I'm a big fan of Corrie Ten Boom and her family, who put faith into action during a very difficult time in Europe's history. The film "The Hiding Place" is a classic and one that never fails to move me.
I got an e-mail about the house in Haarlem, Holland this morning and thought it deserved to be copied in full. We were happy to send a donation to help preserve this important museum and we thought you might be interested to do the same.
This is Holocaust Remembrance Month. It is a time to pause and remember the millions of Jews that died at the hands of Adolf Hitler during World War II.
Corrie and her family were dedicated to serving others. Their home was a haven for anyone with a need. The spread of World War II into Holland did not deter the ten Boom family. Their home became a sanctuary for those Jewish families and resistance workers sought by the Gestapo. The ten Boom family (Casper and his daughters Corrie and Betsie) risked their lives daily to hide their Jewish neighbors and others who refused to aid the Nazis.
Often there were a half-dozen or more men, women and/or children packed into "The Hiding Place," a small room tucked away behind a false wall in Corrie's bedroom. On February 28, 1944, someone betrayed this courageous family, and the Gestapo invaded their small home. Systematically, they searched the house, but God made seeing eyes blind, and they missed the secret place hidden away in Corrie's room, as well as the six individuals crouched there.
Because underground materials were found in the home, the ten Boom family was arrested. Casper ten Boom, Corrie's 84-year-old father, died after ten days in captivity. Betsie died in Ravensbruck; nephew Christiaan perished at Bergen Belsen; brother Willem survived the concentration camps, but died shortly after his release.
Corrie spent a year in prison in ill-health and persecuted by her captors simply for loving the House of Israel. God blessed her for her faithfulness.
Corrie survived the death camp determined to share the reality of God's love. Armed with her realization that "There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still" and "God will give us the love to forgive our enemies," Corrie began a ministry that would last 33 years and take her to sixty countries.
Dr. Billy Graham made the American public aware of the story of Corrie ten Boom and the sacrifices of her family to aid the Jewish people during the Second World War through her book and the movie, "The Hiding Place." The dedicated prayer life of her family is less well-known. Corrie's grandfather founded a prayer fellowship in 1849. It was dedicated to praying for the "peace of Jerusalem and the rebirth of the nation of Israel." The 100-year long prayer meeting at the ten Boom home ended when the family was arrested and imprisoned.
Twenty years ago, the ten Boom family home and clock shop in Haarlem, Holland were purchased. It was lovingly restored, and is open today as a Holocaust museum, and as a beacon and a testimony of the courage, dedication and faithfulness of one family who, like Moses, chose "rather to suffer affliction with the people of God," than to escape the wrath of the Holocaust.
In 2002, in order to keep the 100-year prayer meeting alive (1844-1944) by the tradition of the ten Boom family, the Jerusalem Prayer Team was founded. This organization is dedicated to praying for the peace of Jerusalem according to Psalm 122:6. The prayer meeting was stopped the day the ten Booms were taken to the concentration camps.
The Corrie ten Boom Holocaust Center in Haarlem, Holland, is open to the public. It is run solely by volunteers, and is funded through donations. In its twenty year history, no one has been charged to see "The Hiding Place." Over 800 Jews bound for Palestine were saved by the ten Booms. Corrie told me that God gave her Psalm 91 while she was in prison as her promise on her 51st birthday. (Corrie lived to be 91 years old.)
Would you make a donation today to help us keep the Corrie ten Boom Holocaust Center open?There are no paid employees at Corrie ten Boom House. Volunteers willingly and joyfully give their time and talents to keep Corrie's family story alive for another generation. The final verse of Psalm 91 says, “With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (91:16)
Sadly, we see a growing anti-Semitism in Europe. The horrors of WW II are pushed into the background and the suffering of the Jews is minimized. For this reason, it is important that the Corrie ten Boom House stays open and that the story of the Ten Boom family continues to be told, especially the story of Corrie. This house is a place where God touches the hearts of people.
What a wonderful way to bring the Bible to life! Dutchman Johan Huibers has built a replica ark in the town of Schagen in the Netherlands. The ark is 150 cubits long - half the length of Noah's - and three storeys high. A cubit was about 45cm (18in) long.
