrie's story probably have heard the fol¬ lowing many times, but I would not be true to her memory if I did not include this vital part of her message—forgiving our enemies: It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former SS man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbriick. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there—the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsies pain-blanched face.

LIFE LESSONS •fjtom the HIDING PLACE

He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. "How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein," he said. "To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away."

His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side. Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? LordJesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.

I tried to smile, and I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness.

As I took his hand, the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder and along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.

And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.1

I heard Corrie tell this story at every meeting to which I accompanied her. She gave this example of the importance of forgiveness for 33 years throughout the world.

1948-49

It was estimated that nine million people were without homes in postwar Germany. They were living on bombed sites, in half¬ standing houses and in heaps of rubble. Corrie was invited by a church group to speak to and work among one hundred families living in an abandoned factory building. Sheets and blankets divided each family's living space from the next in an attempt to provide'some kind of privacy, but it was not possible to escape

"WE ARE ABLE TO LIVE AS KING'S CHILDREN

the sounds of babies crying, radios set at high volume or family squabbles. Corrie decided that in order to bring her message of the victory of the Lord Jesus she needed to thoroughly identify with the homeless people and live as they lived, not returning to the hostel room outside the city that the church had provided for her. After she had been living in the abandoned factory for several months, the director of a relief organization came to see her. He had heard about her rehabilitation work in Holland and wanted her to start something similar in Germany.

"We've located a place for the work," he told her. "It is a former concentration camp that has just been released by the government."

She drove with him to Darmstadt to see the camp. Rolls of rusting barbed wire still surrounded it, and a cinder path led to gray barrack buildings. But in her mind's eye Corrie saw something else. Betsies dream was about to be turned into reality. I have before me a photograph of those buildings after they had been prepared to receive German people in need. They are clean and neat and painted spring-green. And there are window boxes.

These activities were interspersed with much travel. Although not many records of her comings and goings in 1948 exist, we know that she spent April 15, her 56th birthday, in Los Angeles, where she was speaking to students at the University of California. The student who acted as her chauffeur on that day later wrote: She taught me what the true love of Jesus Christ can do in the life of a chosen vessel. Her spiritual depth and insight into Biblical truths, coupled with the compassionate understanding that had come from her time in a Nazi concentration camp, left me with the desire to do more with my life than just earn a good living.

Before the end of1949, five years after her death, Betsies dreams had already been established for several years, and a larger reha¬ bilitation house in Holland had been acquired. This is confirmed

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE --— in another letter Corrie wrote just before Christmas that year to her friends in America and Canada.

After seven months in Germany and the rather rough crossing in the freighter, I had lost weight but gained it very soon in this land of plenty.

From Holland, Bloemendaal, good news. The house, Zonneduin (meaning "Sun Dune"), bought in faith, had to be altered. We have now 28 beds. It is a home for people who need a time of rest—house mothers, patients who had to leave the hospitals but are not yet able to do their work, and many different kinds of people who find there a home with good nursing and—what is the most important—come in contact with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The builders were not yet paid and telephoned that if we did not pay that week they should go to a lawyer. The lady director said, "Then I go to my heavenly lawyer." She went on her knees and told the Lord that there was no money to pay. The next day our Queen Juliana sent 4,000 guilders, about $1,300. So the King of kings moved a queen to help us out.

In Germany, the former concentration camp where we have now 85 refugees, the barracks had to be painted and the walls here and there strengthened. We hope that the barracks will be less drafty now in the coming winter. One hundred forty refugees left to live now in their own built houses.

"Let Us Expect Much—Then God Gives Much"

In October 1950 Corrie wrote to her friends that she had ar¬ rived back in Holland in August. Tante Corrie always had a great sense of urgency: It seems as if the world is going down. We know it is. Romans 8:19: "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed." Knowing this, let us use our time

WE ARE ABLE TO LIVE AS KING'S CHILDREN

not in straightening pictures in a house on fire but jumping into the work of saving souls, losing our lives for Jesus' sake and thus finding them. Not with sad faces, but filled with the Holy Spirit and joy, knowing that Jesus not only cures but also renews. We have a Savior who not only died for our sins, but the moment He went to sit at the right hand of the Father He began to live for us. The devil accuses us night and day but our advocate, Jesus, says that we are God's righ¬ teousness in Him.

So we are able to live not like beggars, but as King's chil¬ dren—yes, God's children. Tell that to the devil; that is the best way to resist him. Act on the Word of God; you will experience that it is true. A believer is a possessor. Let us expect much—then God gives much. Let us not try to live a resurrection-life with Christ without following Him in His death. Then He can fill us with His love, which is victorious over all circumstances.

In December 1951 Corrie wrote again to Bobbie Halliday, who continued to keep her supplied with dresses: O, that your prayers for me may be answered and that God may use me to "ignite the spark into flame," like you wrote. I am thankful but not satisfied. I have so many opportunities. Pray that I may be used one hundred percent everywhere. "Streams of living water" is what I pray for.

The Weaver

In February 1952 Corrie received a letter from the superinten¬ dent of the American Board of Missions to the Jews. It contained a poem called The Weaver by Grant Colfax Tullar, which from then on Corrie frequently quoted.

She used the poem in a very special way. Corrie liked to use visual aids in her work, and one principal aid was her crown

LIFE LESSONS fyomlke HIDING PLACE

Corrie begins her travels, U.SA., 1946 photo courtesy of the corrieten boom house foundation embroidery. She often used it to help her audiences see their circumstances "a little bit from God's point of view."

She would begin, "When the worst happens in the life of a child of God—and for me it did—the best remains and the very best is yet to be." Then she would slip out of her bag a piece of shiny blue cloth which, you may recall from chapter 1, when she and I were packing for our first journey together I had mistaken for embroidery. She would hold it up backward so that the audi¬ ence found themselves staring at the tangled, knotted, untidy,

WE ARE ABLE TO LIVE AS KING'S CHILDREN"

yellow threads on the underside of the cloth, and she would quote The Weaver: My life is like a weaving Between my God and me. I do not choose the colors; He worketh steadily.

Ofttimes He chooseth sorrow, And I in foolish pride Forget He sees the upper And I the underside.

As she spoke the last two lines, Corrie would turn the cloth around so everybody would see a golden crown instead of tangled threads, and she would continue: Not till the loom is silent And the shuttles cease to fly Will God unroll the canvas And explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful In the skillful Weaver's hand As the threads of gold and silver In the pattern He has planned.2

A Blessed Life

In 1952 Corrie made her first visit to Japan. On her sixtieth birthday, April 15,1952, Corrie wrote to Bobbie Halliday from the YWCA in Tokyo: The weeks and days before leaving the States were full and fuller up 'til the last evening. Then I spent four days in Honolulu, where I spoke sixteen times. A time of great blessing, and I

LIFE LESSONS ^meHIDIN'G PLACE

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CORRIE TEN BOOM HOUSE FOUNDATION

Corrie at 60years of age in Japan, 1952, with missionary Mrs. Mitchell was not tired at all... .Japan is different from anything else. I preached Sunday and had to leave my shoes outside.

And in November 1952:

I traveled over the northern island of Japan. Here I learned to know the real Japanese life. Sleeping, eating and living in Japanese style was very interesting but not always easy for an old girl like I am. But the Lord gave me much strength. When my weakness leans on His might, all seems light. Thank you for your prayers and help! Yes, Ravensbriick was a good training. Sometimes when I sleep on a dirty bed on the floor

WE ARE ABLE TO LIVE AS KING'S CHILDREN

in a small hotel far away in the country, I say to myself, "Ravensbriick was worse."

Corrie worked in Japan for nine months. Although she be¬ lieved God had called her to proceed to Taiwan, New Zealand and South Africa, lack of funds for the journey prevented her leaving Japan when she had hoped.

But Corrie knew the joy of trusting in the Lord with a faith¬ ful heart, and this became very evident when she referred to her financial needs in her letters during this time. By now Corrie had a mailing list of thousands of people. In one letter she wrote: Friends often ask questions and want to know more about the various projects that are supported by the funds I receive, so I will tell you about them and their prayer needs.

First, there is the International Home, Zonneduin in Holland. The small charge of two dollars a day, which includes meals, does not cover the cost of running such a home; yet it has been a haven of rest to many who could not pay even that much.

Second, there is the former concentration camp in Darm¬ stadt, Germany, where 85 refugees are living while they work and build their own homes. When they move out, others take their place. This camp often needs repairs, in addition to help¬ ing these people become established.

Third, there is the sending of these newsletters to about 18,000 in fifteen different countries. Pray that the Lord will bless this letter and for the other people on my mailing fist. Many have spiritual needs, and about a thousand are prisoners.

Fourth, there are my expenses to carry the message that Jesus is Victor around the world. Thanks to all the dear people who, as Phillips translates Romans 12:13, "never grudged me a bed or a meal." I seldom have to use God's money for personal expenses. Traveling from place to place is always the big item.

Although Corrie told her audiences about the financial needs for her rehabilitation house in Holland and for the work in Ger¬ many, she never asked for money for herself.

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE -- ^

She did eventually continue with her planned trip into other parts of Asia. From Taiwan in January 1953, after describing her work there, she wrote: I told you here a lithe snapshot of my life. What a blessed life I have! In churches, streets, prisons, Bible schools and missionary meetings, God uses me. Late in the evenings I am tired, but God gives me always a healthy sleep each night, and then I am peppy again. The joy of the Lord is my strength [see Nehemiah 8:10].

Is it always easy? No. Of course, I have moments that the spirit of self-pity asks entrance into my heart. One day recently cockroaches ate holes in my dress, the dirty scoundrels. I try to travel light and have not too many dresses with me, and just that day I had no money to pay my room, though it was no high amount at all. I also needed money for my air ticket, for the letters to my mailing lists in America and Japan. I did not really worry but asked God, "May I tell my friends about my shortage of money?"

The Lord answered only, "Trust Me!" I was so very happy about that answer and went to bed wondering how the Lord should help me out this time.

The next day was very busy, and I came home very late. For the first time mail reached me in Taiwan. There were 36 letters. The first I opened had a check of $ 150, and then there was a letter from [my representative in the U.S.] to tell me about many Christmas gifts for me in money. I had money for every need of that moment, even for the air tickets. It is no risk to trust the Lord. Faith is a problem for those who do not know the Lord and the Word.

Does that mean always answered prayers? Surely not, al¬ though no problem is too great or too small for the Lord, and He is far more ready to answer our prayers than we are ready to pray. Sometimes He allows deep ways.

In th e Power of the Holy Spirit

1954-1959

Q she wrote: n October 22,1953, Corrie's beloved sister Nollie died at the age of 63. Away from Holland at the time, Corrie received the news by telegram. In a letter to her friends

That afternoon Nollie had had a Bible study group at her home. In the evening she passed away, only one step from earth to heaven. What a joy for her to be with the Lord. For me earth is much emptier, heaven still fuller. Nollie went a train earlier. Not lost, but gone before.

Nollie wrote to me every week. We were very much united in the Lord. Three letters reached me still after her death. She

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE helped me often with good illustrations. In one of her letters she wrote: A king gave a little golden staff to his jester and said, "Keep this staff till you find a greater fool than you are, and then give it to him." When the king was dying, the jester came to him. "I am going on a long journey to a country far away," said the king. The jester answered, "But I do not see any suitcases. Did you not make any preparations?" "No," said the king, "I made neither reservations nor preparations." Then the jester gave him the little staff and said, "Now I have found a greater fool than I am."

Is not that a good one? By the way, how about you? Read

1 John 5:11-13.

A Turning Point

Shortly after Nollies death came a turning point in Corrie's min¬ istry—such an extraordinary one that her countenance changed. When I look at photographs of her from before and after that year, 1954,1 see that she was given an unusual empowerment to continue her work. Her face had a new radiance and love, and it remained there until the end of her life. It began with a puzzling time. It is best that she tell the story in her own words: As I stood in the railroad station in Basel, Switzerland, wait¬ ing for my luggage, I suddenly realized that I did not know where I was supposed to go. For the eight years after my release from prison, I had been traveling all over the world at the direction of God. Many times I did not know why I was to go to a certain place until I arrived. It had become almost second nature not to mke my plans and then to ask for God's signature. Rather, I had learned to wait for God's plan and then write my name on the schedule.

But this time was different. Suddenly I was in Basel and had no idea why or who I was to contact. Besides, I was tired. Sleeping each night in a different bed and always living out of

IN THE POWER OFTHEHOLY SPIRIT

a suitcase had worn me down. I felt a sensation of panic in my heart and sat down, trying to remember to whom I was going. At 61 years of age, could it be that I was so overworked that I was losing my memory? Or even worse, had God withdrawn His conscious Presence from me and was letting me walk alone for a season?

In my suitcase I found an address. It had no meaning to me, but it was all I had to go on. I took a taxi to the place, but the people at that address were complete strangers and had never heard of me. By now I was desperate—and a little bit frightened. The people told me of another man I might contact. Perhaps he would know who I was and why I had come to Basel. I took another taxi, but this gentleman, too, was unfamiliar with my work.

For eight years the Lord had guided me step by step. At no time had I been confused or afraid. Now I was both—un¬ able to recognize the Presence of God. Surely He was still guiding me, but like the pilot who flies into the clouds I now was having to rely on instruments rather than sight. I decided to turn around and go back home to Holland, there to await further orders.

Because of a severe storm, the planes were not flying. I had to travel by train. Arriving in Haarlem, I started toward the phone near the station to call our rehabilitation house in Bloemendaal where I was to stay. But on the way to the phone booth I slipped on the wet pavement, and before I knew it I was sprawled in the street. A sharp pain shot through my hip, and I was unable to stand.

"Oh, Lord," I prayed, "lay Your hand on my hip and take away this horrible pain." Instantly the pain disappeared, but I was still unable to get up. Kind people assisted me to a taxi, where a policeman asked if he could help.

"What is your name?" he asked. "Corrie ten Boom." He looked surprised and questioned me further. "Are you a member of the family of that name whom we arrested during the war?"

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE

"That is right." During the war, many Dutch policemen had stayed in the service of the Gestapo, not as traitors but for the express purpose of helping political prisoners. This man had been on duty that day my family was arrested.

"I am so sorry about your accident," he said sympathetically, "but I am glad to see you again. I will never forget that night in the police station. You all were sitting or lying on the floor of the station. Your old father was there with all his children and many of your friends. I have often told my colleagues that there was an atmosphere of peace and joy in our station that night, as if you were going to a feast instead of prison and death."

He paused and looked at me kindly as if trying to remember my face. "Your father said before he tried to sleep, 'Let us pray together.' And then he read Psalm 91."

"You remember!" I exclaimed. After eight years that police¬ man had remembered which psalm my father had read. For a fleeting moment, sitting in that old taxi on a Haarlem street while the rain pelted the roof, I allowed myself the pain of looking backward. It was in this same city that we had been arrested. In fact, the prison was only a short distance from where I was sitting. That was the last time our family had been together. Within ten days Father was dead. Then later Betsie. All gone. And this policeman still remembered.

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). Now the message was clear. Although there was no light to guide me, I was still in God's will. Actually, when one is resting (abiding) under the shadow of the Almighty there will be no light, but that is only because God's Presence is so near.

I leaned back in the seat. "Dear God, when this shadow came over me I thought you had departed. Now I understand it was because you were drawing closer. I eagerly await whatever you have planned for me."

Eager I was, but not so patient. An x-ray showed my hip was not broken, only badly bruised. The doctor said I would have to remain in bed for several weeks for it to heal. ... I was

IN THE POWER OFTHEHOLY SPIRIT

put to bed in Zonneduin, our rehabilitation house, unable to move or turn over without the help of a nurse.

I was a very impatient patient. I had only five days to get to a student conference in Germany, and as the days slipped by and I realized my hip was not healing fast enough to make the conference, I grew irritable.

"Is there not a Christian in all Haarlem who can pray for me to be healed?" I asked. My friends sent for a particular minister in the city who was known to have laid hands on the sick for healing. That same afternoon he came to my room. Standing beside my bed he asked, "Is there any unconfessed sin in your life?"

What an odd question, I thought. I understood he had agreed to come pray for my healing, but was it his job to get so per¬ sonal about my sins and attitudes? However, I did not have far to look. My impatience and the demanding attitude I had displayed toward my nurse had been wrong—very wrong. I asked her to come to the room and I repented of my sin, asking both her and God to forgive me.

Satisfied, this gentle man then reached over and laid his hands on my head. Only a few months earlier, my sister Nollie had died. Ever since my heart had been broken with mourning. I had the feeling of being left all alone and knew that the insecurity I had experienced had contributed to my being here in this bed, rather than in Germany with the students. Yet as this tall, handsome man laid his hands on me and prayed, I felt a great stream of power flowing through me. Such great joy. The mourning left, and I wanted to sing with David, "Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness" (Psalm 30:11, kjv).

I felt the Presence of the Lord Jesus all around me, and I felt His love flowing through me and over me as if I were being immersed in an ocean of grace. My joy became so in¬ tense that I finally prayed, No more, Lord, no more. My heart felt it was about to burst, so great was the joy. I knew it was that wonderful experience promised by Jesus—the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.1

LIFE LESSONS fcomtke HIDING PLACE

The Holy Spirit

Corrie did not use the term "baptism in the Holy Spirit" exclusively. She talked about the "fullness of the Holy Spirit." She taught the people, "The question is not whether you have the Holy Spirit [or not], but whether the Holy Spirit has you." A strongly grounded member of the Dutch Reformed Church, she knew that it is only through the Holy Spirit that a person can receive the Lord Jesus Christ. He comes to each person at his or her conversion. But she strongly believed that it was possible for a person to be only partly full of the Holy Spirit. She prayed for the fullness of the Holy Spirit every day and often said that Ephesians 5:18 contained the most joyful commandment of the Bible: "Be filled with the Spirit." And each time she used that text in her talks she explained that the Greek tense of the verb means "be being filled"—a continuous state.

After her hip healed, Corrie made her way to Germany for her speaking appointments, and she said she was "still filled with joy overflowing." It was only after she arrived that she realized why God had chosen that particular time to fill her with His

Holy Spirit:

For in Germany, for the first time, I came face-to-face with many people who were demonized. Had I gone in my own power I would have been consumed. Now, going in the power of the Holy Spirit, God was able to work much deliverance through me as we commanded demons to be cast out in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.2

Hidden Behind the Cross

All through the 1950s, Corrie traveled and spoke constantly. Her journeys usually were made alone. When she and I first began to travel together in 1976 she told me she was glad she had a companion. "In the first years of my work I went around the

IN THE POWER OFTHE HOLY SPIRIT

world twice—six years each time. It was often lonely. Sometimes I bought a Readers Digest for company as I left my new friends and journeyed to the next country," she said.

Corrie was completely undenominational. She worked with every leader who loved the Lord Jesus. At the beginning of 1955 she wrote to her friends that she was working in Canada "with much joy." She went on: God blesses the work very much. My schedule is very full, but the Lord is my strength. I speak not only in many different churches, but also in jails, universities, men's and ladies' clubs, high schools, etc. I am really ecumenical. Today I spoke in an Anglican church and wore a robe of a Baptist minister, and with me Dutch Reformed, I thought that was pretty good.

Corrie was also able to relinquish a work she had started but could not complete. She described an instance in Darmstadt, Ger¬ many, where she already had the camp for German refugees: There was a Deaconess House there that needed help to rebuild a ruined refugee home for girls. I had then just enough money to have the ruins removed and the founda¬ tion and basement built. Now I have a photo of the house, built and ready to use. So sometimes God uses me to start a work that I cannot finish but gives vision and courage to the people to go on.

Corrie also seemed almost indefatigable. In May 1955, having arrived to speak at Dr. Tozer's church in Chicago a few hours early, she took the opportunity to write to her friends: In Canada I had to have a little operation and was a week in the hospital. I took it easy afterward, during ten days, by speaking not more than once a day and doing little traveling. But now the Lord has renewed my strength and healed me one hundred percent. My schedule is now, God willing, June and July, Mexico, August-October, west coast of America from Vancouver to San

LIFE LESSONS #»»»<*« HIDING PLACE - ^

Diego. Pray much for me, will you? Pray that people who hear me may forget the channel, seeing only Him. Pray that Corrie ten Boom may be hidden behind the cross of Jesus.

Corrie received the voluntary help of secretaries during her stays in various cities and sometimes for a portion of her travels: For the last quarter of 1955 God gave me a very good sec¬ retary who has now returned to her home in Canada. I am praying that the Lord will give me a permanent teammatecompanion-secretary who is willing to dedicate her life one hundred percent to the Lord's work. My, she must have so many qualities to be fitted for this work that I sometimes think I am praying for what is called in Holland "a sheep with five legs" [the impossible]. But the Lord knows the right person and the right time: I wait upon Him.

To Australasia with Revival Fellowship

Early in 1956 Corrie was invited by Dr. J. Edwin Orr to take part in revival meetings in Australasia as part of his Re¬ vival Fellowship Team. He was an authority in the study of revival, and Tante Corrie called his books on this subject "a great contribution to the story of the evangelical Church."

She had the utmost respect for him and frequently referred to him and his work.

In June 1957 she wrote:

Australia is not an easy country to work in, but God blesses the efforts of the Revival Team with whom I work. Sometimes we work together as a team in one place but often spread out over several suburbs and hold campaigns of one or two weeks' duration in each. We do not yet see revival but know that the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of many Christians, and prayer groups are formed to pray for revival. Our schedule is full. Three

IN THE POWEROF THE HOLY SPIRIT

meetings a day is the regular program, and often there is no free day between the campaigns.

But we work for a General who has never lost a battle, so it is worthwhile to give our one hundred percent. Will you please pray for us for wisdom to arrange skillfully and for strength from on high for our spirits, minds and bodies?

Not long after this Tante Corrie headed to New Zealand. From there she wrote: Mrs. McKenzie, a dear saint in Otorohanga, had heard me in Auckland and organized a campaign in her own town. She wrote me: "Corrie, I love you already for the happy message you bring. I will take good care of you and not give you too many meetings. But there is a crippled girl in a hospital I will visit with you. She is very near to the valley of the shadow of death but hopes to meet you before she dies."

That same day Mrs. McKenzie herself died suddenly. I did not know the name of the crippled girl she had wanted me to visit. I prayed that the Lord would guide me to her, and I found her. Poor little Grace. She was a dwarf with hands out of place. I never saw such a poor body. But her soul was radi¬ ant because she was filled with the Holy Spirit. I could not understand everything she said—her voice was very weak—but I understood that she said, "Go to my mother, please, and bring her to the Lord." We prayed together for her, and that same day I had the joy of bringing the mother to the great decision for Jesus Christ. When Grace heard it she said, "Now I can die." Two days later she died.

Also during her time with Revival Fellowship Corrie met a special young man: While in Melbourne I met a Dutchman from my own hometown of Haarlem, who asked me, "Do you remember that thirteen years ago you sent me a Jewish baby of two weeks old?"

LIFE LESSONS from HIDING PLACE

"No," I answered, "I only remember that there were a hun¬ dred babies from a Jewish Orphanage and that we distributed them to a hundred families, but I really do not remember to whom I sent them."

"Well, here is one of them," he answered, and before me stood Martin, a lovely boy. He looked with interest at the Dutch lady who had saved his life thirteen years before. A bit later I had the great joy of bringing him to a decision for the Lord Jesus.

Next day in school he gave his first testimony, "Boys," he said, "yesterday I met the lady who saved my life when I was two weeks old, and boys, listen. I think I will be a good boy now, for she has told me how to ask Jesus to come into my heart, and He will make me good."

And also from Australia Corrie wrote about her love for prison ministry: In a women's prison I gave an invitation to accept the Lord Jesus. One woman came to the Lord, and she told me, "I have been sentenced to two weeks in jail. I know why I had to be here, for I found here my Savior Jesus Christ." Work in prisons is still the work that has my heart more than any other.

In November 1957, Corrie's work with Revival Fellowship came to a close. "After two years in Australasia, I am now called to India, Borneo, Korea, Japan and wherever the Lord leads me."

Water Baptism

On March 20, 1958, .Corrie was baptized by immersion in the William Carey Baptist Church in Calcutta by Walter G. Corbett. Later she was to tell about it: I was re-baptized in a small Baptist church in India. In the mooting I spoke to Baptists about baptism in the morning

IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

service. In the afternoon I was baptized again by immersion. I think baptism by immersion is Biblical—fuller than by sprin¬ kling. This baptism is a better symbol of being "buried with Christ" by going under the water and then rising up with Him out of the water purified.

A Discovery of God's Provision

Finally in 1959, at the end of this decade, fifteen years after her release from concentration camp, Corrie was part of a group that revisited Ravensbriick to honor Betsie and the thousands of other women who had died there. Checking the records, she discovered that her own release had been the result of a clerical error. A week after she was released all women her age died in the gas chamber. nine

Lessons from Argentina

and Africa

1960-1963 fin 1960 Corrie received the answer to her prayer for /^' y y a permanent traveling companion. The solitary life

A had never become easy for the pronounced extrovert. I remember her saying to me when I joined her in 1976, "At the beginning of my travels around the world I went on a journey that lasted six years. Soon after that came another world journey that took six years. Then the Lord gave me Conny, who was with me for seven years, then Ellen, who was with me for nearly nine years, and now I have you."

Conny

-% Here is how Corrie described the gifted first companion God gave her: "The Lord saw and supplied my need in the person of Conny van Hoogstraten, a beautiful, young Dutch woman. ... I met her on one of my visits to England, where she was attending a Bible school. We laughed much together, for the

LESSONS FROM ARGENTINA AND AFRICA

Lord had given her an infectious sense of humor and a happy laughter."

Corrie and Conny were to undertake extensive work journeys together between 1960 and 1967. Corrie said of her companion, "We really do three times as much work than I did when I was alone."

In May and June 1961 Corrie wrote about one of her early travels with Conny: I am now sitting in the midst of a palm wood in Kerala State. The wind makes a beautiful music with the waving palm leaves. The weather is hot. Often I pray, "Lord, be my cool¬ ness!" And He is.

Three months in India—what an experience! This country of millions of people gives such an opportunity to reach Chris¬ tians and to show them the victorious life, and to tell sinners the way of salvation through Jesus. Conny reaches often the children. She arranges meetings for them in the time that I reach the grownups. Sometimes it happens that first the children come to the Lord and after that the parents come. A man told me that he was so happy that his little son had accepted the Lord Jesus. He wanted to do the same but was not able. I found out that he had fallen into witchcraft-sin. I read Deuteronomy 18:10-13 with him, and he confessed. But only after we had cast out the demons was he free to receive the Lord Jesus as his personal Savior. How we need wisdom and strength from on high. Without Jesus we can do nothing, nothing—with Him much, very much" [see John 15:5].

Lessons from Africa

Leaving India and going on to Africa, Corrie wrote to her friends about some of the most important lessons that helped her lead a victorious life:

LIFE LESSONS from CHIDING PLACE

Living for the Moment

Dear Friends,

The Lord gives me always the grace to live in the present, not in the future or past. In India I thought, "In this country is the most important work I ever had to do. How I love the Indians!" Now I am in Africa, and I can say the same. Africa is the most inspiring surrounding. Such openness and hunger for the messages I did not see elsewhere, and I surely can add—How I love the Africans!

The Answer for Problems of the Heart

The eight months Conny and Corrie spent in Africa from April to December of 1961 were particularly significant: This year from April until December we traveled in active ser¬ vice from Ethiopia to Cape Town, working in eight countries. All the time I was conscious of the fact that I was in the midst of political tensions. It has made me still more thankful that God has called us here, for the root of all the controversies is sin, and Jesus is the answer.

To me the climax was again when I could speak in prisons. I wish that more Christian men and women felt the call to work in prisons and reformatories. We know the answer for the problems in the heart of every decent or indecent sinner. Jesus says to all, "Come to me, and I will give you rest." And how very precious is every soul in His loving eyes.

Walking in the Light

When Corrie and Conny arrived in East Africa for the first time in 1961, the famous East Africa Revival had already been taking place for many years. Its distinguishing mark was that Christians took very seriously the importance of "walking in the

LESSONS FROM ARGENTINA AND AFRICA

light with each other," following the New Testament's instruction: "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son purifies us from every sin" (see 1 John 1:7). As soon as East African Christians found themselves out of fellowship with another, they became strongly convicted to confess their sin and ask forgiveness of each other and the Lord. Having been cleansed from sin with fellowship restored, they could experience victorious life. If Christians failed to reconcile with each other, it could be that the Lord would not answer their prayers for growth and continued revival.

I was to see "walking in the light" in action myself when I lived and worked in East Africa in the mid-1960s. Its practice is un¬ doubtedly a big reason for the ongoing revival. Tante Corrie found it such an important lesson that she taught it for the rest of her life. And she definitely lived it—in the first place with Conny!

Every day I am more thankful that God gave me my "Timothy," my co-pilot and co-everything. We live "in the light" as soon as the enemy tries to attack the personal relationship between us, that strategic point for many missionaries. We repent together and to each other. I am an old veteran, hardened in the battle, and especially during those terrible months in the concentra¬ tion camp I learned not to mind little hardships. As a "tramp for the Lord" I have lived in more than a thousand homes during the last fifteen years. [Conny] has still to get used to this life, and to learn that her sufficiency is of the Lord in all circumstances of life. I believe that it is one of the secrets of a happy Christian's life: to draw on the Unfailing Source—Jesus Christ—for every situation and every new adjustment we have to make. But the Lord gives us much grace, and we praise Him for giving us this work to do together. We both enjoy life.

The Sin of Worry

In her thousands of messages, Corrie often taught about the sin of worry. Nancy, one of her hostesses during that long jour-

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE ney through Africa in 1961, later wrote about this lesson that Corrie taught her: She was sitting in the front seat beside me in my old car, and I asked her, "Corrie, what is your secret? How do you live in the light?" As I spoke, the windshield wiper squeaked slightly as it cleared away the heavy raindrops of a sudden shower.

"That is the secret," Corrie said, pointing to the moving windshield wiper. "It is the little decent sins—things like worry and unforgiveness—that cloud our spiritual vision. Don't wait until nightfall, Nancy. You started the wiper as soon as you could not see clearly."

"But, Corrie, worry isn't a sin." "Oh, yes, it is, Nancy. Worry is a sin. If you are worrying you are not trusting God. Not to trust God is a sin."

But still I pressed her, "You cannot tell me that things like impatience and irritability are really sins. These are character defects."

"They are sins," she interrupted, "and there is no verse in the Bible that says God forgives excuses. You will never grow if you bring God only excuses."

Removing Rags in Argentina

Early in 1962, shortly after their eight months' stay in Africa, Corrie and Conny spent a month in Argentina. Her letter to her friends gives us another clear lesson from her life—how she quickly turned to the Lord, instead of complaining when plans seemed to have gone wrong.

This was the first time God called us to go to this country. After forty hours of traveling by jet plane from Entebbe, Uganda, we arrived in Buenos Aires. It is always a thrill to be called to a new country, and we were looking forward to the blessings the Lord had in store for us.

LESSONS FROM ARGENTINA AND AFRICA

The minister who met us at the airport asked us [if] we had not received his letter. He had written us that it was perhaps better not to come at this time to Argentina since it was holiday time. The key people were out of town, and no meetings could be arranged. After our talk I asked myself why the Lord had sent us here, but I trusted Him, for He never makes a mistake.

The first meeting I had was some hours' traveling away, and then I could speak for twenty ladies. The enemy told me that it was all wrong to go to this little church, since I am so used to speaking for large congregations. But then I repented of my pride. How often we forget that we are "nobodies," just gloves who cannot do anything by themselves. It is the Hand in the glove who is able. "Without Me you can do nothing," Jesus says [see John 15:5].

And now, after having been in Argentina for a month, I can tell about unusual blessings. Dr. Gwen Shepherd, a children's doctor and specialist for polio cases, gave me her furnished flat to live in, and I enjoyed it very much to be for a whole month in the same rooms. And God opened doors and hearts. Students, doctors, prisoners and Jews were reached.

Dr. Shepherd reported on Corrie's visit some years later: For four weeks I translated Corrie's message into Spanish. One morning I came to the flat and found Corrie sitting on the blue divan tearing up a piece of cloth and stuffing the strips into her flashlight.

"Corrie, what on earth are you doing?" "Preparing my props," she answered with a twinkle in her eye.

"Props?" "Yes, props for my talks. Sometimes university students object to visual aids, but I find that even intellectuals some¬ times need practical illustrations in order to understand my

LIFE LESSONS from CHIDING PLACE - ^ message. Everyone can see that a flashlight cannot shine if it is full of rags." I was soon to see the effect of her "props."

"Gwen, have you ever been in a prison?" "No, Corrie, I have not." "Would you like to visit one?" "Can't say I am especially keen." But, keen or not, Corrie and I were flown in a small army plane halfway across the country as VIP visitors to the model prison at Santa Rosa de la Pampas, where she was invited to speak to the men.

"Men," she said, "I know what it is like to be behind bars and to be shut up in solitary confinement."

How they listened—a hall full of tidily dressed prisoners, with the Governor, his wife and little daughter and the rest of the prison authorities in the front row. They heard Corrie tell about God's love for each one of them and how life could be wonderful even behind bars, if they walked in His light. Out came her flashlight. A school-boyish sniggering swept over the hall as she vainly tried to click it—a reaction that quickly turned to a hushed silence as one by one the rags of sin were pulled out of it.

A few months later, shortly after her seventieth birthday, April 15,1962, Corrie wrote to her prayer partners: This morning I prayed again that I may decrease and that Jesus may increase. Then I received a letter from the mayor of my hometown, Haarlem, Holland, in which he wrote that it has pleased Her Majesty the Queen to give me the decora¬ tion of Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau. When I read that letter I fear that a little rag came into my flashlight. It was the sin of pride, but I brought it to the Lord. He forgave and cleansed me with His blood, and now I just accept this honor from the hand of the Lord and my Queen with great thankfulness.

Will you pray that more and more people in the meetings may see Jesus and that I may be hidden behind the cross?

LESSONS FROM ARGENTINA AND AFRICA

Ever the Learner

After her Argentinean adventures, Corrie and Conny trav¬ eled to the United States of America. During Billy Graham's crusade in Chicago in 1962 they signed on as two of the many counselors who at the end of each evening would counsel those who responded to Graham's invitation to accept the Lord Jesus

Christ. Although she had brought the Gospel to others since her childhood, she was ever the learner: Our days are so full and blessed, and I had a great experience to be in Chicago and join the campaign of Billy Graham. Conny and I both studied the training course for counselors, and like the other 4,000 counselors we worked as much as possible after the meetings in the inquiry rooms. We learned much, also for the future. To counsel standing in the midst of hundreds of people embarrassed me sometimes. I am sure I made many mistakes. But what joy it was to see people com¬ ing to a first decision for Jesus Christ, or to a new surrender.

Years later Corrie herself would be invited to give her testi¬ mony from crusade platforms.

And during that same time in 1962, Corrie wrote some¬ thing that showed how she continually let her Lord teach her as well: On one occasion I was very cross with the important gentle¬ man who had arranged my program. Everything was very badly organized, not because of incapability but through sheer carelessness. After the meeting I told him what I thought of him in no uncertain terms. He looked rather astounded but did not say a word.

However, that night God had a word with me. I rang the gentleman up the next morning and apologized.

"Oh, that's okay," he answered, "I told my wife about the dressing-down I had received last night and how I felt

LIFE LESSONS fyomike HIDING PLACE like a guilty schoolboy being reprimanded by the teacher. But I also told her that I really deserved it, so please don't apologize."

"But," I said to him, "I do owe you an apology. What I said to you was right, but not the way I said it!"

A Movie?

Several times during the decade of the sixties, Corrie asked her friends and prayer partners to pray that her book Prisoner and Yet... would become a motion picture. At the time of the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 she wrote: Some weeks ago two American Christians met to discuss the possibilities of what they could do for their country. They both knew that in the USA much is being done to fight communism by organizations such as the Christian Anti-Communist League, which by means of literature and the spoken word informs the public about the nature and aim of communism. These men asked each other: "Is it necessary that we, too, use our time to fight communism? Is it not very necessary to show people that when the worst happens in the life of a Christian the best remains? Jesus is not limited in giving His strength and comfort in times of hardship."

The next day these two men heard about the possibility of making a film of my book, A Prisoner and Yet.. .. They saw this as an answer to their questions. In that book God gave me grace to show that in my life Jesus' light was stronger than the deepest darkness of the concentration camp. Now these men will do their best to have this book filmed.

Will you pray for that enterprise? Pray that good actors may be found and that the words of the Gospel may be spoken by people who stand behind the message with their faith and life. It is possible that this film will be used to bring the Gospel in places where it never has been heard before.

LESSONS FROM ARGENTINA AND AFRICA

Corrie's faith and prayers would be rewarded in the com¬ ing decade when John and Elizabeth Sherrill developed and enlarged on the story in A Prisoner and Yet. .. The book The Hiding Place would be published in 1971. And in 1975, the movie of the same name would be released by World Wide Pictures, the filmmaking arm of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

When Bad Things

Happen

1963-1968

1 he year 1963 would take Corrie and Conny to several places around the world. Each one offered unique ways for Corrie to share her message before she headed home to Holland for a forced rest.

A Retreat Center in Uganda

It was God's plan that Corrie spend more time in Africa as the 1960s unfolded. She wrote to her friends early in 1963: Since a long time, some of my friends and I have prayed for people, a house and money to open an interracial, international

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN

and interdenominational center where races can find each other at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. We did not know where the Lord was intending to give us this center—Hol¬ land, Switzerland, Israel, Australia? A place where we can have conferences to train young people and where people can come for retreats and for rest.

In Uganda God brought me in contact with Christians who had the same vision. God gave there a house with a beautiful garden around it. In Uganda, East Africa, between Entebbe and Kampala lies Lweza. Men who have been mightily used in the continuous revival in Africa and over a big part of the world have joined hands, and so we are now in the process of rebuilding the house. An open-air church, guest rooms and cottages for workers and many more plans will come into being there, the Lord willing.

She then listed the men whom God so greatly used—mem¬ bers with her on the planning committee: Dr. J. E. Church, Mr. Festo Kivengere, Mr. William Nagenda, Bishop Eric Sabiti of the Anglican Church in Uganda, and Mr. Harry Campbell.

Argentina, Brazil and Holland

On July 8, 1963, Corrie wrote to Bobbie Halliday: "We are now in the jungle in northeast Argentina. A revival started in a church. Christians started to live in the light. Sinners were saved. Hallelujah. ... We are now leaving for Brazil."

And two months later, from Holland to her friends: This letter I have written partly in South America, partly in Holland. "Knocked down, but not knocked out." I had to leave South America because my health gave in. I had an infection of the liver. Now I am in Holland, and when the Lord has healed me, I hope to take a time of rest and finish a book that I began to write. The Lord has made it

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE clear to me that I had not taken sufficient rest between the campaigns, so I think it is His discipline to bring me alone with Him for a while. Will you pray for perfect healing? It was a very sad thing to have to cancel all the appointments for the rest of the year.

After five weeks of illness, of which I spent two in the hospital, I am completely healthy again. The Lord is guiding me to stay in Holland until the end of the year to spend much time alone with Him.

To Germany

In July 1964 Corrie was back in Germany. She wrote: Oh, it is such a joy that the Lord uses me this time in Germany for many prisoners! But also for ministers. More than before, I am involved in their congresses and meetings.

The ministers and I got along well, working, praying and striving together. Although we differed in background and training, our common aim united us: the winning of souls for eternity and helping the children of God to learn that "Jesus is Victor."

Speaking at a ministers' meeting is another story. Frequendy it was among them that I found my severest critics, and some¬ times even my greatest opposition. Yet it seemed vital to be used by God among them, for these men who worked in over-large congregations and were weighed down with problems also needed to be reminded of Jesus' victory and His plan for the world.

A large group waited for me to speak. Should I try to con¬ vince them not to listen to me but to God and His message for us?

"Gentlemen, I am a lay person, a lay woman, a Dutch lay woman. Are there some present who would rather not remain?

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN

"I intend to speak about conversion. Perhaps you have a label for me—a pietist? I shall talk about the Lord's return—that should label me a sectarian. I may even speak about the rapture of the Church—that makes me a fanatic. Or the fullness of the Holy Spirit—a Pentecostal. Keep your labels handy, gentle¬ men. Should my words touch your consciences, you have only to label me, set me in a corner and have nothing to fear."

A strange thing happened. The critical faces relaxed. There was laughter, after which we truly listened together to God's message: Germany's great need, and Christ the answer to this need. The world's history is a great embroidery by God, enough of which is made clear to us through His Word so that we can face the future calmly and securely since all is in His hand. Indeed, the best is yet to be—a world full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

When I finished, with one accord the group turned to prayer.1

The following she wrote to her friends concerning Germany in that same letter of 1964: When I spoke about our wonderful commission, given to us by the Lord in Mark 16:15-18, one minister said to me, "I know that there are people in my parish who are possessed. But is it my task to cast out the demons?" Then I answered, "Who else should do it? We who have the name of Jesus are the only ones who have this authority." Another minister said, "But how does one know whether it is a case of demons or of mental illness?" I answered, "Here we may take the promise given in James 1:5. All wisdom we need is given to us in this verse. We need only to cash the check."

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

I am so happy that lately many people's eyes are being opened for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in Germany as well as in LIFE LESSONS from rfeHIDlNG PLACE

South America and many other countries of the world. I am convinced that the Lord will fulfill the promises of Joel 2:28, even in the main denominations. The whole atmo¬ sphere is changing. I believe that the Lord will do great things. When a person is open for the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He wants to give, and is closed to the world and all that the world wants to give, he is levelheaded. Here in Germany many people are still afraid of fanatics and excesses, but when we take the promises of 1 Corinthians 14:12 seriously and covet the best gifts earnestly (see 1 Cor¬ inthians 12:31), we have nothing to fear and God will do miracles. How unbiblical is the assertion that we need only to love and that the gifts of the Spirit are superfluous. On the contrary! Paul begins 1 Corinthians 14 with the twofold sentence: "Follow the way of love, and earnestly (eagerly) desire spiritual gifts."

Still writing from Germany in the summer of 1964, Corrie says: During a meeting in East Berlin I received flowers from a group of young people from the town of Ravensbriick with the request that I come and speak in the church. We could arrange it with our program, and so it happened that we had a meeting in the old church at the border of the lovely little lake that I had seen when, tortured by thirst, I entered the concentration camp about twenty years ago. Betsie and I suffered so much there, but now I could tell here how I had come through alive and victorious, not through my faith, which was weak and wavering, but carried by Jesus Himself. Jesus, who is willing tot sustain everyone who is in need and willing to surrender his or her life into His strong and never failing hands.

How wonderful is God's plan with my life! First a struggle with death in a terrible prison, and now I can bring in the same' place the Word of Life to free people.

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN

A Sabbatical

Near the end of this same year, Corrie was diagnosed with hepatitis. She was now 72 years old and had been traveling for seventeen years without any long break.

The doctor has advised me to rest for some time, and the Lord has shown me that I must take a sabbatical year. No wheels of cars, trains and airplanes beneath me. Alone with the Lord and with Conny, I hope to receive new inspiration and strength and to be able to write.

Corrie was to spend most of her sabbatical year at Lweza, Uganda, East Africa, in housing provided for her and Conny at the beautiful conference center that had come into being partly through her own prayers and work. Before she left, however, she spent almost two months at the house of a Ger¬ man doctor: Never before have I had a medical treatment like during that time. There was so much prayer and care. God blessed that treatment, and now I am healthy again and can enjoy the sabbatical year. There are no meetings, no traveling, but I am walking, resting, studying and listening to the Lord. What a privilege!

But Corrie, who disliked rest in terms of it being the opposite of work, also found the prospect of a sabbatical daunting: Sometimes I regret that I cannot and may not travel and have meetings during this sabbatical year. I know God can use only obedient servants, and He has made it so clear that I must take this time of rest. I experience that just in the moments when I regret this time of different activity, the Lord always arranges it so I receive an encouraging letter to show me that the work is going on and the seed is sprouting out.

LIFE LESSONS ^rom the HIDING PLACE

The Lord gave me to speak about the joy of total surrender. I mentioned the "if onlys" and told about my "if only I was married," which I had when I was young. The boy whom I loved chose another girl, and I surrendered that "if only" to the Lord Jesus to whom I belonged. It was a short battle, and then victory and peace came. The miracle happened that this "creative" part of a woman's life that she needs for marriage life and having children, the Lord used in His Kingdom. I never had the joy to bring a child to birth, but often God used me to bring someone to rebirth—and that is the greatest joy for a Christian. The Lord undertook and gave me a very happy life so that I never became a "frustrated old spinster."

It was the year after this that I arrived to work in Nairobi, Kenya, and heard Corrie's name for the first time at that mo¬ mentous prayer meeting I described in chapter 1: "I would like to ask prayer for Corrie ten Boom," the lady in the floral dress at the front of the room had said. "She is in her midseventies now and has recently spent many months in Uganda. Her doctor had prescribed a sabbatical rest for her. But now she has resumed her world journeys." I had already made my own surrender to the Lord, the biggest of which was the laying down of the right to marriage. It would be ten years before I joined Tante Corrie in her work. I can confirm that she certainly was not a frustrated old spinster, and her example of the joyful acceptance of her singleness as part of God's plan was greatly encouraging to me.

A New Home in Holland

In the summer of 1966 the work she had started in Bloemendaal twenty years earlier became exclusively a rehabilitation home for Dutch people who needed rest and medical care. Corrie's work there ended rather abruptly and sadly. She seldom referred to her parting'of the ways with those who helped her make reality of

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN

Betsies first vision, but years later, when she lived in California, she explained to me what happened.

At the time though, she wrote to her friends simply this: "Soon I hope to be able to give you my new address where Conny and I will have a home and an office, where we will live during the few days that we are from time to time in Holland."

Indeed a good home was provided. A Dutch baroness who spent most of her time working in Israel gave Corrie the use of her beautiful apartment in Soestdijk near the royal palace. It was to be her base for some years.

A New Teammate

Corrie's 75th birthday, April 15,1967, was spent working with her old friend Brother Andrew in Vietnam. And in September of that year, Conny married Lykle Hoogerzeil, a Dutch missionary doctor to India.

During the weeks before Conny's marriage a day came when she was sure they had found the right person to take her place as Corrie's companion. It was the day that tall, blonde Ellen de Kroon came to meet with them about the unusual vacancy needing to be filled. Among other things, Conny noticed the loving way in which Ellen, thinking that Tante Corrie might be a little cold, found a blanket and tucked her into it as she sat in her chair. Again, God provided for Corrie. She wrote: The Lord gave me another helper, Ellen de Kroon. She has been a nurse but has surrendered herself to this quite new work of being my teammate. We appreciate your prayers for her. We are having lots of fun already, and it is a real challenge for her to start such an adventurous life of dependence on the Lord.

Conny and Lykle are now in Utrecht preparing for the mission field. What joy it has been to have Conny during seven years as my fellow tramp for the Lord. Not only what she did, but also what she was has been such a blessing for LIFE LESSONS fyomthe HIDING PLACE

The Lord gave me to speak about the joy of total surrender. I mentioned the "if onlys" and told about my "if only I was married," which I had when I was young. The boy whom I loved chose another girl, and I surrendered that "if only" to the Lord Jesus to whom I belonged. It was a short battle, and then victory and peace came. The miracle happened that this "creative" part of a woman's life that she needs for marriage life and having children, the Lord used in His Kingdom. I never had the joy to bring a child to birth, but often God used me to bring someone to rebirth—and that is the greatest joy for a Christian. The Lord undertook and gave me a very happy life so that I never became a "frustrated old spinster."

It was the year after this that I arrived to work in Nairobi, Kenya, and heard Corrie's name for the first time at that mo¬ mentous prayer meeting I described in chapter 1: "I would like to ask prayer for Corrie ten Boom," the lady in the floral dress at the front of the room had said. "She is in her midseventies now and has recently spent many months in Uganda. Her doctor had prescribed a sabbatical rest for her. But now she has resumed her world journeys." I had already made my own surrender to the Lord, the biggest of which was the laying down of the right to marriage. It would be ten years before I joined Tante Corrie in her work. I can confirm that she certainly was not a frustrated old spinster, and her example of the joyful acceptance of her singleness as part of God's plan was greatly encouraging to me.

A New Home in Holland.-I, In the summer of 1966 the work she had started in Bloemendaal twenty years earlier became exclusively a rehabilitation home for Dutch people who needed rest and medical care. Corrie's work there ended rather abruptly and sadly. She seldom referred to her parting of the ways with those who helped her make reality of

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN

Betsies first vision, but years later, when she lived in California, she explained to me what happened.

At the time though, she wrote to her friends simply this: "Soon I hope to be able to give you my new address where Conny and I will have a home and an office, where we will live during the few days that we are from time to time in Holland."

Indeed a good home was provided. A Dutch baroness who spent most of her time working in Israel gave Corrie the use of her beautiful apartment in Soestdijk near the royal palace. It was to be her base for some years.

A New Teammate

Corrie's 75th birthday, April 15,1967, was spent working with her old friend Brother Andrew in Vietnam. And in September of that year, Conny married Lykle Hoogerzeil, a Dutch missionary doctor to India.

During the weeks before Conny's marriage a day came when she was sure they had found the right person to take her place as Corrie's companion. It was the day that tall, blonde Ellen de Kroon came to meet with them about the unusual vacancy needing to be filled. Among other things, Conny noticed the loving way in which Ellen, thinking that Tante Corrie might be a little cold, found a blanket and tucked her into it as she sat in her chair. Again, God provided for Corrie. She wrote: The Lord gave me another helper, Ellen de Kroon. She has been a nurse but has surrendered herself to this quite new work of being my teammate. We appreciate your prayers for her. We are having lots of fun already, and it is a real challenge for her to start such an adventurous life of dependence on the Lord.

Conny and Lykle are now in Utrecht preparing for the mission field. What joy it has been to have Conny during seven years as my fellow tramp for the Lord. Not only what she did, but also what she was has been such a blessing for LIFE LESSONS fyom the HIDING PLACE the work and for me. She herself is so thankful to the Lord for the time of preparation for the mission field these seven years gave her, with all the work in God's Kingdom all over the world together with me, as a team, side by side.

During the months that Conny and Lykle were preparing to leave for India, Corrie was happy that they lived nearby. They visited her often, and Conny and Ellen also had the opportunity to discuss what living and working with Tante Corrie involved. When time allowed, Conny was able to help Corrie now and then.

An Accident

Late in 1967 Corrie was involved in a serious car accident while on her way to record some messages in Dutch for her friends at Trans World Radio. She wrote to her friends: For Trans World Radio I often give short messages in the Dutch language that reach many people who understand our language over all the world. This time I was asked to give a talk about our victory over demons. The Lord gave me three strong messages. The title of the first was Are We Powerless Against Demons ? No! And I told about the authority of the name of Jesus and the power of His blood. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the power the Holy Spirit gives us.

On the day that I [was to] give these messages over the radio, I got involved in a rather serious car accident. Conny, who was driving, was not injured. By a miracle both our lives were spared. The little combs in my hair were broken in pieces.

So my head could have been severely wounded, but only my right-arm was broken in four places. During the accident I could only cry, "Jesus, Jesus."

When I was lying in the hospital with my broken arm, I thought about what had happened and I understood that it was very well possible that the enemy did not like those mes-

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN

sages about the Christian's victory over the devil. So he tried to get me knocked out. He really has got me knocked down, but the Lord has spared my life. But I had to stay in hospital for two months and suffered very much pain.

I also saw that this experience was a litde bit of cross-bearing. When Jesus died on the cross, He destroyed Satan's head. In the Old Testament the promise was given: "The Lord God said to the serpent... I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head" (Genesis 3:14-15).

In the New Testament, Paul says, "By His death He (Jesus) might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14). My radio messages were meant to show the Christians this victory over demons through Jesus. That is why I saw it as cross-bearing, too. Then I said to the Lord: "You have suffered terrible pain at the cross in your great love. Your pains and love were mixed together. Will you now make me to experience Romans 5:5? You have poured out your love into my heart by the Holy Spirit. Please mix your love with my pain." When I had prayed this prayer, I could bear the suffering.

I learned much in this time. It was one of the difficult classes of my life. But again Jesus stood in front of the class. I can praise His name.

The Foolishness of God

"Her life hung by a silken thread," said Hans van der Steen, the director of Trans World Radio in Holland, speaking of the time after the accident. He and Corrie were good friends, hav¬ ing first met in the late 1940s when Corrie returned from her first journey to the United States, full of zeal and new knowl¬ edge about how to spread the Gospel. She was very interested in Trans World Radio, and during her short times in Holland between her travels Hans recorded her messages for broadcast. One day they were having an animated conversation about how

LIFE LESSONS foo-m, CHIDING PLAGE the radio work in Holland began and the wonderful things God did as a result of it.

"Stop for a minute," said Corrie. She walked out of the room, stood at the bottom of the stairs and called loudly, "Conny, come down quickly. Come and listen to the foolishness of God."

Corrie liked using that expression, and she liked teaching on the subject.

How we need to have good vision in this time when all is so dark. The Holy Spirit gives us good eyes that we may see God's plan in the midst of all the chaos of this time. In 1 Cor¬ inthians 1 and 2 we read about the "foolishness" of God and the "wisdom of the wise." Two realms they are: The wisdom of the wise is all we can grasp with our logical thinking, with our brains; the foolishness of God, the greatest wisdom, we can touch only with our faith knowledge. The Holy Spirit teaches us to lift up the wisdom of the wise to the height of the fool¬ ishness of God, and then we get the vision. When people do not know the Lord and are not born into the family of God, they cannot see and they cannot understand the Kingdom of God, because they have only their logical thinking, the use of their brains. And when you try to bring the foolishness of God under the criticism of the wisdom of the wise, then you may end up with a theology that says, "God is dead."

We live in a period [in which] one of the signs of the end time [that] Daniel gave becomes very clear: "Knowledge shall be increased" (Daniel 12:4, Kjv). Some people expect that in the coming ten years the sum total of human knowledge will be doubled. [She wrote this in 1968.]

It is such a great danger when only our logical thinking gives us guidance. It may become a real weapon in the hands of the antichrist. I experienced that personally at a congress of com¬ munists in Ravensbriick. I heard that a reunion of ex-prisoners was to be held, and I hoped to find friends with whom I had suffered. Instead, forty thousand communists were present. I listened to their talks, and such darkness fell upon me that when I returned to West Germany I had the feeling that I had

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN

no message at all. Then people prayed with me, and the Lord liberated me totally, and I received a strong message from Him. But there I saw how dangerous it is to be permanently in the atmosphere of the wisdom of the wise without any knowledge of the foolishness of God, which is the highest wisdom.

The wisdom of the wise is not something that is wrong in itself. We belong to the Lord one hundred percent with heart and mind. And when we have surrendered both to Him, He will show us how to use that wisdom. I remember that when I was a watchmaker with my old father, he once said, "My name is on the shop, but really God's name should be on the shop, because I am a watchmaker by the grace of God." Sometimes we could not find what was wrong with a watch and then we prayed that the Lord would show it to us. And Father and I, we both had the joyful experience that in our dreams in the night the Lord showed us the fault in the watch. When it happened with me, I went down to the workshop and looked [to see] if my dream was true. Always I found the answer to the problem. Yes, there is nothing too great for God's power; there is nothing too small for His love.

The Right Side of the Embroidery

Corrie was very intelligent, but she was not an intellectual. On matters of suffering she was distressed but did not question God. She learned to ask God to show her a little bit of His side of the embroidery of her life.

I mentioned earlier that after her imprisonment she asked God to let her see her suffering "just a little bit from your point of view." God answered and Corrie obeyed. The lives of count¬ less people were changed as she taught them that the Lord Jesus was able to turn loss into glory. When I worked with Corrie she frequently asked Him to show her things "more and more from Your point of view."

LIFE LESSONS jtomthe HIDING PLACE

And she surely made that same prayer when Gonny was di¬ agnosed with a malignancy. Conny was never able to accompany her husband to the mission field because she became very seri¬ ously ill.

Conny was to pass away in 1970. It was then that Corrie wrote about the end of Conny's life: Her illness became worse and she was in the hospital, finding it hard to breathe because of fluid on her lungs. When I got to her room she said, "Take an easy chair." She showed concern for the needs of others, was kind to the people around her and had no trace of self-pity. It was as if she did not know how to play the role of a critically ill person. She talked a lot about what she had read in her Bible.

Once she said, "Tante Corrie, I often thought I would have to bury you, and now you have to do that for me."

God does not make mistakes. We cannot understand His ways, but Conny already knows the answer. God has shown her His side of the embroidery of her life—the upper side—while we still see the wrong side—the underside.

At Conny's funeral I prayed: "Thank You, Father, in Jesus' name that Conny is now with You. Would You make us all ready to come into Your presence? Her work on earth is fin¬ ished. Use us, make us faithful, to keep burning the lights which have been lit by her in Your strength. Fill us, therefore, with Your Holy Spirit. Make us also faithful unto death, so that we will receive the crown of life. Amen."

Extraordinary Years, Extraordinary Results

1968-1976 lien de Kroon and Corrie became close and effective co-workers for nearly nine years. Ellens nursing ability must have been of great comfort to Corrie after the serious car accident and at many other times as she approached and entered her eighties. Ellen had a good sense of humor and love for people. In their first years together they traveled to Germany, Israel, England, Russia, Switzerland, France, Cuba, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Cyprus and the United States, among other countries.

Ellen was to accompany Corrie through some of the most extraordinary years of her life—years in which a book and movie would make her message available to millions. But there were other significant events in which Ellen had the privilege to share.

LIFE LESSONS from (CHIDING PLACE

Yad Vash em

One of the first foreign journeys Ellen and Corrie made to¬ gether was to Israel. On February 28,1968, the 24th anniversary of their arrest at the Beje, Corrie and her deceased relatives were honored by the state of Israel.

Corrie described this as a very moving experience in which she and a Dutch couple were honored. The ceremony took place in Je¬ rusalem at Yad Vashem, a memorial and museum built in memory of the martyrs and heroes of World War II. Corrie wrote: Heroes are considered those who gave themselves to save Jewish people during the war. The staff of Yad Vashem in¬ vited me to come to them to give them the opportunity to honor my family and me. When I arrived, a large crowd was already present. Together with the Dutch couple I stood in the center of the big hall where they would honor us. First a rabbi chanted a litany in memory of the dead. The voices of Jews are so beautiful; they can express sadness and suffering in such a moving way. This rabbi sang in memory of those members of my family who died for the Jews. It was so in¬ tensely sad and moving. While he sang, however, birds came all the time, singing their happy song as a joyful background, an accompaniment to the chant for the dead.

There was a litany in memory of the dead, a child read a psalm and speeches were made. This was followed by a visit outside to the "Avenue of the Righteous" where I planted a tree (with my healed arm, praise the Lord). Here every tree has a small plaque at its base bearing the name of the "Righ¬ teous Gentile" who planted it.

'i. But to Corrie the most important thing was the opportunity to thank those who had given such a high honor to her and her family for their part in saving Jewish people. "What an opportunity the Lord gave me to bring the Gospel to manyjews in an official posi¬ tion who were present, just by simply telling about my family."

EXTRAORDINARY YEARS, EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS

The Death of a Friend

In 1969 Corrie received news of the death of the Christian leader Abraham Vereide, one of her earliest friends in America. You will recall that when no doors opened for Corrie on her first visit to the States in 1946, it was he who wrote letters and made telephone calls on her behalf. Soon she had more invitations than she could accept.

Corrie wrote:

Abraham Vereide went from his work to be with the Lord. He had traveled that week to speak at several breakfast groups. He read at the dinner table a word from the Bible and prayed. Then he said, "I am so very, very happy today. It is as if I have got a new baptism of the Holy Spirit." Some hours later he was with the Lord. No sickness, no suffering. He really died in the harness at 82 years old.

Tante Corrie longed that she might die "in the harness," too. She often told me that she wanted to go straight "from service good, to service best." I believe the Lord gave her that desire, but not in the way she would have chosen.

On Dutch Television

In 1971 Corrie received an unusual invitation that brought her much joy: the opportunity to appear as a guest on a very popular secular Dutch television program. Many people in the Netherlands had never shown interest in her story—a prophetess is without honor in her own country—but now she was asked by TV personality Willem Duys to tell about her trips around the world and to give a short Easter message: Because it was not a Christian television program, I reached many people who were not expecting to hear such a mes-

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE -4-- sage—perhaps six million people, I was told [nearly half of the population of Holland at the time]. The results were tre¬ mendous. Letters, phone calls and visits made the next weeks fill of important work for Ellen and me. Many people who needed spiritual help came for counseling. Doors and hearts opened in churches and groups. Many found the Lord Jesus. People who had seen me on the TV invited me to come to various cities. And many people with whom I had had contact during various periods of my 79 years now got in touch with me again, including people for whose salvation I had prayed decades before.

Some had become Christians earlier. Some Corrie led to the Lord as a result of the program. She encouraged her friends: God works sometimes slowly, but His work is perfect. Have you already prayed a long time for your son, husband, wife or neighbor? The devil will tell you, "You see, God does not hear you. How long have you already prayed now?" He is a liar. Do not listen to him. Not one prayer is lost. The devil often laughs when we are up to our eyes in work. He giggles when we make plans, but he trembles when we pray.

The Hiding Place

At the start of their work together neither Corrie nor Ellen could have imagined the extraordinary results of the publication of the book The Hiding Place in 1971 and the release of the movie of the same name four years later. It all began with prayer.

As we have seen, Cprrie had prayed for many years that A Prisoner and Yet... would be made into a movie. But God had a different plan, and before there could be a movie a new book had to be prayed into being. While co-writers John and Elizabeth

Sherrill were working with Brother Andrew on his book God's

Smuggler, Andrew told them fascinating stories about his friend

EXTRAORDINARY YEARS, EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS

Corrie's travels behind the iron curtain. At first they wondered if some of those stories could be part of Andrew's book, but finally they said, "We could never fit her into the book. She sounds like a book in herself." Shortly afterward the Sherrills met Tante Corrie when she gave her testimony at a church in Germany, and so it happened that plans were made for a new book about her.

In April 1969 Corrie wrote to her prayer partner friends: Friends of mine in the U.S.A., John and Elizabeth Sherrill, are writing a book with me about my life. In January Mrs. Sherrill came to Holland as she wanted to see my hometown, Haarlem, and meet people here who could give information for the book. Together we visited many places, among them the prison in Scheveningen, where I was three months in solitary confinement.

The prison chaplain helped us get permission to see the prison inside. He also invited me to speak to the prisoners. What a joy¬ ful opportunity! In that building, where once I had suffered so much I spoke to the men and stood, as it were, beside them.

Although the reason for my imprisonment was different from theirs—as I had done something good (saving Jewish people during the last war)—I did not feel myself better than the criminals. It is by the grace of God that I am not a crimi¬ nal myself. My sins are what you may call "decent sins." And although I am not guilty in the eyes of a human judge, still in the eyes of God I have been just as guilty as one who has committed a murder. For hatred was once in my heart, and in the eyes of God that is the same as murder. I brought a mes¬ sage to the men about our riches in Jesus Christ, which we can enjoy in the most difficult circumstances.

In Haarlem we saw the police station where my whole family and about 35 of our friends were kept before we were brought into the prison. It was there that for the last time we were together as a family.

During Mrs. Sherrill's visit we met several people who played a part in my life in that time of war. One of them was Eusie, the Jewish man full of humor who hid in our house. This time, LIFE LESSONS from tke HIDING PLACE - "V

25 years later, he told me, "I appreciated it so much that I was treated in your house as a real friend of the family, and not just a Jew who needed to have a hiding place." And that is exacdy what we all thought of him—a real friend of the family, as we all liked him so much. He is now a cantor-rabbi.

At the end of her visit to Holland, Mrs. Sherrill said that both she and her husband are praying much for guidance in all that writing a book involves. Will you pray with us that this book may become one hundred percent a blessing in the Kingdom of God? Thank you.

Then in April 1971 she wrote:

Sometimes I could not understand why the book has not been finished. The Lord used Catherine Marshall to tell me what the difficulty was. The last chapters tell about the sufferings of Betsie and about her death in the concentration camp. It was very hard for Tibby Sherrill to write these last chapters because she is living what she describes. That is why this last part of the book is such a great strain for John and Tibby Sherrill. Thank you for your prayers for them. I believe that this book will be a great blessing for many people, and I am sure that the Lord will use it to reach many more than my other books have done. The name of the Lord will be glorified. Hallelujah! Keep praying!

Four months later Corrie announced the publication of her book, at last with a name, The Hiding Place. It was released in the autumn of 1971 and quickly became a bestseller.

Movie Production Begins

Corrie had met Billy and Ruth Graham for the first time in the 1960s. Ruth was one of the first people to see the potential for a film in The Hiding Place book.

EXTRAORDINARY YEARS, EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS

World Wide Pictures, the filmmaking arm of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, was headquartered in the Los Angeles area at that time. In 1972 Corrie wrote to a friend: Next week we go to Glendale to meet the people of World Wide Pictures. Billy Graham is very happy with the book and that it can be worked out in a movie. It surely will reach many more people than we have ever been able to reach. I am so thankful. John and Elizabeth Sherrill's book is a good seller and has opened many doors and hearts for me. In April I will be 80 years old, and it seems that the Lord gives me more and more joyful work to do. I feel so privileged.

God uses Ellen much. Her testimonies are so powerful and always bring a blessing. We both feel happy to be in the USA.

Corrie was involved in the making of the movie from the start, enlisting the help of her prayer partners in the early days of planning.

With The Hiding Place there is better material for a movie than withyf Prisoner and Yet.... Billy Graham's World Wide Pictures will make it. But ... a movie is not a book. God needs to do miracles in many ways: a scriptwriter, then finances, the right cast and many other things. I ask your special prayer for this.

Corrie's Eightieth Birthday

On April 15,1972, Corrie celebrated her eightieth birthday, first with friends at Cape Cod. She described the event: I wore the long dress my friends in Scottsdale gave me. It was very gezellig: There were many bouquets and even real Dutch tulips and more than sixty smiling faces. Then there was a three-tiered cake with eighty candles on it! I am afraid it took me three puffs to blow them all out. Finally we stood and sang Stand up, Stand up for Jesus, and the thing I want most for this

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE

Corrie, U.SJl., 1974 PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CORRIE TEN BOOM HOUSE FOUNDATION coming year is to "stand" for Jesus. He has stood with me for 80 years, so I think I can trust Him for the rest.

Some weeks later, Corrie again celebrated her eightieth birth¬ day when she returned tq Holland. Among her guests was Loren Cunningham, leader of Youth With A Mission, whose work she prayed for and encouraged. She called him at his mission base in Switzerland and asked if he would come to pray for her that the Lord would give her a new ministry. So Loren drove from Switzerland to Corrie's party and prayed just as she asked—for

EXTRAORDINARY YEARS, EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS

a new ministry—but he also prayed something for which Corrie had not asked—that God would extend her life and work by another ten years.

At the end of her sabbatical year in Uganda with Conny, Tante Corrie had asked the Lord to give her another ten years of fruitful work. At the time of her eightieth birthday in 1972, the Lord had already given her seven of those years, and their fruitfulness and effectiveness were increasing by the day.

Could there really be another ten years—not just of life but of real work? Tante Corrie was not happy when she was not working. Would she still be working when she was ninety? It is probable she did not ponder Loren's prayer for long. Her times were in God's hands. I am sure she thought that if she were to live until she was ninety, they would be good and blessed years, for God never makes a mistake.

A Surprising World Premiere

The world premiere of The Hiding Place movie was scheduled for the evening of September 29, 1975, in Beverly Hills. The stars of the movie, other prominent actors and actresses and friends—even some from Europe—were present. The audience had mainly filled the theater when a sound like a rifle shot rang out, after which everybody was requested to leave the theater, which was filling with tear gas. It was later learned that this was the work of a member of the American Nazi party, apparently as a gesture of hatred against love for the Jews shown in the movie.

Corrie wrote:

The Lord allowed it—otherwise, it would never have hap¬ pened. How easy it is to become unforgiving at such a very important moment. But it seemed the Lord was teaching us in a very practical way the very lesson the film will bring to people. "Love your enemies, and forgive."

LIFE LESSONS jycomike HIDING PLACE

Corrie and Pam, Shalom House, Placentia, California, 1977 PH0,°CRED,T Russ BUSBV

A most wonderful thing happened that night. Across the street from the theater World Wide Pictures had arranged for bleachers so that people could sit and watch the many movie stars and others who came to the premiere. The street was roped off and when everyone had to leave the theater, the street was available for them.

Pat Boone, who was the M.C., was ready to go on, thinking that after the firemen had aired out the whole place everyone could return, but after ten minutes the manager of the theater told us that the stench was too much and the premiere could not continue. But we had a marvelous time out in the street, a place where we never could have had a street meeting. Billy Graham spoke, and Bev Shea sang How Great Thou Art. Cliff Barrows and Pat Boone led the singing. Many Hebrew songs were sung. It was all so different from what had been planned.

But one thing is sure—Jesus got all the glory.

EXTRAORDINARY YEARS, EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS

And, of course, the publicity generated by the tear gas incident resulted in many more people viewing the film. It was to become World Wide Pictures' most successful film.

Ellen Marries

In October 1975, a month after the release of the movie, Corrie and Ellen traveled to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to fulfill speaking appointments. It was to mark the beginning of a big change in both their lives, for Ellen was to meet Bob Stamps, who had been chaplain at ORU for eight years.

Some months later, Ellen wrote to prayer partners: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will do this" (Psalm 37:4, 5).

In October 1975 two worlds met, and two prayers began to be answered. Two people had been praying that the Lord would lead them to the person whom God had prepared. Then Tante Corrie prayed for us: "Lord, thank You for not taking my daughter away, but for giving me a son."

Ours has been an international romance. Since the evening that Tante Corrie prayed for us, Bob and I have met in many different places.

Ellen announced that her wedding would be on August 1, 1976, in Holland, with a reception in Bob's hometown of Jasper, Texas, and then a dedication service at Oral Roberts University as soon as the students returned from summer vacation. And she said, "I have to thank many people, most of all Tante Corrie for all her love and care all of these years."

"How faithfully Ellen helped me in the nearly nine years we spent together, working in many different countries," wrote Cor¬ rie to her friends. "How the Lord is going to use her together with Bob."

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE

And so it came about that I became part of the plan God had for the end of Corrie's life. When Ellen passed the care of Corrie over to me in April 1976, we did not know that another kind of imprisonment would be waiting for the one who had become a legend in her own already long lifetime.

twelve

I Am Yours!

1976-1983

(I became Tante Corrie's companion only six months A after the release of The Hiding Place movie. At the v, Y end of the movie the real Corrie ten Boom speaks to the audience. It should have been no surprise to me, then, when our international travels together began in April 1976, that she was widely recognized by American Christians who had seen the movie. "Recognized" is too mild a word. Mobbed is perhaps more descriptive. For the extroverted Tante Corrie this was no ordeal. The more people the merrier, as far as she was concerned. She found one thing, though, a bit of a trial.

She had cautioned me before we left Holland, "Americans like to hug necks." Part of my job was to try to shield her from neck huggers, many of whom we encountered at airports. Her dislike of that particular display of affection, however, had nothing to do with her love for and acceptance of people. When countless

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE - ^ people asked her to pray for them she would say, "Let's go to the Lord right now." It did not matter how public the place. First things were always first with Tante Corrie. There was so much to do and so little time in which to do it, she often told me.

She met and prayed with people everywhere, and during those first few months of our work together we encountered people from Toronto, Honolulu, New York, Massachusetts, Charlotte, Williamsburg, Knoxville, Tulsa, Dallas, Des Moines, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose. Tante Corrie did not like small talk, being put on a pedestal or any kind of silliness. She was not pious, staid, old-fashioned or prudish. She simply could not waste time.

I like people, too, but my personality is introverted. I like space and room to think. Whereas constant contact with people ener¬ gized Tante Corrie, it had the opposite effect on me. To receive energy I needed to be alone and quiet for at least part of the day. That was hard to acquire in 1976 and 1977, but the next year there would be quietness such as I could never have imagined.

Corrie's books and the movie spread widely, and she received countless invitations to speak. To conserve her strength it became necessary to hold meetings in large venues where the maximum amount of people could listen to her messages. They were always the same: "God's light is stronger than the deepest darkness. For¬ give your enemies. Live as rich as you are in Jesus Christ. Are you a child of God? If not, come to Jesus. Jesus is victor. There is only one person who cannot come to Him, and that is the one who thinks he is too good to come."

At the beginning of 1977, because it was becoming harder for foreigners to renew U.S. visitors' visas for more than a short time and because by now most of her work was carried on in the United States, Tante Corrie and J applied for and received resident alien status from the American consul in The Hague. This meant that we both could return to America for an indefinite time. Corrie, however, never became a U.S. citizen.The reason was quite simple. "As a Girl Scout I pledged total loyalty to the Queen of the Netherlands, and I will never disown her," she explained to inquirers.

I AM YOURS!

When she left Holland in January 1977 it was for the last time. The remaining six years of her life would be spent in the United States. I wonder if she knew it.

Shal om House

For some months, even before we had to leave America to obtain resident status, Corrie had talked increasingly about hav¬ ing a home in the United States. Her heart was showing signs of slowing down, and she was often tired. I never saw her give in to this, however. She worked very hard, but wanted to find a home in Southern California near her board of directors for "Christians Incorporated," the organization set up some years earlier to handle correspondence, speaking and business arrange¬ ments for her. She also wanted to be near World Wide Pictures, with whom she hoped to make several more movies suitable for showing in churches. "So that I do not have to travel much anymore," she explained.

She would have liked to live near the ocean but relinquished that idea as soon as she learned the high prices of coastal prop¬ erty. After a short search, she rented a house in Placentia, about halfway between the ocean, which we visited quite often, and the studios of World Wide Pictures.

On February 28, 1977, 33 years to the day from her arrest in 1944, Corrie moved into her house. She took me by the waist and swung me round. "We hebben een huis! We hebben een huis!" ("We have a house!") She had no furniture, but when churches in the neighborhood learned of the famous newcomer, several showers were arranged. In a short time her home was furnished.

"The whole atmosphere of the house is one of peace, so I have named it Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace," she told her visitors.

Tante Corrie was extremely happy with her home. It was fairly simple and rather dark inside but was certainly adequate for her needs. It had a bedroom for both of us, a bedroom for

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE visitors and a bedroom that we turned into an office. And it had a garden, with flowers back and front. Somebody even gave her a small lemon tree. With great interest she checked it every day on her walk through her yard. First came buds, then flowers. Would it really bear lemons one day? She was grateful for everything—the birds, flowers, receiving friends, getting to know the neighbors. And what probably made her happiest of all was the fact that she no longer had to travel and could carry out her work in one place with her own desk and books around her.

Corrie's publisher saw her delight and invited her to write a booklet, A Tramp Finds a Home. Ever a planner, she wrote: The Lord Jesus has the first place in this house. He has given us much important work to do here, and it is because we are doing His will that He blesses the home. Apart from the writing of books and the making of films there is intercession from this house, plus counseling personally and by telephone and letter. Through reading books and magazines that inform us of current events, we keep ourselves up-to-date with local, national and international affairs. We are aware that we are living in a time of crisis in world history. I pray often, "Lord Jesus, come quickly and make all things new." But in the meantime we want to point people to the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom they can live victoriously.1

Life with Tante Corrie

It was important to Corrie, however, that we stop work in the evenings. She and I sat together often in the living room on a white semicircular sofa, talked about the day, embroidered—it would not have been my choice, but Tante Corrie never did nothing!—and read books together, sometimes reading to each other. While we were together we shared everything, even the same book. It was gezellig. And during the day Tante Corrie took opportunities to I AM YOURS! read Christian books as she had done in all the decades of her travels and in her youth.

It was not always easy to live with Corrie! Her determination, dogged hard work and stubbornness were often hard to handle. But I am sure it was sometimes equally difficult for Corrie to live with me. "You are as stubborn as a mule," friends have told me more than once.

But we loved each other dearly, and "walking in the light" was part of our daily practice. When tensions came between us, when we needed to forgive each other of anything, it happened before the sun went down.

An example of this had to do with the simple matter of a picture. She asked me to take care of the framing of a copy of a Rembrandt etching. Corrie loved having her own walls. "This is my home," she wrote to her friends. "If you come and visit me, you will see the reproductions I had on the walls in earlier days, my portraits and the paintings I like."

Visitors would indeed see her portraits and paintings. Few were valuable, and most were reproductions. She hung them everywhere. People peered down from fading photographs on the mantelpiece. Pictures she had been given graced the most unlikely walls sometimes. It did not matter to her whether frames matched or whether items were hung in a standard order. She knew exactly how she wanted things arranged.

But Tante Corrie did not know the cost of items like fram¬ ing, and when I arrived back with the etching she was not at all happy with me for spending about $45 on a suitable frame. She was very frugal and let me know she considered it a wasteful purchase. Her displeasure did not last long, though.

A Tramp Finds a Home

One day she told me a story that helped me understand why she was so overjoyed with her rented house, which she made sure I understood was as much mine as hers. We were sitting together

LIFE LESSONS from CHIDING PLACE on the white sofa. The oil painting of her father—the one that the city of Haarlem presented to him on his eightieth birthday and that Corrie found when she returned home from Ravensbriick—hung behind us on the light beige wall, and a round lamp hanging from a chain shed a golden light from above us. It was peaceful in Shalom House. Each of us had our handwork. She told me the story of the parting of the ways between her and the staff of the Zonneduin rehabilitation center in the mid-'60s.The misunderstanding was caused partly by Corrie's absences from Holland on her long world journeys. Her vision for the house and that of the staff who ran it for her changed as the years progressed and two different ministries emerged. But it was a big blow to Corrie when Zonneduin's staff asked her to leave the house and the room in which she had some items of furniture and other belongings. She wrote in A Tramp Finds a Home: Once, years ago, I decided to stop the life of a tramp. In Zonn¬ eduin, a house in Holland that we had arranged for people who needed to rest, I had one room that I called mine.

To demonstrate to myself that that room would be my home, I opened a drawer where I kept my little pictures and photographs and put them on the walls; here, there and ev¬ erywhere, almost like a child who arranges his room.

The Lord said no to my desire to stop the life of a tramp and I obeyed, going back to my travels. When I returned to the room after some time, I found that all my little pictures had disappeared, having been removed by people who thought it strange to cover walls with childish pictures. They were right ... they were fellow workers, and they told me that I was no longer welcome in Zonneduin. I left, and I was wounded.

Corrie forgave her friends, though. She was able to pray: Thank You, Father, that Your love in me is victorious over my resentment.

Soon I understood that it was God's will that I went on with'my life as a tramp.

I AM YOURS!

Now, in my own home, which was in the Lord's plan for me but at a later date, I put more and more pictures on the walls, and I know I am allowed to do it.2

Her Final Works

In the eighteen months between her moving into her home in February 1977 and the stroke that took her powers of com¬ munication on August 23, 1978, the former tramp for the Lord was enabled to carry out many of her plans, including the making of filmed messages—a message especially for pris¬ oners called One Way Door; a film with American Indians on her 86th birthday; and a film that was in progress at the time of her stroke, later entitled Jesus Is Victor: A Personal Portrait of Corrie ten Boom.

Although she mainly "stayed put," as she liked to express it, among other engagements she spoke in San Quentin State Prison, traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the baptism of Ellen's son, Peter John (who would later be joined by a sister) and took part in Christian Booksellers' conventions in Kansas City and Denver. Six books were published.

Corrie ten Boom's final work was on behalf of prisoners. As well as making a movie for them and writing a book, He Sets the Captives Free, she wanted to start an organization that would act as an umbrella for all ministries to prisoners so that one orga¬ nization could learn from and help another, pooling resources on a national level. In the days leading up to her stroke most of her time was spent on behalf of prisoners.

A Different Kind of Imprisonment

And then on August 23, 1978, life changed radically. Tante Corrie had the first of several strokes that would gradually weaken her through the years that remained.

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE

Many have asked why the Lord allowed His gifted child to spend nearly five years unable to do the work she loved, unable to speak, unable to read, write or comprehend in the normal way. I do not know. Neither did she, I am sure.

In a way it was another kind of imprisonment, but a precious one. The Lord had locked Corrie up with Himself.

At first it was hoped that she would regain some of her facul¬ ties of comprehension, but as the weeks turned into months with little improvement, I often thought about a letter Corrie had sent to a lady named Roberta shortly before her stroke. Roberta had written with questions about the reasons for suffering, and I had typed out Corrie s reply: The answer to the question about why there is suffering in the world is because there is sin in the world. There will be no end to suffering until the Lord Jesus comes and makes everything new. I do not understand, just like you, why He allows Christians to suffer, but I know that even then God is the God of love. He makes all things work together for good to those who love Him. I did not understand why my nephew and father and sister died . . . but I see now that their lives and deaths were used to bless very many thousands of people all over the world.

When we love God and are trusting the Lord

Jesus, it can be compared to an embroidery. God is making the embroidery. He sees the top. You and I see the underside. One day we will see the top, too. It is beautiful, but now you and I can know that only by faith in the Lord Jesus.

Many stroke patients suffer brain damage and resulting behav¬ ioral changes, causing situations that are often very distressing to I AM YOURS! their families and friends. In many cases the patients are deeply committed Christians. Why the Lord allows this is part of the mystery of suffering. One day we will understand.

As for Corrie, during her very slow decline her personality was not different. Although she became extremely weak physi¬ cally, she took as large a part in the household as her disabilities allowed, even though she was confined to bed for most of those five years of silence. We worked out a system of communication, we prayed together, and we laughed, too. Many helped me in providing care for her.

She Wanted to "Die in the Harness"

Corrie had always longed to be able to work until the day the Lord came for her. When Miss Henrietta Mears, with whom she had spent time during visits to the West Coast of the United States and whom Corrie greatly respected, died on March 20, 1963, Corrie was in California. She had called to make an ap¬ pointment to see Miss Mears again, but Miss Mears died before their planned meeting took place. Corrie wrote: I am sure that there is much work for her "in higher ser¬ vice," but what a loss it is for the people here. God used her mightily.

Henrietta Mears "died in the harness." What joy to be able to work until the last day of your life! She was of my genera¬ tion—only a few years older than I am. I may still go on until I pass the torch on to others or until Jesus comes. I pray that God will use me to redeem my time and trust Jesus more.

You may recall that Corrie made the same comment about Abraham Vereide when he died: "No sickness, no suffering," she wrote. "He really died in the harness at 82 years old." Should the Lord Jesus not return beforehand, and she believed He would, Corrie very much wanted to "die in the harness," too.

LIFE LESSONS from the HIDING PLACE

In those very long years at Shalom House between 1978 and 1983,1 often wondered if Tante Corrie's serious brain damage allowed her to ponder the mystery of why she had apparently not been able to work until the last day of her life. Although she could not tell me, I think she did not. For one thing, she was never the pondering type! And I knew from close observation of her life when she was well that if she was still able to think in sequence, Corrie would have surrendered that desire to the Lord and accepted the present moment.

But I believe she did work until the last day of her life—and very effectively. She finished the race. She kept the faith. One of the greatest works the Lord did through her in those years, I believe, was her consistent witness to the dark, unseen and evil demonic powers that tried hard to silence her words "Jesus is victor." It was the ultimate test of her character, and the enemy did not succeed.

Still a Victorious Life

In my book The Five Silent Years of Corrie ten Boom? written shortly after her death, I describe some of the things I observed in that time when the world of the former "tramp for the Lord" did not extend beyond the four walls of the front bedroom of her Shalom House in California. And yet in another way the world was still wide. We spent hours viewing some of the thousands of slides she had taken on her world travels. And part of each day was spent rearranging the many photographs and pictures on the walls of her own bedroom.

But there was nothing pathetic about her. Corrie never showed any self-pity. As she had written about her first companion, Conny, years before, it was as if she did not know how to play the role of a patient. She could not speak, so I do not know what she was thinking. All I can tell you is the effect her still victorious life had on me. During those years, which sometimes seemed endless, when no plan could be made

I AM YOURS! by the one who loved planning, she said to me without words: "I served Him in my youth; I will serve Him in my old age. I served Him in strength; I will serve Him in weakness. I served Him in life; and I will serve Him in death."

At 11:00 p.m. on her 91st birthday, April 15,1983, the Lord undid the harness and took Corrie home.

Tante Corrie's Secret

What made Corrie the woman she was? Why is her story so powerful—even now, more than two decades after her death? Many factors combine. I have written about a few of them in this book—her grounding in the Dutch Reformed Church, her openness to receiving and obeying the Holy Spirit, her willingness to walk in the light, her determination to forgive, her pressing on to know more and more of the riches that are in Christ, and especially her steadfast belief that all her times were in God's very safe hands.

Corrie loved telling stories. The Hiding Place is powerful be¬ cause story itself—the telling of the past course of a person's life for a positive and sometimes life-changing end—is powerful. It cannot be said often or strongly enough that each of us who loves the Lord Jesus has his or her own story without which every other Christian is the poorer. If you and I can learn to tell our stories—not necessarily in writing but in talking about them, in daily living and in worship—we will affect our world in ways that only eternity will tell.

Corrie learned to tell her story, and we can, too. But it will take passion—Corrie's kind of wholehearted passion for the Lord.

What if you and I do not have enough of that passion? How can we obtain it?

In her 1945 letter of forgiveness to the man who betrayed her to the Nazis, Corrie said, "If you find it difficult to pray, ask God to give you His Spirit. He will give faith in your heart." That is the best advice for you and me, too. We can ask God to

LIFE LESSONS from CHIDING PLACE - > give us the passion for Himself that we need in these dark days in which He planned for us to live and to tell our own stories about His love. There will be a price to pay, but He will help us to pay it if we ask Him.

All of this contributed to who Corrie was and what made her story so powerful. And yet Corrie herself summed up her secret in one short sentence.

One afternoon while she was still well, she entertained a young neighbor in the back garden of Shalom House. Anna had read

The Hiding Place and was shy at first, but she soon relaxed when Corrie walked around the backyard with her, pointing to the flowers and to the lemons forming on the small tree.

As they sat down to drink tea, Anna asked, "What is your secret, Corrie?"

The answer was simple, of course. "Well, Anna, you see, one day I just said to the Lord, 'I am Yours from the tip of my toes to the top of my head.'"

Unconditional abandonment to God. Not her own faith. That was Corrie's secret.

APPENDIX

The Infl uence of Isaac

Da Costa

Taken from Father ten Boom, God's Man, pages 29, 31, 32, 33 orrie's passionate words about him and his work, writ¬ ten in the 1970s, show us the strong effect Isaac Da Costa had on the Ten Boom family and their faith: He was a brilliant lawyer and a famous poet. As a result of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, Europe had put reason above the Bible. Consequently there was a general relaxing of godly standards in all levels of society. Immediately after his conversion, Da Costa wrote a book titled Objections Against the Spirit of This Age. The basic theme was taken from Scripture.

For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against

APPENDIX i

huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world (Ephe¬ sians 6:12, tlb).

Immediately a storm of protest and contempt broke loose upon the courageous young lawyer. He was mocked and scorned in the press. A small circle of Hollanders stood with Da Costa. Among these was the Ten Boom family, including Willem. For these Christians, the clarion call of Da Costa meant the beginning of a new revival movement that left its mark on the whole spiritual atmosphere of nineteenth-century Holland. For many, the Bible was restored to its place of authority as the Word of God.

In 1851 Da Costa attended the World Conference of the Evangelical Alliance in London. Two days were set aside there to discuss the work among Jews in the various countries represented. In the detailed report of this conference I found an address by Da Costa that clearly states the reasons why he founded a number of prayer groups for Israel in various cities of the Netherlands. Here are a few thoughts from his interesting speech: Brethren, I see you are all rejoicing in the blessings of Chris¬ tian fellowship. Even so, I have come here to ask for tears. Tears and prayers. Yes, I myself must shed tears in your midst.

For there is one nation that has not been represented at this great international gathering. It is God's own beloved people of Israel. Let us remember that our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is now interceding for us at the Throne of God, was born a Jew in a Jewish family in the nation of Israel. It is true that Israel missed God's target and was, for a time, set aside and dispersed among the nations. But the day will come when they will fall at the feet of their Messiah in true repentance and live!

On this occasion of the Great Exhibition, the Christians of Great Britain have called the nations together on their terri¬ tory. The time will come when the King of the Jews will call a holy gathering in Jerusalem. This is not human imagination, but God's own Word through the witness of another Jew, the apostle Paul. He expresses this expectation in Romans

APPENDIX i

ll:15:"If their [Israel's] rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?" (rsv).

We all agree that a strong bond ties us to Israel. As to the past, Christianity is a fruit, an offshoot from the old people of God. As to the present, is not Israel's existence among the nations, despite centuries of hostility and persecution, one of the strongest proofs against the world's unbelief? And as to the future, how clearly the fulfillment of God's promises is related to the future of the world and the coming Kingdom of Christ! Well then, brethren! For these reasons I dare come to you with an earnest plea. It is a custom in Israel at certain great feasts to keep an open seat for the prophet Elijah. I request that you reserve an open seat for Israel in our midst today.

You lions of England and Scotland, give full honor to the Lion from the tribe of Judah who has conquered! You morningwatcher of the French people, announce the dawn of the day of His coming! You harp of Ireland, lead us in the song of expectation and longing of God's Church: "Come, Lord Jesus! Amen, come to bless and gather all the peoples of the world, also the long-rejected Israel in their midst! Amen."

Da Costa's work influenced my grandfather Willem to become one of the founders of the Society for Israel. Father often told us, "Love for the Jews was spoon-fed to me from my very youngest years." As a result, deep respect and love for the Jews became a part of our home life. How important childhood impressions are. Over the years we often experienced the truth of God's promise to Abraham, "And I will bless them that bless thee. ..."

During the second half of the nineteenth century, the Jewish people slowly awakened to the need to return to their homeland. What had seemed an absolute impossibility for nineteen centu¬ ries—the establishment of a Jewish state in Israel, the land of the patriarchs—now became the vision of an Austrian reporter, Theodor Herzl. Herzl was not motivated by religious reasons. He thought only of survival for the Jews, but the return of the Jews to

APPENDIX i

Zion was the beginning of the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel's restoration.

Is it presumptuous to think that the small prayer meeting in Haarlem was connected with these events? I believe that God delights to use His children in the fulfillment of His plans for the world. I am sure He loves to use small people to do great things. How honored I am to be part of His plan!

On Women and Preaching n 1960, at the age of 67, in her bimonthly publication It's Harvest Time, Corrie ten Boom answered some questions put to her on women and preaching: Question: Have you ever dealt with the difficulty that some people do not like it when women speak in public?

No, because I do not go where I am not allowed to speak.

Question: But do you yourselfnot have thefeeling that you are being disobedient? Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:11-12 and in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 that women must be silent.

Yes, Paul does say that, but we must understand what these words mean and what they do not mean. We must give them their place, of course, in the present age. Peter gave us a sketch of the present age in the words of Joel: "I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy" (Joel 2:28). Now, what is prophecy? First Corinthians 14:3 says it is "strengthening, encouragement and comfort."

Question: But didn't Peter mean that these things happened at the first Pentecost? (See Acts 2:16-21.)

Yes, they partly happened then. "This that you are now wit¬ nessing," says Peter. But in carrying on with the quotation he proceeded to tell about things that were not then happening.

"Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke" have not yet come to pass, and neither has the sun yet been turned into darkness nor the "moon into blood." We know from other Scriptures (e.g., see Matthew 24:29, Revelation 6:12) that these things will happen before the return of the Lord. We live in days past the beginning of the prophecy and before the end of it.

In Acts 2:18 we read, "Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. "There is no distinction of race in this verse; the power is to any devoted servant of Christ, Jew or Gentile, male or fe¬ male. The 120 on the first Pentecost included certain women, and they all were filled with the Spirit and spoke languages they had never learned (see Acts 2:4—11).

In 1 Corinthians 11:5, we find that women prophesied in the assembly, and this was not forbidden by Paul but merely regu¬ lated, the covering of the head being commanded. This verse also tells that women prayed in the Church. In Acts 21:9 we are told about Philip's four daughters who prophesied—not because the prophesying of women was rare, but that it was unusual for four women in one family to do so.

Question: But what about 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, where it is clearly said that women must keep silent in the churches f

I believe that this must be interpreted in the light of these other Scriptures and nqt in conflict with them. Here is meant silence whilst another is speaking. ("Let them ask their own husbands at home.") Miriam, Deborah, Anna, a prophet¬ ess—these are good company for me. And Psalm 68:11 in the original gives them and me the encouragement: "The women that publish good things are a great host." There is one thing that a man or woman cannot do without: the anointing of the Holy Spirit that equips us to speak for God (see Acts 2:18).

"Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest" (John 4:35).

Ten Boom Family Resources and Timeline of Corrie ten Boom's Life

/J am indebted to researcher and author Emily S. Smith y for the following timeline of the Ten Boom family and C / their family tree. These resources enable the reader to trace many of Tante Corrie's family relationships; to place various members of the family, including the dates of their births and deaths; and to follow the timing of events in Tante Corrie's life and travels in considerable detail.

My warmest thanks go to Emily and to Frits Nieuwstraten, director of the Corrie ten Boom House Foundation in Haarlem, the Netherlands, for granting permission for us to include these meticulous and impressive pieces of work.

This timeline and family tree appear in the book entitled A Visit to the Hiding Place: The Life-Changing Experiences of Corrie ten Boom, written by Emily S. Smith and published by the Corrie ten Boom House Foundation. They are reproduced here with permission. This permission covers use in all languages and all editions throughout the world.

For more information about the centuries-old house in Haar¬ lem containing the hiding place, now a museum, visit www.Corrie ten Boom.com

The Ten Boom

All locations in the Netherlands, unless noted. Van Woerden information verified by Inge van Woerden. Other information provided by Hendrik ten Boom, Chief of Archives, Rotterdam (nephew of Casper).

Cornelia Arnolda Johanna

ten Boom (Corrie)

B: April 15,1892 Amsterdam D: April 15,1983 Placentia,

CA, USA

Ten Boom Family

Timeline

This timeline contains many highlights in the Ten Boom family's life and in Corrie's ministry.

1837 Willem ten Boom (Corrie's grandfather) rents shop space and opens Ten Boom Horlogerie (watch shop) at Barteljorisstraat 19, Haarlem. In 1849, he is able to purchase the house for 1,200 guilders (FtB 27).

1841 Willem marries Geertruida van Gogh. They have thirteen children, but eight die before age four.

1844 Willem begins a prayer group to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem"

1856 Geertruida dies of tuberculosis at age 42 (FtB 26).

1858 Willem marries Elisabeth Bel February 10. They have six children; two die very young.

1859 Casper ten Boom (Corrie's father, the oldest of Elisabeth's children) is bom May 18.

Casper and Cornelia (Cor) Luitingh wed October 16. They reside at 28 Korte Prinsengracht, Amsterdam.

1885 Elisabeth (Betsie) is born August 19.Tante (Aunt) Anna (Cor's sister) comes to live with the family.

1886 Willem is born November 21.

1888 Hendrikjan is born September 12 but dies March 6,1889.

1890 Arnolda Johanna (Nollie) is born September 25. Ten Booms move to another house in Amsterdam (FtB 47).

1891 Grandfather Willem dies December 4, age 75.

1892 Cornelia Arnolda Johanna (Corrie) is born April 15 on Good Friday, about one month premature. Casper and family move from Amsterdam to a rented house in Haarlem so he can work in Ten Boom Horlogerie (FtB 52-53). Corrie is christened in the Dutch Reformed Church in July (PerL). (From this point on, Corrie s age appears in brackets after the year. Corrie s birthday is April 15. The age listed for each year is her agefollowing her birthday.)

1895 [3] Tante Jans (Cor's sister) comes to live with the Ten Booms.

1897 [5] Elisabeth (Casper's mother) moves from Barteljorisstraat 19, and Casper and family move in. Casper has house remodeled (FtB 55). Corrie prays and gives her life to Jesus (FH 24).

1909 [17] Papa and Mama celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. Corrie has completed primary and secondary school and studies at Domestic Science School (FtB 94). Ten Booms begin a missions study group in their home.

1910 [18] Corrie takes classes at a Bible school in Haarlem for two years. She fails her final exam but receives her diploma eight years later (FH 93-94).

1911 [19] Corrie works as an au pair (governess). Tante Bep (Cor's sister, who also lived with the Ten Booms) dies of tuberculosis at age 70. Corrie returns home (FH 75). Mama has slight stroke (FH 93).

1914 [22] World War I begins. Corrie has appendectomy following months of bed rest (PerL).

1916 [24] Willem is ordained. He is called to a church in Made; the family attends his first sermon. In Made, Corrie's friend Karel (not his real name) talks with her about their future together. They see each other again when Willem marries Tine van Veen August 23. In November, Corrie's heart is broken when Karel introduces her to his fiancee (HP 44-46). Willem pastors in Made four years, then in Zuijlen until 1926.

1918 [26] Mama has major stroke (HP 48). As World War I ends, Ten Booms take in Willy, Katy and Mrs. Treckmann and her children Ruth and Martha, all from Germany (FH 102-4).

1919 [27] Tante Jans dies from diabetes at age 71. Nollie marries Frederik"Flip" van Woerden July 23.

1920 [28] Corrie completes her watchmaking apprenticeship in two factories in Switzerland (PerL).

1921 [29] Mama dies October 17 at age 63. Corrie works in clock shop full¬ time; Betsie takes over housekeeping (FH 113).

1924 [32] Corrie becomes Holland's first licensed woman watchmaker (HP 54).

1925 [33] Tante Anna dies March 7 at age 64. Ten Booms begin to take in missionary children, three of them from one family: Puck, Hans, Hardy (FH 133), Lessie (FH134), Miep (FH 137) and Marijke (FH 140). In 1925, there are seven foster children total, known as the Red Cap Club. Corrie starts Christian girls' clubs; she works with them until 1940, when the Nazis order no group meetings (FH 125-82).

1926[34] Willem starts working with the Society for Israel. He goes to Leipzig, Germany, for one year to study for his doctorate, writes his thesis on racial anti-Semitism, and receives his Doctorate of Philosophy in 1928 (FtB 106).

1937 [45] The 100th anniversary party of Ten Boom Horlogerie (watch shop) is held.

1940 [48] Nazis invade Holland beginning May 10. Occupation lasts five years.

1941 [49] In November, Corrie obtains help from Willem and Kik ten Boom to find a safe house for two Jewish friends (HP 69).

1942[50] Early spring, Corrie decides she must help save Jewish people. She becomes involved in the underground. Her nephew Peter van Woerden spends time in prison for showing patriotism to Holland

1943 [51] Many Jews pass through the Ten Booms' home; most are relocated quickly. The names mentioned below are those who spent extended time with the family.

May

Ten Booms take young Dutchman Hans Poley into hiding; he becomes involved in the underground (RHP 15).

Hansje "Thea" Frankfort-Israels (Jew) moves in (RHP 29).

June

Mary van Itallie (Jew), HenkWessels and Leendert Kip (underground workers) move in.

June

First drill for newly constructed hiding place is held (RHP 44).

Meyer Mossel, "Eusie," (Jew) moves in (RHP 47).

July

Henk Wiedijk (underground worker) moves in (RHP 64). Henk Wessels and Leendert Kip find other places to live, so Mr. de Vries (Jew) moves in (RHP 75).

August 14

Nollie is arrested for hiding a Jew. She spends four weeks in prison. Due to danger of Gestapo searching family members' homes, all in hiding leave Beje (Ten Booms' home) for other safe houses. Mary, Eusie, Henk and Hans return in three weeks. The others remain elsewhere (RHP 81-85). Mirjam de Jong (Jew) moves in (RHP 86).

September

All in hiding leave Beje again due to Gestapo worries (RHP 90). Mary, Eusie and Hans return in two weeks (RHP 96). Nel (Jew) and Ronnie Gazan (Jew) move in (RHP 97).

1944 [523 January

Meta (Martha) and Paula Monsanto (Jews) move in (RHP 118). Paula leaves and moves in with Hans Poley's parents (RHP 120). Willem ten Boom's home is raided by Gestapo; no evidence is found (RHP 121).

February

Hans Poley is arrested trying to warn another family of a Gestapo raid (RHP 125). Because of danger, all in hiding leave Beje (RHP

139) . Eusie, Mary, Martha and Ronnie return in one week (RHP 140) . These are the four Jews living in Beje on February 28.

Gestapo agents raid Beje at about 5 p.m. (RHP 142). Six people illegally in the house (four Jews and two underground workers) run into the hiding place. About 11 p.m., Casper, Corrie, Betsie and Willem ten Boom and Nollie and Peter van Woerden are taken to the Haarlem jail along with about thirty others (PY 14, RHP 146). Six people remain in the hiding place while Nazis guard the house. Herman Sluring (Pickwick), Corrie's contact in the Dutch National Underground, is arrested elsewhere in Haarlem (HP 122).

The six family members are transferred to Scheveningen prison near Den Haag (PY 19).

March 1

After over 47 hours, all six in the hiding place are rescued at about 4:30 p.m. Eusie, Mary, Martha and Ronnie (Jews) are taken to new safe houses. Reynout Siertsema and Hans van Messel (underground workers) leave the Beje safely (RHP 160).

March 9

Casper ten Boom dies at age 84 (PY 22).

March 16

Corrie begins solitary confinement in cell 384 (PL 18).

April 15

Corrie spends her birthday in solitary confinement (HP 140).

Corrie and Betsie find each other as they are transported by train from Scheveningen prison to Vught Concentration Camp in Holland, arriving June 6 (PL 11).

Corrie and Betsie begin nightmare train ride—three days and three nights jammed into a boxcar. Their destination is Ravensbriick Concentration Camp near Berlin, Germany (PY 85).

Corrie and Betsie are officially registered as prisoners in Ravensbriick (PY 88).

December

Betsie dies in Ravensbriick at age 59 (LST 63).

After learning she is to be released, Corrie is put in Ravensbriick hospital due to edema (HP 202).

(or December 28—both dates appear on discharge) Corrie is released from Ravensbriick Concentration Camp (PY 88).

1945 [53] January 1

As a free person, Corrie arrives in Berlin and finds a train to Groningen, Holland, where she spends ten days in a nursing home. One of her nurses, Truus Benes, is a friend from the YWCA (LST 69). Then Corrie recuperates with Willem and Tine for two weeks before returning to Haarlem (HP 205-8).

Liberation Day in Holland. Shortly afterwards, Corrie rents and opens part of Schapenduinen (the home of Mrs. Bierens-de Haan) as a Christian rehabilitation center for war victims (HP 212).

May 8 „

VE Dy (Victory in Europe)

Corrie writes to Jan Vogel, the man who betrayed her family to the Gestapo, and forgives him (PL 81).

June

Corrie's first book, Gevangene en Toch ... (A Prisoner and Yet...), is published in Holland.

1946[54] Early in the year, Corrie travels by freighter to the United States (U.S.A.) to share her story. She begins in New York City and receives advice from Irving Harris. Then in Washington, D.C., she is helped by Rev. Abraham Vereide and his daughter Alicia, Marian Johnson, Mrs. Frank McSherry and Kate Cheney. From there, Corrie travels to speaking engagements across the country (HL149-52). She writes a July prayer letter from Kansas having already worked in New York, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Vermont, Michigan, Illinois and Canada. (Corrie s "work" is evangelism and discipleship.) In Canada, she is helped by Mrs. Bobbie Halliday. She works in California, Utah and Iowa. On December 13, Corrie's brother, Willem, dies at age 60 from tuberculosis of the spine, contracted in prison (HP 218). She returns to Holland after ten months abroad (PrL 6-47).

1947[55] Corrie continues work at Schapenduinen (PrL 6-47). She also works in Germany, where she meets a guard from Ravensbriick and forgives him (TfL 82). In September, she works in Canada (CP).

1948 [56] On her birthday, Corrie speaks in Los Angeles at the University of California (Contemporary Christian Acts magazine 4—78). She attends a Youth for Christ conference in Switzerland (HL163).

1949 [57] Corrie speaks in Germany and works in refugee camps there. With help from the German Lutheran Church, she rents and opens Darmstadt (a former concentration camp) for refugees. The Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary serves the refugees on an ongoing basis until the camp closes in 1960 (CP, HP 218). She also works in Switzerland and the U.S.A. (CP).

1950 [58] Corrie works in California (HL163-64), Washington, D.C., (CP), Michigan, Canada and Bermuda. In Bermuda, she speaks twenty times in one week (PerL 3-50). She returns to Holland by freighter and works several months in Germany (CP).

1951 [59] Corrie works in Germany, England, Canada and the U.S.A. (CP). During this year, she returns to Holland to complete the purchase of the house Zonneduin for the Christian retreat and training center. It moves from its rented house, Schapenduinen (HL 166). She is associated with this work until 1966 (PerL).

1952 [60] Corrie works in the U.S.A., and then, on her way to Japan, she stops in Hawaii and speaks sixteen times in four days (PerL 4-52). She works in Japan for nine months, partly with missionaries Father and Mother Mitchell (PerL).

1953 [61] Corrie's second book, Amazing Love, is published. It is her first book printed in English. She works in Taiwan and visits leprosy patients with Lillian Dixon (PrL 1-53). She also works in the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, Israel (CP), South Africa (Reim. 66), Spain and Switzerland (PrL 12-53). On October 22, her sister Nollie dies at age 63. Corrie is greatly affected by her sister's passing (TfL 62). In December, she is in Haarlem where she falls and injures her hip. She is cared for at Zonneduin (PrL 5-54).

1954[62] In early January, Corrie is prayed for; she receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit (TfL 62). She works five months in Germany (PrL 5-54). She meets a nurse who was cruel to Betsie in Ravensbriick and leads her to the Lord (HL 160). Corrie also works in the U.S.A. (PrL

10-54), Bermuda and Cuba (PrL 2-54). Her first book, Gevangene en Toch . . ., is translated and published in English as A Prisoner and Yet. . .•

1955 [63] Corrie works in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.A. (PrL 1-55, 5-55). This trip lasts sixteen months (PrL 1-56).

1956[64] Corrie works in Hawaii for one month, where she speaks at 85 meetings (PrL 5-56). Remainder of year she works in New Zealand and Australia with the Revival Fellowship Team of J. Edwin Orr (PrL 1956).

1957 [65] Corrie continues her work with the Revival Fellowship Team in New Zealand and Australia for this entire year (PrL 1957). Her books Not Good If Detached and Common Sense Not Needed are published.

1958 [66] Corrie works in India, Borneo, Korea, Japan and Formosa (IHT1958). Having been christened as a child, she is baptized by immersion at the William Carey Baptist Church in Calcutta, India, on March 20 (PerL). The name of her personal updates changes from Prayer Letter to It's Harvest Time.

1959 [67] Corrie begins the year working in Hong Kong, then in Vietnam and Europe (IHT 1959). She returns to Ravensbriick Concentration Camp to discover her release was a clerical error (HP 219).

1960 [68] Corrie works in Germany, Spain, England, Switzerland and for three months in Israel (IHT 1960). In Switzerland, she meets Billy and Ruth Graham (LST 106). She begins traveling with a personal companion, Conny van Hoogstraten. They work together seven years (HL 176).

1961 [69] Corrie works in India for three months, then in Africa for eight months (IHT 1961).

1962[70] Corrie works in South America and the U.S.A. (IHT 1962). On April 17, the Netherlands' Queen Juliana makes Corrie a Knight in the Order Oranje-Nassau (LST 102).

1963 [71] Corrie writes about recent work in Bermuda and Canada (IHT 163). She works in the U.S.A. (IHT 3-63). She stays in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the apartment of Dr. Gwen Shepherd for six weeks. This is the first time in sixteen years she has stayed in the same home that long. She speaks in many meetings and visits patients at Dr. Shepherd's hospital. Then Corrie works in Cordoba, Argentina (IHT 6-63, TfL 102) and Brazil (PerL 7-1963). She returns to Holland for hospitalization due to an infection of the liver (IHT

10-63). She flies to the U.S.A. December 31 (CP).

1964 [72] Corrie works in the U.S.A. (CP), Germany, Poland and Finland (IHT 1964). Then she is diagnosed with hepatitis. Under doctor's orders, she takes a year off from working. Her sabbatical year begins in September. She spends the first two months receiving medical treatment in Bavaria, Germany; then she stays with her nephew Peter van Woerden and family in Switzerland (IHT 1964-65).

1965 [73] The remaining months of her sabbatical year are spent with Harry and Evelyn Campbell in Uganda, East Africa (HL 177). During her "year off," Corrie occasionally speaks in prisons and churches in Kenya and Uganda (CP, HL 178). In October, she starts to work again in Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo and Uganda (CP, IHT 12-65/3-66).

1966[74] By the end of January, Corrie finishes four months of work in Africa by speaking in Congo, Kenya and Ethiopia (CP). Then she works in Canada and the U.S.A. (CP). For several months, she works in Russia and Eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia), then Germany and Holland (CP).

1967 [75] Corrie works in France and Indonesia (CP). She celebrates her 75th birthday in Vietnam. It is wartime, and she is working with missionary Brother Andrew (LST 89). When she returns to Holland, Baroness Elisabeth van Heemstra loans her an apartment to use as a "home base" whenever she is in Holland (HL 186). In the summer, Conny leaves to marry Lykle Hoogerzeil, a Dutch missionary doctor to India (ML 23,28). Ellen de Kroon becomes Corrie's next personal companion. They work together for nine years. A car Corrie is riding in is involved in a serious accident, and her arm and shoulder are broken. She spends nine weeks in the hospital (HL 186). Plenty for Everyone is published.

1968 [76] On February28, Corrie is honored by Israel at Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial). She is asked to plant a tree in the Garden of the Righteous because of the many Jewish lives she and her family saved during World War II. She works in Israel, Holland, Germany (IHT 5-68), the U.S.A., England and Moscow (CP).

1969 [77] Corrie begins the year in Switzerland, then works in France (IHT 4-69), the U.S.A. (CP), Moscow (CP), Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Germany (IHT 1-70) and Cuba (CP). Corrie's book Marching Orders for the End Battle is published.

1970 [78] Corrie works in Israel and Cyprus (IHT 5-70). Her former personal companion, Conny, dies of cancer. Corrie speaks at the funeral (HL

179). She returns to Holland for five months' rest—under doctor's orders (IHT 9-70), then works in Alaska and the northern U.S.A. (IHT 12-70). Defeated Enemies is published.

1971 [79] Corrie spends five months in the U.S.A. (IHT 4-71), then works in Holland, the U.S.A. (IHT 8-70) and Canada (CP). The Hiding Place, by Corrie with John and Elizabeth Sherrill, is published in November (IHT 8-71).

1972[80] Corrie continues to work in the U.S.A. and Canada (IHT 1972).

1973 [81] Corrie works in the U.S.A. (IHT 2-73). She begins calling her personal updates The Hiding Place Magazine, which is regularly published into 1983. She works in the Netherlands Antilles (HPM

Sm 73). In June, she speaks at the Billy Graham Crusade in Atlanta, Georgia (BGCA).

1974 [82] The Hiding Place movie is fdmed from March through June in Haarlem and England. Corrie visits the set (LST 110, HL 202). Corrie works in the U.S.A. and Israel (HPM Sm 74). In July, she speaks at Congress for World Evangelization in Switzerland (MY 122). Tramp for the Lord, by Corrie with Jamie Buckingham, is published. In November, she is interviewed at the Billy Graham Crusade in Norfolk, Virginia (BGCA).

1975 [83] Corrie works in the U.S.A. for several months (HPM Sp 75) and in Bermuda (HPM W 75). The Beje opens as a museum, "The Hiding Place" (LST 98). On September 29, The Hiding Place movie is to premiere in Beverly Hills, California. Just as it is to begin, a suspected neo-Nazi group throws a tear gas bomb into the theater. Instead of viewing the movie, hundreds of people enjoy a street meeting with Corrie, Billy Graham, Pat Boone as the master of ceremonies, Bev Shea singing "How Great Thou Art" and Pat and Cliff Barrows leading singing. Newspapers and television carry the story internationally (LST 112). The Hiding Place is shown in movie theaters in many countries. In November, a member of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary comes to the Beje and presents Corrie with plaques that are hung in the hiding place (LST 98). Prison Letters is published.

1976[84] In January, Corrie is in Oklahoma (BGCA). In April, Pam Rosewell becomes Corrie's personal companion when Ellen de Kroon leaves to marry Bob Stamps, chaplain of Oral Roberts University (TH 16). Pam works with Corrie seven years. Their first trip is seven months long, working in Switzerland; Toronto, Canada; and the U.S.A. (Honolulu, Hawaii; New York; Wenham, Massachusetts; Charlotte, North Carolina; Williamsburg, Virginia; Knoxville, Tennessee; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Dallas and Waco, Texas; Des Moines, Iowa; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Diego, and San Jose, California) (SY 40, 42). On April 23, Corrie receives an honorary degree (Doctorate of Humane Letters) from Gordon College in Massachusetts (HPM Sm 76); then she spends three months in Holland (SY 49). In My Fathers House, by Corrie with C. C. Carlson, and Corrie's Christmas Memories are published. The film Behind the Scenes of The Hiding Place is released.

1977 [85] In January, "The Hiding Place" is closed as a museum because of too many visitors (HPM Sp 77). Corrie is the guest speaker at a Billy Graham Crusade in Gothenburg, Sweden, and then works in Switzerland (HPM Sp 77). Also in January, Corrie and Pam receive resident alien status in the U.S.A. and leave for Florida, where Corrie spends several weeks writing a book (HL 209, SY 50). Then she and Pam go to California to look for a house to rent (SY 49). On February 28, they move into "Shalom" house in Placentia, California (LST 120). Corrie works in New York and Florida (HPM Sm 77). On July 4, in Arizona, she is honored by CHIEF (Christian Hope Indian Eskimo Fellowship), receives a headdress and is welcomed into their tribes. In July, she attends a booksellers' convention in Kansas City and Denver and then goes to Oklahoma for the baptism of Ellen's son, Peter John Stamps. She completes a film made especially for prisoners, One Way Door (HPM F 77). On September 25, she speaks at San Quentin Prison, near San Francisco, California (LST 125). In October, Corrie is hospitalized to receive a pacemaker (SY 73). In November, she speaks in Portland, Oregon (HPM Jan 78). Each New Day, Prayers and Promises for Every Day, He Cares, He Comforts; and He Sets the Captives Free are published.

1978 [86] On April 15, Corrie spends her birthday in Arizona making a film for American Indians (SY 82). She spends May and June working on the book This Day Is the Lord's, which is published in 1979 (ST 156). In the early summer, she works on the film Jesus Is Victor (SY 89). In July, she is honored with an evening called "Corrie: The Lives She

Touched" (SY 91). On August 23, she suffers her first major stroke (SY 102) and loses most of her ability to communicate (ST 163). Her books Father ten Boom, God's Man\ A Tramp Finds a Home', and Don't Wrestle, Just Nestle are published.

1979 [87] On April 15, Corrie celebrates her 86th birthday with a small party in the back garden (HPM May 79). In May, she suffers a second serious stroke, losing the use of her right arm and leg (SY 144, ST

169).

1980 [88] In October, Corrie suffers her third serious stroke and is bedridden

1982[90] Corrie's book Clippings from My Notebook is published. It is a collection of notes she wrote and photographs she took during her many decades of travel. Corrie's evangelistic film Jesus Is Victor is released.

1983 [91] On her 91st birthday, April 15, Corrie goes to heaven. She dies at approximately 11 p.m. (SY186). Her memorial service is held on April 22, with burial at Fairhaven Memorial Park, Santa Ana, California. Her evangelistic films One Way Door and Corrie: The Lives She's Touched are released. Her book Not I, but Christ is published this year in Dutch, in 1984 in English.

Jesus Is Victor is published. It is a compilation of three of Corrie's books.

1988 On April 15, the Corne-ten Boom House opens as a museum in Haarlem, Holland.

Reflections of God's Glory is published. It contains messages given by Corrie on Trans World Radio.

Messages of God's Abundance is published. This contains additional messages given by Corrie on Trans World Radio.

The Hiding Place movie on DVD is released by World Wide Pictures. It includes four of Corrie's other films: Behind the Scenes of The Hiding Place, Jesus Is Victor, One Way Door and Corrie: The Lives She's

Touched.

Additional tributes given to the Ten Boom family: There is a Corrie ten Boomstraat (street) and a Casper ten Boomstraat in Haarlem, a Ten Boomstraat in Hilversum named for Christiaan ten Boom (Kik), and a Ten Boom School in Maarssen named for Corrie's brother, Willem.

Timeline References

BGCA From the Corrie ten Boom Collection in the Billy Graham

Center Archives, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. CP Corrie's passports, BGCA. FH In My Father's House by Corrie ten Boom with Carole C.

Carlson. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Fleming H. Revell, a division of Baker Book House Company, 1976, 2000.1976 edition co-published with Christian Literature Crusade, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. All publications rights held by Baker Book House Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan. FtB Father ten Boom: God's Man by Corrie ten Boom. Grand

Rapids, Michigan: Fleming H. Revell, a division of Baker Book House Company, 1978. HL Corrie ten Boom: Her Life, Her Faith by Carole C. Carlson.

Grand Rapids, Michigan: Fleming H. Revell, a division of Baker Book House Company, 1983. HP The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. Chappaqua, New York: Chosen Books LLC, 1971.

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