32465 dwell curriculum prototype | dive

8/8/2019 32465 Dwell Curriculum Prototype | Dive

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Dive. . .FALL / Year 1 Unit 1

There is no pit so deep that Gods

love is not deeper still. Betsie ten BoomThe ten Boom House

From 1942 to 1944 the ten Boom

house became a hiding place

for Dutch Jews and others who

opposed the Nazi regime. Shortly

after the Nazis invaded the Neth-

erlands in 1940, they set up a

pro-Nazi government and began

arresting Jews and sending them

to concentration camps.

Moved by their faith in Christ,

watchmaker Casper ten Boom

and his family became active

in the Dutch underground

resistance, which rescued people

from the Nazis. For two years,

Casper and his grown daughters

Corrie and Betsie hid and cared

for people before sending them

on to greater safety.

In 1944 the Gestapo (Nazi secret

police) raided their home and

arrested Casper, his daugh-

ters Corrie and Betsie, andseveral other family members

and friends. Although the

Gestapo found evidence of the

ten Booms involvement in the

underground, they didnt nd

the six people who were hiding in

the house that day! A small space

behind a false wall in an upstairs

bedroom protected four Jews

and two members of the Dutch

underground from the Nazis.


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Locked up for Showing Love After their arrest, the ten Booms were taken to a prison, where Caspedied after only ten days. After a few months, Corrie and Betsie were transferred to a concentration camp in the Netherlands, and then to one calledRavensbruck, in Germany. Corrie describes what the camp was like inthese excerpts from her book The Hiding Place.

By 4:30 a.m. we had to be standing outside in the black predawn chillstanding at parade attention in blocks of one hundred women, ten wideten deep. . . Barrack 8 was in the quarantine compound. Next to usperhaps as deliberate warning to newcomerswere located the punishment barracks. From there, all day long and often into the night, came thesounds of hell itself. They were not the sound of anger, or of any humanemotion, but of a cruelty altogether detached: blows landing in regularhythm, screams keeping pace. We would stand in our ten-deep rank

with our hands trembling at our sides, longing to jam them against ou

ears, to make the sounds stop. . .

From morning until lights-out, whenever we were not in ranks for rolcall, our Bible was the center of an ever-widening circle of help and hopeLike waifs clustered around a blazing re, we gathered about it, holdingout our hearts to its warmth and light. The blacker the night around ugrew, the brighter and truer and more beautiful burned the word of God.

Living in Hell

2

Dwell, Dive, Fall, Year 1, Unit 1,

www.dwellcurriculum.org 2010

aith Alive Christian Resources, 2850

alamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI

9560. All rights reserved. Printed inhe United States of America.

/w photos United States Holocaust

Memorial Museum


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We stepped out of line . . . andstared at the long gray front ofBarracks 28. Half its windowsseemed to have been broken andreplaced with rags. . . .

Because of the broken windowsthe vast room was in semi-twi-light. Our noses told us, rst,that the place was lthy; some-

where plumbing had backed up,the bedding was soiled and ran-cid. Then as our eyes adjustedto the gloom we saw that there

were no individual beds at all, but great square piers stackedthree high, and wedged side by

side and end to end with onlyand occasional narrow aisle slic-ing through. . . .

At last [our guide] pointed toa second tier in the center of alarge block. To reach it we haveto stand on the bottom level,haul ourselves up, and thencrawl across three other straw-

covered platforms to reach theone that we would share withhow many? The deck above us

was too close to let us sit up. We

lay back, struggling against thatnausea that swept over us fromthe reeking straw. . . .

Suddenly I sat up, striking myhead on the cross-slats above.Something had pinched my leg.

Fleas! I cried. Betsie, theplace is swarming with them!

We scrambled across the inter- vening platforms, heads low toavoid another bump, droppeddown to the aisle, and edged our

way to a patch of light.

Here! And here another one! Iwailed. Betsie, how can we livein such a place?

Show us. Show us how. It wassaid so matter-of-factly it tookme a second to realize she waspraying. . . .

Corrie! she said excitedly.

Hes given us the answer! Be-fore we asked, as He always does!In the Bible this morning. Where

was it? Read that passage again!

I glanced down the long dim aisleto make sure no guard was insight, then drew the Bible fromits pouch. . . . Rejoice always,pray constantly, give thanks inall circumstances. . . .

Thats it, Corrie! Thats His an-swer. Give thanks in all circum-stances! Thats what we can do.

We can start right now to thankGod for every single thing aboutthis new barracks!

I stared at her, then around meat the dark, foul-aired room.

Such as? I said.

Such as being assignedhere together.

I bit my lip. Oh, yes, Lord Jesus!

Such as what youre holding inyour hands.

I looked down at the Bible

Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, thatthere was no inspection when

How Can We Live Here?

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Cover photo and color photos on pp. 25

Florida Center for Instructional Technology


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we entered here! Thank You forall the women, in this room, who

will meet You in these pages.

Yes, said Betsie. Thank Youfor the very crowding here. Since

were packed so close that manymore will hear. She looked atme expectantly. Corrie! sheprodded.

Oh, all right. Thank You forthe jammed, crammed, stued,packed, suocating crowds.

Thank You, Betsie went on se-renely, for the eas and for

The eas! This was too much.

Betsie, theres no way even Godcan make me grateful for a ea!

Give thanks in every circum-stance, she quoted. It doesntsay, in pleasant circumstances.Fleas are part of this place where

God has put us.

And so we stood between piersof bunks and gave thanks foreas. But this time I was sureBetsie was wrong.

The work . . . was sheer mis-ery. Betsie and I had to push aheavy handcart to a railroadsiding where we unloaded largemetal plates from a boxcar and

wheeled them to a receivinggate at the factory. The grueling

workday lasted eleven hours. . . .Back at the barracks we formed

yet another line . . . to receive our

ladle of turnip soup in the centerroom.

Then . . . Betsie and I made ourway to the rear of the dormitoryroom where we held our wor-ship service. . . . A small light-

bulb cast a wan yellow circle onthe wall, and here an ever largergroup of women gathered.

They were services like no oth-ers, these times in Barracks 28.

A single meeting night mightinclude a recital of the Magni-cat in Latin by a group of RomanCatholics, a whispered hymn bysome Lutherans, and a . . . chant

by Eastern Orthodox women. . . .

At last either Betsie or I wouldopen the Bible . . . And then we

would hear the life-giving wordspassed back along the aisles inFrench, Polish, Russian, Czech,

back into Dutch. They were littlepreviews of heaven, these eve-nings beneath the lightbulb. . . .

In darkness Gods truth shinesmore clear. . . .

So many now wanted to join usthat we held a second service af-ter evening roll call. There on theLagestrasse we were under rigidsurveillance, guards . . . march-ing constantly up and down. . . .

Yet in the large dormitory room

there was almost no supervisionat all. We did not understand it.

Under the Lightbulb

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photos 2010 Florida Center for Instructional Technology


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After a while, Corrie and Betsie

were assigned to the knitting crew

where they had many opportuni-

ties to minister to other prisoners

and share the gospel.

One evening I got back to thebarracks late. . . . Betsie was wait-ing for me, as always. . . . Her eyes

were twinkling.

You know weve never under-stood why we had so much free-dom in the big room, she said.WellI found out.

That afternoon, she said, thered been confusion in her knit-ting group about sock sizes andtheyd asked the supervisor tocome and settle it.

But she wouldnt. She wouldntstep through the door and nei-ther would the guards. And you

know why?

Betsie could not keep the tri-umph from her voice: Becauseof the eas! Thats what shesaid, That place is crawling witheas!

My mind rushed back to our rsthour in this place. I rememberedBetsies bowed head, remem-

bered her thanks to God forcreatures I could see no use for.

Though Betsie dreamed of lifeafter the war, she wouldnt liveto see it. Betsie became very illand died at Ravensbruck. Cor-rie was released and returned toHolland, where she carried outBetsies three dreams: establish-ing a place for released prisonersto go to be healed; providing ahome for people who had sided

with Germany and were nowhated by most people; and turn-ing a concentration camp into ahome for Germans whose homeshad been destroyed by the war.

Corrie spent the rest of her life

writing, traveling, and speaking about her experiences inthe concentration camps. Shetold how Jesus can turn even the

worst imaginable situation intoan opportunity for growing infaith and helping other people.Corrie died in 1983 on her ninety-rst birthday.

Why theGuards Stayed Away

Home Again

You know

weve never

understood why

we had so muchfreedom in the

big room, she

said. Well

I found out.

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I belong!

goeswron

6


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Gaining Courage . . . . . . . . . .Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid orterried because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he willnever leave you nor forsake you.

Philippians 4:12-13 I know what it is to be in need, and I know whatit is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any andevery situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty orin want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

LOOK UP:

Romans 14:8

Exodus 4:10-12

Psalm 46

Daniel 3:16-30

Matthew 28:19-20

Finding Comfort . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

Romans 8:18, 26 I consider that our present suerings are not worthcomparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. . . . The Spirit helpsus in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but theSpirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

Romans 8:35, 37-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness ordanger or sword?. . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors

through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death norlife, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, norany powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,

will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesusour Lord.

Psalm 16:1-2 Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. I said tothe LORD, You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.

Psalm 71:1-2 In you, LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put toshame. In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me; turn your earto me and save me.

LOOK UP:

Psalm 23

Psalm 139

Matthew 6:25-27

Matthew 33-34

LOOK UP:

Psalm 25:1-6

Psalm 91

Psalm 116:1-9

Psalm 121

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Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on thingsabove, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mindson things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is nowhidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then

you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4

God Is our Hiding Place

Who else can you pray for this week who needs to know

the peace and hope of belonging to Jesus?

What is your onlycomfort as a Christian?

That I, body and soul, in lifeand death, belong to Jesus Christ.

Q&A 1 (Q&A: A Summaryof Biblical Teachings)

Q:

A:

What verse, song, or words

brought you comfort

today?

What challenges are you

facing right now?

8

The triangular Alpina sign w

a signal that it was safe to ente

the ten Boom house.

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