Corrie Ten Boom by Kelly Ashley

Part of our Sunday morning worship is sharing our joys with our church
family. Why do we do that? It is so that we can lift these joys up to
the Lord and join together in one voice thanking Him for whatever
has blessed us that particular week. I believe the Lord never tires
of hearing His children praise Him for blessings that bring us joy. It
also gives each of us a chance to take time and reflect on gifts from
God, no matter how big or small. We need to realize that each day that
we wake up is yet another chance for us to praise God, and to step a
bit closer to Him. There is so much to learn and so much to do in our
Almighty Father’s name.
Each step that we take in seeking God should be guided by God
Himself. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek Me and find Me when
you seek Me with all your heart.” That is how God wants us to draw
near to Him….with every bit of our heart.
There are many ways for us to seek God, and those ways are unique
to each person and his or her relationship with the Lord. Certainly
attending church is one way; other ways include Bible study, reading,
prayer, conversations, radio programs (like CSN—88.1 fm), TV, the
internet. Utilizing only one of these ways probably will not give a
growing Christian enough information, knowledge or confidence to be
able to share with others the wonderful messages in the Bible. Quoting
from the book I am going to tell you about in a moment, it says, “Every
experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the
perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.”
Part of my personal seeking and growing as a child of God has come
through reading Christian literature. There are an astonishing number
of books dealing with knowledge and interpretation of the Bible. I
feel that if I can gain understanding through reading about another
Christian’s trials, joys or insights, then that gives me more awareness
in ways that I can pass this on and share it with others.
One book in particular that has been wonderful to read is called
“Tramp for the Lord” by Corrie ten Boom. Kind of an odd title, but as
you read her book and see the ways she is serving the Lord, the title
makes perfect sense. She literally packs her bags and tramps around
the world spreading the Good News as God directs her to.
Before I get into her book, I want to give you a bit of background on
Cornelia ten Boom, so that you can understand where her faithfulness,
wisdom and strength come from. Corrie and her family grew up in
Holland—she never did marry. When she was about 50 years old, World
War II broke out. She and her family were very passionate about
assisting Jewish people in hiding from the Germans, stowing them
in small secret places in their home and helping them to escape to
safety. The Germans eventually found out what the ten Booms were
doing and arrested the entire family and sent them to concentration
camps. Corrie’s book, which many of you may be familiar with, is called
“The Hiding Place”. This book chronicles the atrocities she and her
sister had to endure in the horrible concentration camps. Throughout
their entire incarceration, both she and her sister constantly praised
the Lord, secretly shared Bible passages with fellow prisoners and
experienced many miracles that allowed them to continue ministering
to others. Trusting in the Lord and tolerating horrendous treatment
and conditions, she and her sister vowed to one day return to Germany
after the war was over to spread God’s Word and His abundant love to
the very people who had treated them and many others so inhumanely
in those awful prisons. Talk about a God-given vision---a vision achieved
through faith, forgiveness and courage!
Corrie endured several brutal months in the German camps before she
was miraculously released. Just a week after her release, all the women
of her age were sent to the gas chamber. When prisoners were no
longer able to work or were no longer useful, they were exterminated,
and that was to have been Corrie’s fate, if not for the merciful Hand
of God. God had work for this aging, faithful lady to do.
She was, of course, weak and malnourished after living through the
ravages of the camps, so it took some time to regain her strength. As
she had vowed in the camp, she did indeed travel to Germany to spread
the Good News, although she was without her sister, who had died in
the camp. She travelled most everywhere else in the world, as well, to
win souls for the Lord. This was her “Tramp for the Lord.”
This incredible woman relied on the Lord 100% to sustain her, to tell
her where to go, what to say and how to go about it all. She was a very
persistent and tireless missionary, yet she was very humble about
her gifts, giving all glory to God. She was once described as a “white-
haired woman, broad of frame and sensible of shoe, with a face that
radiated love, peace, joy.” Many people who spoke of their experiences
in the concentration camps had haunted looks in their eyes and shaky
hands when they told of their suffering, pain, and terrible memories.
But, Corrie ten Boom, instead of having a haunted, scared, pained
look…she emanated love, peace and joy. How is it possible that she
could be so content? Only through her faith in God’s love!
I’m going to share one chapter from her book with you this morning.
It’s a chapter about listening to God. The Bible verse that introduces
this chapter comes from Romans 12:1,2: “Therefore, I urge you,
brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of
worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will
be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing
and perfect will.” We must give ourselves to be used for God’s will and
Corrie gives usan example of this in chapter 23, which is entitled “I’ll
Go Where You Want Me to Go, Dear Lord….but Not Up Ten Flights of
[Tramp for the Lord, by Corrie Ten Boom, 1974, Chapter 23]:
I had spoken that Sunday morning in a church in Copenhagen, Denmark,
urging the people to present their bodies as living sacrifices to the
Lord. I had said even though I was an old woman that I wanted to give
myself completely to Jesus and do whatever He wanted me to do, go
wherever He wanted me to go—even if it meant dying.
After the church time, two young nurses approached me. They invited
me up to their apartment to have a cup of coffee. I was very tired.
At almost eighty years of age I found that standing on my feet for
long periods of time was beginning to be exhausting. The cup of coffee
sounded good so I accepted their invitation.
But I was not prepared for the walk up to their apartment. Many of
the houses in Copenhagen are old, high houses with no elevators. The
nurses lived on the tenth floor of such a house and we had to walk up
“O Lord,” I complained as I looked up at the high building, “I do not
think I can make it.” But the nurses wanted me to come up so badly
that I consented to try.
By the time we reached the fifth floor my heart was pounding wildly
and my legs were so tired I thought they could not take another step.
In the corridor of the fifth floor I saw a chair and pleaded with the
Lord, “Lord, let me stay here a time while the nurses go on up the
stairs. My heart is so unhappy.”
The nurses waited patiently as I collapsed into the chair, resting.
“Why, O Lord, must I have this stair-climbing after this busy day of
Then I heard God’s voice, even louder than my pounding heart. “Because
a great blessing is waiting you, a work which will give joy to the angels.”
I looked up at the steps, towering above me and almost disappearing
into the clouds. Perhaps I am leaving this earth to go to heaven, I
thought. Surely that will give joy to the angels. I tried to count the
steps. It seemed there were at least one hundred more to climb.
However, if God said that the work would give joy to the angels, then I
had to go. I rose from my chair and once again started trudging up the
long flights of stairs, one nurse in front of me, the other behind me.
We finally reached the apartment on the tenth floor and on entering I
found a room with a simple lunch already prepared on the table. Serving
the lunch were the mother and father of one of the girls.
I knew there was only a short time and also knew that a blessing of
some kind was waiting us. So, without many introductions, I started
asking immediate questions.
“Tell me,” I asked the nurse’s mother, “is it long ago that you found
Jesus as your Saviour?”
“I have never met Him,“ she said, surprised at my question.
“Are you willing to come to Him? He loves you. I have traveled in
more than sixty countries and have never found anyone who said they
were sorry they had given their hearts to Jesus. You will not be sorry
Then I opened my Bible and pointed out the verses about salvation.
She listened intently. Then I asked them, “Shall we now talk with the
I prayed, then the two nurses prayed and finally the mother folded
her hands and said, “Lord Jesus, I know already much about You. I have
read much in the Bible, but now I pray You to come into my heart. I
need cleansing and salvation. I know that You died at the cross for the
sins of the whole world and also for my sins. Please, Lord, come into my
heart and make me a child of God. Amen.”
I looked up and saw tears of joy on the face of the young nurse. She
and her friend had prayed so much for her parents and now the answer
was given. I turned and looked at the father, who had sat quietly
through all this.
“What about you?” I asked him.
“I have never made such a decision for Jesus Christ either,” he said
seriously. “But I have listened to all you have told my wife and now I
know the way. I, too, would like to pray that Jesus will save me.”
He bowed his head and from his lips poured a joyful but very sincere
prayer as he gave his life to Jesus Christ. Suddenly the room was filled
with great rejoicing and I realized the angels had come down and were
standing around, singing praises unto God.
“Thank You, Lord,” I prayed as I walked back down the long steps, “for
making me walk up all these steps. And next time, Lord, help Corrie ten
Boom listen to her own sermon about being willing to go anywhere you
tell me to go—even up ten flights of stairs.”
Corrie’s human weariness and logic almost prevented her from being
used by the Lord to bring souls to salvation. But because she listened
and persisted, two more people were now children of God! Corrie gives
full credit and glory to God for blessing her with the right words and
the energy it takes to tramp up ten flights of stairs, and around the
world, because she knows and accepts that that is God’s plan for her.
As Romans 12:1,2 directed, she offered her body as a living sacrifice to
please God.
Each of us is instructed to do the same….give ourselves to be used for
God’s perfect will. We need to open our hearts to His call and be willing
to climb to the top of that building to achieve a work which will give joy
to the angels! Listen for His call.
Dear Father, Thank You for this time we have spent together in worship of Your
Precious Name. May each of us open our hearts and our minds to your perfect will
for our lives, that you may use us to bring others to your loving embrace. I pray
that each of us in this congregation will somehow touch the life of another for
Your glory, oh Lord. In Jesus’ Name, Amen