Betsie, Corrie and Nollie Ten Boom

This year is 30 years since Corrie Ten Boom went to heaven. A Dutch charismatic Christian with a humanitarian passion, she saved many Jewish lives during the holocaust through hiding them in her house. She eventually was cought by the Nazis and put in the Ravensbrück concentration camp with her sister, Betsie. God did many miracles there in the midst of extreme suffering, and even if Betsie was martyred Corrie survived and could later on share her amazing story in her book The Hiding Place. Here’s an excerpt of a review of that book:

As the Germans sweep into Holland, lives are irrevocably and forever changed. The Ten Booms begin hiding Jews in their home…some temporarily, others semi-permanently. Working in “God’s underground,” Corrie finds a strength she never knew she possessed. We live with the Ten Booms through the changes WWII brings into their lives, the chances they take, but most of all, we see the guiding hand of the Lord every step of the way.

Betsie, the sister who has been sickly all her life, has the faith, the serenity, and the complete conviction that the Lord is always there in every circumstance. This faith takes Corrie and Betsie through the hardships they endure in the prisons and concentration camps where they are incarcerated. While Corrie tends to pray for their needs, Betsie prays for their enemies, whom she sees through God’s eyes…the guards, everyone who mistreats them, even thanking God for the fleas in their bunks.

Corrie was given a Bible, a sweater, and a bottle of liquid vitamins by their sister Nollie the last time they saw her before deportation. The Bible was never taken away.  It was as though the guards did not see it.

Corrie doled out the vitamins, a drop at the time, to her sister. As more women became ill from malnutrition, hard labor, and depravation, Corrie reluctantly began giving them drops of the vitamins from the small bottle. And just like in the Book of Kings where, after the widow of Zarephath gave Elijah the last of her food, her jar of meal stayed full and her cruse of oil never failed, the vitamins lasted and lasted, far beyond what that little bottle could hold. Miracle after miracle, large and small, kept coming their way.

Bible studies were never stopped by the guards…one reason was the miracle of the fleas. Betsie had thanked God for the fleas; later they learned the guards wouldn’t come in the room where their bunks were because it was infested with fleas.

As Betsie relied on Corrie’s physical strength, Corrie relied on Betsie’s spiritual strength. Together they won untold numbers to Christ under the most horrific circumstances any human can face. The Lord gave Betsie a vision of what they must do following their release from prison. To Corrie, she described in detail this vision and the settings where they were to carry out God’s will. Every detail was carried out in full by Corrie Ten Boom.

May the faith and courage of Corrie and Betsie inspire us to save lives and establish peace and justice in the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit!