Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes! by Robin Jones Gunn

Author:Robin Jones Gunn [Gunn, Robin Jones]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-1-60142-239-2
Publisher: The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group
Published: 2009-11-15T05:00:00+00:00

Our tour guide, an older man with laugh lines at the corners of his eyes, led us into the main room above the watch shop. Accompanying Noelle and me were two women from Japan and a couple from South Africa. When all of us said that we spoke English, he seemed pleased to be able to deliver his presentation in only one language.

We formed a small circle and were told how this living room area was the largest place in the house and the spot where the large Ten Boom family would gather. During the occupation this was referred to as the Liberation Room since they were able to assemble here with those they were hiding from the Nazis.

The simple white walls were accented by dark wooden beams in the low ceiling and the dark wood furniture placed around the room in an open fashion. Several chairs, a piano, a round table, and a fireplace with a clock and two candles on the plain mantel were among the few remaining “eyewitnesses” of the many conversations that had taken place in this unassuming room.

We stood while our guide told us of the Ten Booms’ “open house” ministry. They spent their lives welcoming visitors to their table as well as taking in foster children and hosting children of missionaries.

Noelle caught my eye and gave me a nod when he mentioned the foster children.

“This open-home attitude continued even after the Nazi occupation. Corrie’s father, Casper, emphasized to his four children, wife, and the three aunts who lived with them the importance of honoring God’s chosen people,” the tour guide said.

“Corrie and her sister Betsie did not marry,” the guide went on to explain. “The two women lived here and were in their fifties on that fateful day: February 28,1944. That was the day the family was betrayed to the Gestapo for assisting Jews as well as those in the underground resistance. The home was raided and the family taken to prison.”

Our guide nodded toward a photograph of Casper, the patriarch of the family. “He was eighty-four years old when he was taken to Scheveningen Prison. When asked if he knew he could die for helping Jews, Casper replied, ‘It would be an honor to give my life for God’s ancient people.’ He did in fact die only ten days after the arrest. Please, follow me now to the dining room.”

We shuffled solemnly to a more compact room where it was explained that around this small dining table the nine members of the Ten Boom family gathered for daily Bible reading and prayer.

“This was a place of love and laughter, of prayer and ultimately of sacrifice. You will notice the open Bible on the table. This is Casper’s Bible. It is open to his favorite passage, Psalm 91. Does anyone here read Dutch?”

Noelle nodded.

“Would you care to read the first few verses of the psalm?” he asked.

Noelle stepped close to the table, and with her hands demurely folded in front of her, she read in Dutch.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.