The Aquila Report

Your independent source for news and commentary from and about conservative, orthodox evangelicals in the Reformed and Presbyterian family of churches

Pensacola Theological Institute 2021
  • Biblical
    and Theological
  • Churches
    and Ministries
  • People
    in the News
  • World
    and Life News
  • Lifestyle
    and Reviews
    • Books
    • Movies
    • Music
  • Opinion
    and Commentary
  • General Assembly
    and Synod Reports
    • ARP General Synod
    • EPC General Assembly
    • OPC General Assembly
    • PCA General Assembly
    • PCUSA General Assembly
    • RPCNA Synod
    • URCNA Synod
  • Subscribe
    to Weekly Email
  • Biblical
    and Theological
  • Churches
    and Ministries
  • People
    in the News
  • World
    and Life News
  • Lifestyle
    and Reviews
    • Books
    • Movies
    • Music
  • Opinion
    and Commentary
  • General Assembly
    and Synod Reports
    • ARP General Synod
    • EPC General Assembly
    • OPC General Assembly
    • PCA General Assembly
    • PCUSA General Assembly
    • RPCNA Synod
    • URCNA Synod
  • Subscribe
    to Weekly Email
  • Search
Home/Featured/Our Times Are in His Hands

Our Times Are in His Hands

God’s love is stronger that the deepest darkness; God’s love is victorious over hatred.

Written by Diana Severance | Saturday, May 9, 2020

Corrie’s number was called by the guards. Stepping forward, she half expected to be “taken to the showers,” but, she was given a hat, coat, shoes, and her release papers! Later she discovered that her release had been due to a “clerical error” and that the next week, all the women of her age (over 50) were sent to the gas chambers. Her freedom was clearly a miracle of God. While in prison, Betsie and Corrie had discussed that whenever they were released, they must help others and tell what they had learned in prison.  In the following decades, Corrie did just that.

 

 

on May 5, 1940, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, and for five days the might of the Wehrmacht unleashed its fury, forcing the Dutch to surrender. Drastic changes came to the Netherlands. Persecution came especially upon the Jews. Their houses and businesses were raided, and 100,000 Dutch Jews were eventually placed in concentration camps.

The ten Boom family in Harlem responded to the crisis with Christian compassion and courage. The home of Casper and Cornelia ten Boom had long been a haven of Christian mercy and love. As Casper and Cornelia raised their four children, daily Bible reading and prayer was as much a part of daily life as eating and sleeping. In addition to their own children, the ten Booms had cared for the children of missionaries serving in Indonesia, who were separated from their parents for years. Older relatives also lived with the family. The house the ten Booms lived in was a tall, narrow Dutch house built in the 1600s. The watch shop Casper and the family ran was on the ground floor, with the living quarters above. Caring for so many people required more space, so the family bought the older house next door (built in the 1400s) and combined the two into one large, commodious dwelling.

A Place of Refuge

The youngest of the ten Boom children, born in 1892 and named Cornelia after her mother, was called Corrie. Corrie followed her parents’ example of helping others and held Bible studies for local young people and even had special meetings for the mentally handicapped youth, bringing the love of Christ and the Bible to them as well. When a young man she had hoped to marry chose another for his wife, Corrie was deeply wounded, but she took her wounded heart to Jesus, basked in his love and surrendered her life to His purposes and plan. After Corrie’s mother died in 1921, Corrie began helping her father more in the watch shop. She went to Switzerland to take a course in watchmaking and became the first licensed woman watchmaker in Holland.

Under Nazi occupation, the ten Boom home became a place of refuge for many Jews as well as members of the Dutch Underground Resistance, even though the police station was nearby. Corrie’s bedroom in the house was at the top of a long flight of stairs and far away from the front door. The Dutch Resistance helped build a secret hiding place behind the wall of Corrie’s bedroom where up to six people could hide at a time. Buzzers were installed which could be used to alert the refugees of the need to go into hiding, and drills were held to practice the procedure. A secret code was developed. If someone called to say, “I have a watch needing repair,” the ten Booms knew there was someone arriving who needed a hiding place. Ration cards were issued for food, and the ten Boom household received three cards – for Casper, Corrie, and her sister Betsie. But with all the extra people to care for, more were needed. A father of one of the disabled children Corrie had worked with was a civil servant in charge of the ration cards. Corrie went to him and boldly asked for 100 ration cards – and received them!

Read More

Related Posts:

  • A House with Open Doors: Betsie and Corrie Ten Boom
  • What Corrie ten Boom Taught Me about Suffering
  • Thy Kingdom Come: Praying for Blindness
  • 'It Was a Miracle': Freed Pastor Andrew Brunson…
  • Andrew Brunson's Daughter Shares Emotional Testimony…

Subscribe, Follow, Listen

  • email-alt
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • apple-podcasts
  • anchor
Providence College
Northampton Press - Best of the English and American Puritans

Archives

Books

Geerhardus Vos: Reformed Biblical Theologian, Confessional Presbyterian - by Danny Olinger

Special

A Golden Chain
  • About
  • Advertise Here
  • Contact Us
  • Donations
  • Email Alerts
  • Leadership
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Principles and Practices
  • Privacy Policy

Important:

Free Subscription

Aquila Report Email Alerts

Special

5 Solas of the Reformation
  • About
  • Advertise Here
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Principles and Practices
  • RSS Feed
  • Subscribe to Weekly Email Alerts
Providence Christian College - visit

DISCLAIMER: The Aquila Report is a news and information resource. We welcome commentary from readers; for more information visit our Letters to the Editor link. All our content, including commentary and opinion, is intended to be information for our readers and does not necessarily indicate an endorsement by The Aquila Report or its governing board. In order to provide this website free of charge to our readers,  Aquila Report uses a combination of donations, advertisements and affiliate marketing links to  pay its operating costs.

Return to top of page

Website design by Five More Talents · Copyright © 2021 The Aquila Report · Log in