Betsie ten Boom

Betsie ten Boom (wikipedia.org)

Betsie ten Boom is my hero because she had the gift of being thankful for the love of God and trusting Him in all circumstances. Everything was worth thanking God for, including her imprisonment in Ravensbruck. She was grateful for Ravensbruck because it gave her and Corrie an opportunity to share God’s love. Corrie and Betsie were assigned to Barracks 28; and although these barracks were in appalling condition, Betsie had found something to be grateful for—the fleas! The barracks were so infested with fleas that the guards would not enter. Because of this, Betsie and Corrie had often led prayer meetings and read their Bibles to the other women. Barracks 28 had become known as the “crazy barracks where the women have hope.”

Imagine cramped barracks, meager rations of food, the pungent odor of sickness and waste, dirty beds, and guards barking orders at you day in and day out. This was what Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie had endured while being held captive in Ravensbruck, a Nazi concentration camp. The camp had struck fear in the heart of every woman held prisoner there. Many had claimed it to be the worst concentration camp of them all. But amidst all this suffering, Betsie had frequently reminded her sister Corrie that, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love cannot reach it.” Betsie believed whole-heartedly that God’s love was in Ravensbruck, and she was determined to share it with everyone around her. God’s love was portrayed so vividly through Betsie. She has inspired me to be more Christlike as well.

The thing I admire most about Betsie ten Boom is her ability to trust in God’s love no matter their circumstances. Corrie and Betsie were constantly surrounded by hatred in Ravensbruck, yet they were able to bring the love of Jesus to many of the women in their barracks. Before Betsie died, she told Corrie, “We must tell them, Corrie! We must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here.” Although I have not experienced the heartache the ten Boom sisters experienced, I pray that God will use me to exemplify His love to the people around me who may feel they are alone in their darkest pit. Betsie’s trust and love for her God has impacted me greatly, and that is why she is my hero.