Finding Answers in the Middle of Suffering, The Story of Corrie ten Boom.
Grades 4-5
Angela Meyers
I will always remember the new barracks that my sister and I would spend the rest of our time together in. The call to move came the second week in October. We marched, ten abreast, through the concentration camp into a narrow street of barracks. Several times we halted while our numbers were read out--names were never used at Ravensbruck. Finally Betsie's and mine were called: "Prisoner 66729, Prisoner 66730." We stepped out of line with a dozen or so others and stared at our new home; Barracks 28. Half of the barracks' windows were broken and replaced with rags.
We followed our guide single file--the aisle was not wide enough for two--fighting back the feelings of claustrophobia from the platforms rising all around us. At last she pointed to a second tier in the center of a large block. To reach it we had to stand on the bottom level, haul ourselves up, and then crawl across three other straw-covered platforms to reach the one that we would share with three other women. The deck above us was too close to let us sit up, so we lay back, struggling against the nausea that swept over us from the reeking straw.
Suddenly I sat up, striking my head on the cross-slats above. Something had pinched me.
"Fleas!" I cried. "Betsie, the place is swarming with them!"
We scrambled across the intervening platforms, heads low to avoid another bump, dropped down to the aisle, and edged our way to a patch of light.
"Here! And here another one!" I wailed. "Betsie, how can we live in such a place!"
"Show us. Show us how." It was said so matter of factly it took me a second to realize she was praying. More and more the distinction between prayer and the rest of life seemed to be vanishing for Betsie.
"Corrie!" she said excitedly. "God has given us the answer before we asked, as He always does! In the Bible this morning, where was it? Read that part again!"
I read the passage that Betsie and I shared that morning in First Thessalonians. "Here it is: ?Comfort the frightened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all..." It seemed written expressly to Ravensbruck.
"Go on," said Betsie. "That wasn't all."
"Oh yes: ?... to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks to all circumstances; for this is the will of GOD in Christ Jesus---"
"That's it, Corrie! That's His answer. ?Give thanks in all circumstances!' That's what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!"
I stared at her, then around me at the dark, foul-aired room.
"Such as?" I said.
"Such as being assigned here together."
I bit my lip. "Oh yes, Lord Jesus!"
"Such as what you're holding in your hands."
I looked down at the Bible. "Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all the women here in this room who will meet You in these pages."
"Yes," said Betsie. "Thank You for the very crowding here. Since we're packed so close, that many more will hear!" She looked at me expectantly. "Corrie!" she prodded.
"Oh, all right. Thank You for the jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed, suffocating crowds."
"Thank You," Betsie went on serenely, " for the fleas and for---"
The fleas! This was too much. "Betsie, there's no way even God can make me grateful for a flea."
"?Give thanks in all circumstances,'" she quoted. "It doesn't say, ?in pleasant circumstances.' Fleas are part of this place where God has put us."
And so we stood between piers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong.
How little faith I had in prayer. Through those prayers God proved that hecan make something good come out of even fleas. For many weeks after we arrived in Barracks 28, Betsie and I held a Bible study with the women around us. The group started small with only a handful listening in to us. By the time of Betsie's death in December 14, 1944, the Bible study was held twice a day and repeated in several different languages. One day I returned to the barracks from my assigned job to find Betsie very excited about something. She had discovered why the guards never checked up on us and unknowingly allowed us to have our Bible studies. It was said that the guards would not set foot inside the barracks because of the fleas. So, God did make something good come from having the fleas! We were allowed to have our Bible studies in peace without the worry of being caught.
Questions for Comprehension:
- What was Corrie's first impressions of her new home, Barracks 28?
- What were some of the characteristics of the sleeping quarters?
- What pinched Corrie?
- How did Betsie react to the new place that she and Corrie would live in?
- What was the passage that Betsie and Corrie read to help the remember how God answered their prayers?
- What did Corrie learn from the fleas?
- What lesson can we find through Corrie's experience with the fleas?
Story Outline:
I. First Impressions of Barracks 28
A. Windows
- Broken
- Patched with rags
B. Sleeping quarters
- Platforms
- Shared with four others
- Piers stacked three high
- Straw covered
C. Fleas
- Prayer
- Discussion of 1st Thessalonians
II. God-given Impression of Barracks 28
A. Sleeping quarters
- More will learn about God.
- Warmth
B. Fleas
- Prayer
- Understanding
- Thankfulness
Answers to Comprehension Questions:
- Barracks 28 displayed broken windows. Inside, Corrie fought back claustrophobia from the narrow aisles, nausea from the reeking straw, fright from the fleas.
- The Beds were platforms that held five people, the aisles were narrow and the tier went three high. The beds were covered in straw and the place was swarming with fleas.
- Corrie was pinched by a flea.
- Betsie's reaction is not specified but can be inferred by her prayers. Betsie accepted the surroundings and looked to God for strength to live in them.
- The passage is in First Thessalonians and talks about being an encourager and giving thanks in all circumstances.
- Corrie learned that God can bring something good out of everything, including fleas.
- No matter what the circumstance, we are instructed to give thanks for all. For God has a purpose and He will help you through.
Props:
A plain dress with an "X" of another color on the front.
Pictures or models of fleas.
A worn New Testament.
String to tie the New Testament around the neck.
Sources:
ten Boom, Corrie with Sherrill, John and Elizabeth. The Hiding Place New Jersey, Fleming H. Revell Company 1971