For those of you who don’t know who the Ten Boom family is, I’ll give you a quick overview:
The Ten Boom family lived in Holland in the town of Harlem, in a narrow house over a watch shop that had been in their family for several generations. During WW2, Corrie ten Boom, who was in her 50’s at the time and a watchmaker herself, became very involved in the underground work. At this time she lived in the Beje (their nickname for the house, pronounced bay-yea) with her father, and older sister, Betsie (I actually have a sister who was named after Betsie ten Boom). Their house was a kinda in-between house where Jews would stop on their way to some safer place. Eventually though, they had a group of Jews that stayed with them because they didn’t have anywhere else to go.
One day the Ten Booms were betrayed by a fellow Dutchman and the Beje was raided. the family was taken to prison and eventually to concentration camps. Thankfully, they had built a hiding place and the Jews and some underground workers were able to hide there (more about this tomorrow).
After the war, Corrie traveled all over the world, sharing about God’s love and forgiveness. She even went as far as to turn the Beje into a home where Dutchmen who had betrayed their fellow countrymen and turned them in to the Nazis could come and stay. She also found out who it was who had betrayed them and wrote to him when he was sitting in prison, about to be killed for his war crimes. She told him what he had done to her family and how she forgave him and then she told him about Jesus’s love.
We left our cars quite a ways from the Beje, and were walking all over Harlem, trying to find the house. I hadn’t realized we were so close to the Beje, until someone said “There it is!” And I realized I was standing just across the street from this history and loved filled building. I had been recalling and telling stories to my younger brother about the Ten Boom family during our car ride to Harlem, and it felt so amazing to be standing on the very street corner where these accounts had taken place. The watch shop is a jewelry shop now and they had watches displayed in the windows, which made it feel almost as if time hadn’t really passed. It was a marvlous experience.
When we first went in, we were in the dinning room, and my first impression was “Wow, this is so small!” How they able to fit so many people in there, I have no clue. I remember how Corrie often mentioned how crowded the table would be when everyone was gathered around, but I hadn’t realized just how crowded it really was. There were so many of us in the room I didn’t get many good pictures, and then after we left the room, they said we weren’t supposed to take pictures, so sadly I don’t have many.
I was standing there, looking at the table, then I looked out the window and I saw how we were about nine feet up from the street, and that’s when I was suddenly like “OH MY GOODNESS!” Because I could very clearly see in my mind the scene where they were sitting around their table with all their Jews and suddenly they saw someone’s head right outside their window and they kinda freaked out since generally people couldn’t see in the window and hence it being safe for them to have the Jews eat with them. Right away they had begun singing happy birthday and acting like they were having a party so the person wouldn’t think anything unusual about so many people being there, then they realized that why he was so tall is because he was on a ladder, cleaning the windows. It turns out he had gotten the address confused and was cleaning the wrong windows, but they were still scared for a while that he was really spying on them.
I can’t describe how it felt to remember that part of the book while standing in the very room it took place in. I wished I could have just spent all day, or all week, walking around the house, reading the books and imaging them taking place there.
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Check back tomorrow for the next part of my trip to the Beje! And don’t forget to get more entries for our European postcard-tour giveaway! As always, when you share about the giveaways it really helps me! Thanks so much for passing the word along, y’all are great!
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Hmm…it's been awhile since I've read the book, but a couple things I was really inspired by was how courageous they were. It didn't matter to them how dangerous it was, or the consequences they received if found out. Also, I really admired Betsie Ten Boom's cheerfulness, I never remember reading of her complaining. She was always trying to be thankful and be a blessing and encouragement to others.
One more thing I was really inspired by was how she exercised forgiveness after she got out of the concentration camp. I read that it wasn't easy for her; that she struggled to forgive those who had hurt her and her family, but she asked God to help her forgive, and she did. I really admired that.
A year or so ago, I read a book called “Evidence Not Seen” by Darlene Deibler Rose. She and her husband were missionaries, (maybe somewhere near, or in the Philippines, I'd have to check to be sure because I can't remember,) but when World War 2 started, she and her husband were separated and put in Japanese concentration camps. I really enjoyed her story, and think you would, too.
His Princess,
Bekah
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I got to read the Hiding Place. It has been awhile but it was so good. I really like the story about Corrie thriving the prison guard later on line.
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I'm so excited for this giveaway!! You're so generous to do this!
I read “The Hiding Place” for 10th grade and loved it! I definitely want to read more of her books sometime!
His Princess,
Bekah
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Love the pictures!! This post is so cool. 😀 I read part of the Hiding Place. And I learned a lot about an unwavering faith in God, that no matter what happens, it is God's will – so we can face our hardships with courage. 🙂
Rebecca Rash
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Aw, this is so great, Aidyl! Now I want to go see it… 🙂
I read the Hiding Place with my mom when I was young, but don't remember much from it. I know the story, though.
And there are so many lessons to learn from the Ten Boom family. Mainly, I think, that no matter how hard it is, Christ will always give us the strength to do His will.
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I've only read 1 book by Corrie ten Boom before. It was “The Hiding Place” and it instantly became one of my absolute favorite books! I recently picked up a couple more of her books from the thrift store and look forward to reading them.
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The main lesson I've taken from the ten Boom family is that you must always trust in God, no matter how dire the consequences or hard the situation. They always upheld their faith in Him.
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Amazing!! I'm sad to say I've never ready and of her writings. But I certainly felt you passion and love for her work in your blog post. It sounds like it was an amazing experience to be there.
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You are so blessed to have seen the Beje!!! The Hiding Place is one of my favorite books of all time (and that is sayin' somethin'!) and I have always wanted to read In My Father's House. 🙂
Cute blog! 🙂
~Carissa~
delightinjoy.wordpress.com
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Oh and one lesson I learned from the ten Booms (how can I narrow it down…) was to TRUST GOD IN EVERYTHING. ❤
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I absolutely love Corrie Ten Boom's book The Hiding Place. I have never read In My Father's House
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I learned lessons on forgiveness from Betsy and Corrie, I can't imagine how hard it would have been to forgive those guards and the people who mistreated them.
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I'm excited about the giveaway, too. 🙂 And yes, you should read more of her books!
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Yes! All those things that you've been inspired by them with, ME TOO! I love your list. 🙂
And “Evidence Not Seen” So cool! They were missionaries in the same country where I was in Asia and I read part of the book while I was there in April. Sadly I left before I could finish it, but I really want to finish it some time. My cousin has it so maybe she'll let me borrow it…
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Yes! I love that part of the story, too. Quite convicting if you're trying to justify holding a grudge…
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I'm glad you like the pictures! I wish I could have taken more, but then who knows how long this post would have ended up being? :-0
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Thanks, Stephanie! And yes, learning to lean on Christ strength is something that's really clear in Corrie's books. Such a legacy!
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Oh nice! Thrift store finds are so rewarding! I hope you review them on your blog after you read them!
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Yep! Takes away any thought of excuses we might have about something being 'too hard'. I love how she teaches that!
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That is sad! Happily, you *can* change that. 🙂 Really, her books are life-changing!
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Aww, thanks, Carissa! And I can totally imagine The Hiding Place being on the list of the most dedicated book-lovers favorite books because it's THAT amazing. 🙂
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All of her books are amazing. 🙂
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I know! It puts the thought of forgiveness in a whole new light!
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That lesson seems to be the most common one in these comments so far. 🙂 Just visited your blog. Very nice!
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Yes, I can. It seems like “The Hiding Place” is the one to start with based on what you've posted.
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That's so cool that you were in the same country as them! I certainly hope you get to finish the book sometime soon!
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i really like how the ten booms did what they thought was right, even though it was against the law..and corrie's forgiveness is amazing!
amanda
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