In the late 1970’s I had the privilege of being invited to preach in the USA by Pastor  Floyd  McClung  Snr  who  was  the father  of  Floyd  McClung  Jnr,  the Director of YWAM Europe and the author of the best-selling book: The Father Heart of God and a number of other books.

 

I was sitting in the backseat of Pastor McClung’s car as he was driving in Orange County California one day and his wife was in the front seat.  They were saying that Corrie Ten Boom was living nearby and Mrs McClung, who was quite a character said to him, “I’d miss your funeral to meet her!”

 

I had known about Corrie Ten Boom since I was a teenager.  I had read her book “The Hiding Place” which was later made into a film of the same name, which  tells  the  story  of  how,  during  World  War  II,  her  family  had  hidden  a group of Jews in the apartment above her father’s watch and clock shop in Haarlem, Holland.

 

Between  1942  and  1944  in  occupied  Holland,  the  Ten  Boom  family joined the resistance movement and it is estimated that around 800 Jews were saved by the family’s efforts. On the last day of February 1944, the Nazis arrested the entire Ten Boom family, including Corrie’s father who died ten days later. The group of six people who were in hiding in their house at the time were not discovered and were able to escape.

 

Corrie and her sister Betsie, were eventually sent to a political concentration camp  and  finally  to  the  Ravensbrück concentration  camp  for  women  in Germany. Even under the most terrible conditions they held worship services and many prisoners were converted. Betsie's  health  deteriorated,  and  she died on 16 December 1944 at the age of 59. Before she died, she told Corrie, "There is no pit so deep that He [God] is not deeper still."

 

Corrie survived and miraculously was released ten days after her sister died.  She  went  on  to  have  a  worldwide  ministry and  wrote  a  number  of  books telling her story and preaching on her great theme of forgiveness.

 

As  a  young  man  I  had  gone on to read more of Corrie’s books with great interest and she had a profound influence on my life, not least because of her absolute honesty, humility, wisdom and graciousness – and also the fact that her books were very easy to read!

 

She  told  the  story  of  how,  one  day  she  had  been  giving  her  testimony  in Germany and at the end of the service a man came up to her and introduced himself  as  one  of  the  guards  in  the  concentration  camp  where  Corrie  had been imprisoned  and  Betsie  had  died.  Understandable,  but  terrible  anger and vengeful thoughts welled up within her, but she knew she had to forgive him.  This is what she said about that encounter:

 

“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? Lord Jesus,  I  prayed,  forgive  me  and  help  me  to  forgive  him....  Jesus,  I  cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.... 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.”

 

Another story Corrie told was a great inspiration to me.  Since I got saved at 11  years  old,  I  have  never  been  afraid  of death  but  I  have  always  been slightly  fearful  of  the  process  of  dying.  When  she  was  a  small  girl  Corrie expressed  a similar  fear  to  her  father  because  she  could  not  face  the prospect of him dying one day.

 

This is how he answered her fear: “Corrie," when you and I go to Amsterdam - when do I give you your ticket?" - “Why, just before we get on the train." -"Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things, too. Don't run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need - just in time.”

 

Only Corrie among her family survived to tell the story of how faith ultimately triumphs over evil. She lived to the grand old age of 91 after a life of tireless service travelling the world from places as far apart as Africa, Europe, the Americas, Asia, and even in difficult to reach and dangerous countries at the time,  such  as  Russia  (then-USSR),  Cuba,  and  China,  as  a witness of  the love and forgiveness of Jesus.  

 

Corrie Ten Boom was born on April 15 1892 and 91 years later on the same day - 15 April 1983.  She went to be with her Lord.

 

According  to  Jewish  custom,  celebrating  the  same  day  for  both  birth  and death is the unique sign of a very special individual - which she truly was!

 

APPENDIX

 

Corrie Ten Boom Museum

 

About 20 years ago my wife and I with our two young children were visiting friends  in  the  Netherlands  and  we  decided  to go  to  Haarlem  to  visit  the original Ten Boom watchmaker’s shop which has now been turned  into  a museum, only to find that it was closed.  There was a notice on the door with some information and miraculously we spoke with someone who gave us access and time for a very short visit.

 

It  will  be  possible  to  visit  the  museum  by booking  in  advance  once  the restrictions are over but, in the meantime, there is an excellent virtual tour you can log into for free:

https://www.corrietenboom.com/en/home

 

Corrie Ten Boom Quotes:

 

“Memories  are  the  key  not  to  the  past,  but  to  the  future.  I  know  that  the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do.”

 

“Do you know what hurts so very much? It's love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill that love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.”

 

“If the devil cannot make us bad, he will make us busy.”

 

“Don’t bother to give God instructions, just report for duty.”

 

“You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.”

 

“God takes our sins –the past, present, and future, and dumps them in the sea and puts up a sign that says NO FISHING ALLOWED.”

 

“Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.”

 

“In darkness God’s truth shines most clear.”

 

“What wings are to a bird and sails to a ship, so is prayer to the soul.”

 

Corrie Ten Boom Books

 

The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom

Tramp for the Lord

In My Father's House

Amazing Love: True Stories of the Power of Forgiveness

Corrie Ten Boom's Prison Letters

A Prisoner and Yet

Corrie Ten Boom: Her Story

Not Good If Detached

Defeated Enemies

Father Ten Boom, God's Man

Don't Wrestle, Just Nestle

Not I, But Christ

Common   Sense   Not   Needed:   Bringing   the   Gospel   to   the Mentally Handicapped

Jesus is Victor

Marching Orders for the End Battle: Getting Ready for Christ's Return

 

And more!