Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Write for the BIOGRAPHICAL Genre (12/04/14)
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TITLE: Facing the Test of Forgiveness | Previous Challenge Entry
By Dee Kyalo
12/09/14 -
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She arrived from Holland to defeated Germany in 1947 with the message that God forgives. Little did she know that she would come face to face with a man who had played a key role in the tragic death of her sister. One moment she saw him in an overcoat and brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. Then it all came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man.
He extended his hand, “Will you forgive me?”
Could she forgive him?
Cornelia Arnolda Johanna ten Boom was born on April 15, 1892, in Haarlem, Netherlands. She was the youngest of Cornelia and Casper ten Boom’s four children.
Her mother died when Corrie was 30 and it was also the same year that she became the first female licensed watchmaker in Holland. Over the next ten years she set up a teenage girls club providing religious teachings as well as performing arts, needlework and handicrafts.
Corrie grew up in a faith inspired family causing them to serve society by offering shelter, food and money to the needy.
Their high esteem for the Jews as “God’s ancient people” drove them to open their Beje house (short for Barteljorisstraat, the street location of the house) for refuge. The family had a secret room built into Corrie’s bedroom behind a false wall to hold up to six people; for hours or several days during World War II. These activities were happening above her father’s watch shop, a great façade for a safe hiding place.
Perhaps since this sanctuary was right in her bedroom it propelled her to become a leader in the “Beje” movement, overseeing a network of “safe houses” in the country.
On February 28, 1944 acting upon tips from a Dutch informant, the Gestapo raided the ten Boom home and 35 people, including Corrie’s entire family, were arrested. Those who were hiding remained undiscovered. The ten Boom family was incarcerated and her father died shortly after. Ten months later, her sister died.
Corrie’s life was nothing short of a miracle. When they arrived at Ravensbruck women’s concentration camp, all the other women were searched several times in line but she wasn’t and managed to get in with her Bible. She had her vitamin bottle which never became empty, but supplied many of the nearly starving prisoners. Their barracks had fleas and guards never entered it for fear of fleas, so they worshipped without disturbance. Corrie triumphantly ministered to her captors and fellow prisoners without allowing the harsh treatment to dampen her spirit. Then 14 days before all her female age mates were killed in the gas chambers, she was miraculously released!
Devoted to her faith, Corrie returned to Netherlands after WWII to set up a rehabilitation center for concentration camp survivors. Her message focused on the Christian Gospel with emphasis on forgiveness.
When she was reunited with the Ravenbruck guard, the man who stretched out his hand asking for forgiveness for his cruel actions, Corrie was initially reluctant. But after praying for ability to forgive, she found that her faith gave her the power to do so.
In her book, “The Hiding Place” she wrote:
““I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart!”...“For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.””
“If you do not forgive men their trespasses,” Jesus says, “neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:15, Mark 11:26)
Corrie had a disappointing romance and never married. The writer, clocksmith and prominent anti-Nazi underground figure died in Placentia, California, on her 91st birthday in 1983.
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References:
www.chosenpeople.com
Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place (New York City: Bantam Books/1984)
Guidepost article ©1972 “I’m Still Learning to Forgive”
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There were several people such as this remarkable woman, how astounding they all were. I know there are many around doing things of a similar nature today. God help them all.
However, I digress...thank you for sharing this well written account of a woman worthy of writing about. Great job.
God bless~
God bless~
Awesome job!