Corrie Ten Boom’s Christmas Memories Намуна

Christmas at Ravensbrück 

“Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire”.- Isaiah 9:5  

It’s Christmas 1944. Corrie is in the hospital barrack. Betsie died 11 days ago. A day after Betsie died, Corrie stands in line for roll call and there is great grief in her heart and darkness is all around her. Then she hears her name and is told that she is released! Now the only thing she needs to actually be allowed to leave Ravensbrück, is a declaration of health from the camp doctor. The doctor does not need much time for his diagnosis: “Edema”. So Corrie goes to the hospital barrack and tries to keep her legs up as much as possible to get rid of the edema. 

The moaning, groaning and whining from the sick and dying women is heartbreaking. The nurses cynically imitate the women. Some women fall out of the small beds which they have to share with other sick and dying women,  and then die on the floor. Women cry for the bedpan, but nobody helps them. Then Corrie stumbles out of her bed and helps the women. She tries to tell them about Christ and His coming to a fallen world and that He is Victor, but nobody is interested and they sneer at her .

Then Corrie hears a small child crying: “Mommy, come to Oelie, Oelie feels alone!” Corrie goes to the girl. The girl is emaciated and has been operated on and the incision on her back is covered with toilet paper. Corrie sees that she is dying and sits next to the girl and explains: “Oelie, mommy cannot come, but do you know Who is willing to come: the Lord Jesus. He came into this world as a little baby and later He saved us from all the wrongdoings and sins. Oelie may go to heaven, and Jesus is there right now, He’s getting a little house ready for Oelie”. Corrie asks the girl if she understands what Corrie tells her and the girl tells Corrie about the little house Jesus is preparing for her and that there will be no warrior’s boots and no soldiers who want to hurt others. “There I will see Jesus." Then they both fold their hands and thank the Lord Jesus. 

Now Corrie knows and understands why she had to wait and spend this Christmas in Ravensbruck. Before the end of the year she gets her declaration of health and goes back home to the Netherlands

To reflect

There can be as many thumping warrior’s boots and garments rolled in blood, the day is coming that they will all be burnt: For unto us a Child is born and the government will be upon His shoulders! 

Prayer 

Lord help us to celebrate Your everlasting government which is stronger than every threat in the here and now.

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Corrie ten Boom’s Christmas Memories 

During the Second World War Corrie ten Boom (who lived from 1892-1983) and her family worked in the resistance in the Netherlands. They helped about 800 people. Many of them were Jewish. Corrie was betrayed and spent 10 months in imprisonment in Scheveningen and in the concentration camps Vught and Ravensbruck. After the war she travelled all over the world to tell others about Gods love, forgiveness and grace. Corrie came from a Bible-believing family which reached back many generations. The Bible had a central place in their lives. The Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Living Word of God, spoke to them through the written Word of God. They read the Bible on a daily basis and knew many Bible verses by heart.

Dientje Wiersma is a tour guide at the Corrie ten Boom house in Haarlem in the Netherlands. She wrote this Readers Plan. She used Bible verses that were very important to the family and wrote about both the importance and the applications of these verses in the lives of the family Ten Boom.  

Do you want to know more about Corrie ten Boom? Go to www.corrietenboom.com