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L ike many moms, I dream big dreams for my children. Not that I care if they achieve prominence or make much money. Rather, I dream that they will know God intimately and love Him with every inch of their being. That they will learn to listen for His voice and be ready to follow His directions, no matter what the cost. That they will glorify God and bring light to a world that sorely needs it.
While I pray to be a good example, my life isn't as inspiring as I wish it were. I've often wished my sons could be surrounded by genuine heroes. But in today's world, heroes seem to be in shorter supply than they once were. James Dobson has said we are desperately in need of inspiring Christian models with which our young people can identify. Chuck Colson has said that we live in an age of celebrities rather than heroes; our society often idolizes people who are famous even if their character is sadly lacking.
The idea to combine family devotional readings and inspiring biographies grew out of a need in our own family. As our children reached the upper elementary grades and beyond, we struggled to find devotional materials that appealed to them. They complained about illustrations they felt had been fabricated to make a point. I realized that true stories about real Christians would have a greater impact.
My subjects are from different parts of the world, from the past, and from the present. They are men, women, and children with resilient spirits, mountain-moving faith, goose-bump courage, and selfless, sacrificial love. People with hearts on fire for the Lord.
I believe their stories will change lives, because writing them has changed mine. A. W. Tozer wrote: Next to the Holy Scriptures the greatest aid to the life of faith may be Christian biography. It is indeed notable that a large part of the Bible itself is given over to the life and labors of prophets, patriarchs, and kingswho they were, what they did and said, how they prayed and toiled and suffered and triumphed at last!
While doing the research for this book, I noted how often one believer was influenced by the life of another. Josh McDowell dedicated his life to serving God after reading about Jim Elliot's life. Dorie Van Stone decided to become a missionary after hearing Darlene Diebler speak about her experiences. William Carey and David Livingstone were deeply touched by David Brainerd's biography. Kenneth Taylor's life was changed by reading Bill Borden's story. George Muller was inspired to start his work with orphans after reading a book about August Franke. Amy Carmichael was often encouraged by George Muller's story. As a college sophomore, Cameron Townsend was impressed by Hudson Taylor's biography and embarked on his own mission career soon after. The list goes on. It's my prayer that the following stories will cause that list to continue to grow.
Because the Christians in Courageous Christians are from different time periods and parts of the world, historical and geographical lessons will be learned as well. So that the book may be used by families with children of different ages, I have occasionally provided brief definitions following words that younger children might not understand.
1
THEN PETER CAME TO JESUS AND ASKED, LORD, HOW MANY TIMES SHALL I FOR GIVE MY BROTHER WHEN HE SINS AGAINST ME? UP TO SEVEN TIMES? JESUS ANSWERED, I TELL YOU, NOT SEVEN TIMES, BUT SEVENTY-SEVEN TIMES. (MATTHEW 18:2122)
C orrie ten Boom was born in Holland in 1892, the youngest child in a loving Christian family whose hearts, hands, and home were always open to anyone in need. As she grew older, it was only natural that Corrie also reached out to those around her. In addition to working in her father's watch repair shop, she started Christian clubs for girls, worked with the mentally retarded, helped care for foster children, and taught Bible lessons in the schools.
After Germany invaded Holland in World War Two, helping the people who needed her aid became very dangerous. Germany's cruel dictator, Adolph Hitler, sent soldiers to Holland to round up all the Jewish people and take them to prison camps, where they were later killed by the millions. Anyone found helping the Jews could suffer the same fate.
But Corrie and her family could not turn their backs on people in need. They became part of the Dutch underground movement, which hid Jews and helped them escape to safer places.
The ten Booms built a secret room in their home with a hidden panel to open it. They put in an alarm system so that they could quickly buzz a warning throughout the house. They also had the Jews who stayed with them practice disappearing quickly into the secret room.
Corrie and her team of eighty workers helped hundreds of Jews escape before a fellow Dutchman turned them in to the Germans. On February 28,1944, German soldiers stormed into the ten Boom home. One of them asked Corrie where they were hiding the Jews. When she didn't answer, he slapped her again and again. She and her family were arrested and taken to different prison camps. Her father, who was quite old, died ten days later.
After three months, Corrie was moved to Ravensbruck, a well-known death camp for women. There she was reunited with her sister, Betsie. Ravensbruck was their worst nightmare come true: long hours of very hard work; crowded, rat-filled, unheated buildings; little food; and cruel guards. Before the war ended, 96,000 women died there.
A guard once hit Corrie in the neck with a whip when she was too sick to push a heavy cart. But the hardest thing for her was seeing Betsie mistreated. Betsie had never been healthy. In prison she became much worse. Still, she was forced to keep working and to stand at attention for hours at a time in bitterly cold weather.
Their strong faith in God helped them get through each terrible day. They lovingly reached out to the other women, encouraged them to trust God, and prayed together. Even in that awful place, they felt God's love. In fact, Betsie told Corrie that they would travel all over after they got out, telling people that no place on earth is so dark that God's love cannot shine into it. She also hoped to start homes in Holland and Germany where people broken by the war could heal.
Betsie never saw her dreams come true. She died in prison. But Corrie went on to carry out her sister's wishes. Corrie was set free because of a typing errorwhich she said was a miracleshortly before the other women her age were killed.