The Ten Boom Room

Claire Black: This is True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. Together, we’ll explore God’s truth for us one drive at a time!

This is the final episode of the “Incredible Influencers” series for the True Girl podcast. 

I know, I’m sad about that, too. Hasn’t it been amazing to hear about Amy Carmichael, Fanny Crosby, Betsey Stockton, Maria Fearing, and Helen Roseveare? I’m definitely adding all of these women to my list of people I look up to, aren’t you?

Today, we’re going to add one more amazing woman to that list. Maybe you’ve heard her name before, because it’s kind of hard to forget. Today’s incredible influencer is Corrie ten Boom. Corrie was full of courage, and do you know where she learned that? Her own family taught her, because they all worked together to help people, even though it was really risky.

Let’s give one more shout-out to our friends at The Good Book Company. All of the stories in this True Girl podcast season were taken from their series Do Great Things for God. Go to TheGoodBook.com for more information.

Alright, True Girl, it’s time for the final episode of “Incredible Influencers,” here on the True Girl podcast. This one is called “The Ten Boom Room”! Listen to Dannah and Staci and see if you can figure out why we titled it that way.

Dannah Gresh: I gotta tell ya, Staci, I didn’t know clock shops even existed anymore! How did you find this one?

Staci Rudolph: Ha ha, yeah. Turns out people still have some cool old clocks and need someone to repair them. So, I found this one online. It’s extra cool too because it has a tiny little tea shop in that other room. And you know, I’m always up for tea!

Dannah: Of course, you are. It’s such a lovely place. I love all the different sounds they make—especially the cuckoo clocks.

Staci: Me, too! I love how unique they all are. 

Dannah: Wanna go have some tea?

Staci: Yep! Why don’t you grab that table, and I’ll get our tea?

Dannah: Great!

Staci: Here you go.

Dannah: Thanks. Mmm . . . peppermint. Okay, spill the beans. Why are we in a clock shop today?

Staci: Well, as you know, today I’m reading the final book you have in the Do Great Things for God series by The Good Book Company, and the story is about Corrie ten Boom. 

Dannah: Such a great name.

Staci: For sure. Well, Corrie’s dad was a clockmaker. Corrie lived from 1892 to 1983. The title of this book is Corrie ten Boom: The Courageous Woman and the Secret Room by Laura Caputo-Wickham, and it was illustrated by Isabel Muñoz. 

Dannah: Okay, let’s hear it.

Staci: Here we go with our final story in this series.

Corrie ten Boom lived in a higgledy-piggledy house, surrounded by family, friends and LOTS of clocks.

There were tall clocks,
tiny clocks,
fancy clocks,
and funny clocks.

And Father, the finest clockmaker in the Dutch city of Haarlem, knew how to fix them all!

Corrie’s family met together every day to read the Bible.

“You are my hiding place and my shield,” read Father one day. “I hope in your word” (Psalm 119:114).

Corrie sat there, wondering, “Why would anybody need a hiding place?”

The answer came many years later.

Dannah: Ooo, God was planning to use that Scripture to give Corrie strength later on in her life, huh?

Staci: You got it! I love how God does that. He gives us things now that we’re gonna need later on. He’s always taking care of us.

Corrie was sleeping in her room when a loud BANG! woke her up. As she looked outside, she saw brilliant flashes followed by booming explosions.

“War,” she whispered.

It was indeed war. A big one, called World War Two. Countries were fighting, and people were bullied and killed for how they looked or talked or where they came from.

Some of these people were Jews. They were chased by the soldiers and put into horrible prison camps where many died.

As Corrie watched this happening, she prayed a very brave prayer. “Lord Jesus, I give myself for the Jewish people. In any way. Any place. Any time.”

And just as with every prayer prayed by a follower of Jesus, this too was heard.

Dannah: There it is again, Staci, another woman committing her life to serve God! So incredible!

Staci: It sure is.

Soon, Corrie found herself part of a top-secret group that helped to hide as many Jews as possible.

She had to cycle to secret meetings in the middle of the night, and hide important documents in her father’s clock shop. She even had a secret room built inside her bedroom!

Dannah: So that’s the “ten boom room”!

Staci: Uh huh.

Hundreds of Jews came and went from her house, as Corrie helped them to find a safer home.

Every so often, they had practice drills. They would pretend that the soldiers had arrived, and everybody had to hide in less than one minute! Then, one night, the soldiers came, and this time it was not a drill.

Loud, angry men searched every corner of the house, slamming doors, kicking chairs, and tipping things over. But they didn’t find the secret room. Corrie and her family, though, were taken to prison.

Dannah: That sounds so scary. Corrie went to prison just like Helen Roseveare—the lady we read about last week!

Staci: Right. Wait until you hear how God helped her get through it, Dannah. Let’s keep reading. 

Life in the prison camp was terrible. Corrie had to work in the freezing cold. She had to sleep in beds full of lice, and all she had to eat was cold, gloopy food. 

It could have been easy for Corrie to feel completely and utterly hopeless. But she didn’t.

God always made sure that Corrie had a Bible, which she hid under her clothes. Whenever she read it, she found hope and courage.

She learned to forgive even when it was hard, and to find joy in the small things—even the lice!

Dannah: Wait a minute, hold it, Staci. The lice? She found joy in the lice?

Staci: Yeah, because of the lice, the guards didn’t want to come near her quarters, and she was able to read her Bible freely. 

Dannah: Oh, okay. Now I understand.

Staci: Soon, other prisoners joined Corrie and her sister, Betsie, in reading the Bible and praying. Many of them trusted in Jesus as their King.

Dannah: Wow. Only God could have helped Corrie forgive people who did such terrible things to her and her family. 

Staci: I want to be able to forgive like that! 

Dannah: Me, too, Staci. I see now how that Scripture she heard when she was younger about God being a hiding place was meaningful to her in that prison camp. 

Staci: Yep!

Corrie’s trust in God gave her the strength to go on until the day she was finally free to go home.

From then on, Corrie talked about her life to big crowds, saying, “There’s no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”

Corrie knew that very well. The End

Dannah: Staci, Corrie ten Boom’s life gives me courage to live for Jesus, no matter what!

Staci: And all those other ladies we read about: Maria Fearing, Helen Roseveare, Betsey Stockton . . .

Dannah: Fanny Crosby, and my favorite, Amy Carmichael are such amazing women to admire.

Staci: You know, Dannah. All of these books have really made me start to think about who I’m listening to—in other books, music, movies, TV shows, videos, online. There are so many voices everywhere! I really want to be more careful about which ones I turn up and which ones I tune out.

Dannah: Exactly. We really do need to ask God for wisdom when it comes to choosing heroes. And you know what, Staci?

Staci: What?

Dannah: I’m really grateful to have a friend like you to help me make good choices. That’s what Christian friends need to do for each other! 

Staci: I’m grateful for you, too, Dannah! You know, I really think I want to maybe buy a clock while we’re here.

Dannah: Me, too! I like that one with all the brass on it. It plays beautiful music. Which one do you like?

Staci: I like that one with the little dude that comes out of that hole and dances every hour. He’s pretty good. 

Dannah: Ha ha, well, let’s check ’em out!

Staci: Cool! 

Claire: Corrie ten Boom had such a brave family! They were determined to serve God, no matter where they were. 

Have you noticed throughout this season of the True Girl podcast that hearing stories of faith and courage make you want to live that way, too? God stories are so powerful! That’s why it’s incredibly important to make sure we choose our heroes wisely. 

Thank you for listening to the “Incredible Influencers” season of the True Girl podcast. Don’t forget to share this podcast with your friends! You can even get your mom’s help to leave a review. That helps the message get out to even more girls like you—all over the world!

And keep reading the stories of more incredible influencers—maybe with mom+daughter read aloud time. We even have a way for you to do that at Revive Our Hearts. We have two booklets filled to the brim with mini-biographies of women who were Incredible Influencers. Visit ReviveOurHearts.com and just search for the (Un)remarkable booklets. You’ll find two volumes full of the stories of Women who Impacted Their World for Christ. Again,and you can get our (Un)remarkable booklets at ReviveOurHearts.com.

And thanks once again to The Good Book Company who let us read aloud their books for girls. TheDo Great Things for Godseries has me wanting to do just that!

Don’t forget to check out the True Girl subscription program, too. It’s such a great way to get into God’s Word daily and learn more and more about Him. Go to MyTrueGirl.com with your mom and see what it’s all about!

That’s a wrap, True Girl! Keep reading God’s Word, because when you know the truth, the truth will set you free! 

The True Girl podcast is produced by Revive Our Hearts, alling women of all ages to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ!
 

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.