Chapter 1
A Faith Forged in Fire: The Remarkable Journey of a Holocaust Survivor
In 1944, Corrie ten Boom stood in the bitter cold of Ravensbruck concentration camp, expecting to die. Instead, through what she calls a "clerical error" but recognizes as divine intervention, she was released. This Dutch watchmaker's daughter would go on to become one of the 20th century's most influential Christian evangelists, traveling to over 60 countries to share her message of forgiveness and hope. "Tramp for the Lord," Corrie's sequel to her bestselling memoir "The Hiding Place," has touched millions worldwide, including celebrities like Kathie Lee Gifford who credits ten Boom's writings with transforming her faith. What makes this book so powerful isn't just the dramatic Holocaust survival story, but how Corrie's ordinary life became extraordinary through her willingness to follow God's leading into the most unlikely places-from Communist Russia to remote African villages-all while in her sixties and seventies. Her story continues to resonate decades later because it demonstrates how faith can triumph over unimaginable suffering.
Chapter 2
From Prison Cell to Global Classroom
The school of life offers some difficult courses, but it's in the hardest classes that we learn the most-especially when our teacher is Jesus Himself. For Corrie ten Boom, her most difficult lessons came in prison cells-first in Holland, then in Ravensbruck concentration camp where more than 96,000 women died. After surviving this horror, she found the entire world becoming her classroom.
In September 1944, over a thousand women prisoners stood at a railroad siding in Holland, dreading transport to Germany. Corrie, 52, and her sister Betsie, 59, had been imprisoned for seven months for hiding Jews. Their greatest treasure was a small Bible hidden in a cloth bag hanging between Corrie's shoulder blades. They were crammed eighty women to a boxcar for three agonizing days before arriving at Ravensbruck.
When they reached the processing barracks, Corrie faced a terrifying challenge-how to smuggle their Bible past the inspection where they would be stripped naked. In a moment of inspiration, she hid it behind benches in the shower room, retrieving it afterward. Though the Bible bulged beneath her thin prison dress during subsequent searches, guards miraculously overlooked her-as if she were invisible.
Soon Corrie and Betsie were holding clandestine Bible studies in their barracks, which became known as "the crazy place, where they hope." They had learned that even in this madness, a stronger power had the final word. As her sister Betsie said before dying in the camp, "Your whole life has been training for this work." The Christian life, Corrie realized, is an education for higher service, with dark threads as needful as gold and silver in God's pattern.
Though at times the threads of her life seemed knotted and tangled, by faith she knew a crown awaited on the other side of the embroidery. This perspective would carry her through the next thirty years of global ministry.
Chapter 3
Unexpected Freedom and a Divine Purpose
Standing in the bitter cold of Ravensbruck one week after Betsie's death, Corrie was called forward during roll call. A young woman beside her whispered that this meant a death sentence. As they stood for three frozen hours, Corrie used what she thought might be her final moments to share Jesus with this woman, nicknamed "Tiny." She had never read the Bible but was open to hearing about God's love. Right there in that bleak yard, Tiny accepted Christ.
When the other prisoners were sent to work, Corrie remained standing alone, awaiting her fate. Instead of death, she received unexpected news of her release-what she later learned was an administrative error but recognized as God's miracle. She would later discover that Tiny died the very next morning, making their encounter her final opportunity to find eternal life.
One week before the order came to kill all women her age, Corrie walked free through the camp gates. As she left, Jesus' words flooded her mind: "Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it."
Her fellow prisoner Claire Prins and she traveled three days by train to Holland, arriving at a Christian hospital. There, she experienced overwhelming kindness-tea and toast, a church service with clean surroundings, and warm food that tasted like heaven after prison starvation. The nurses, many former leaders from the Netherlands Girls' Clubs she'd worked with before the war, clothed and cared for her as if she were a doll, bringing her back to life with their compassion.
They dressed her in borrowed clothes, gave her a warm bath for her lice-damaged skin, and provided a cozy bedroom with colors that soothed her eyes starved for anything but prison gray. When she heard Bach on the radio, she sobbed uncontrollably-not from suffering but from joy. Her life had been given back as a gift, and she knew it was for a purpose. She was no longer her own but ransomed and released to be a "tramp for the Lord."
Chapter 4
Finding Home in a Homeless World
After the war, Corrie established a refuge in Bloemendaal for those who had lost their way both spiritually and physically. Having faced death daily in the camp, she felt like a stranger among people who valued money and success. Material things no longer excited her-prison had permanently changed her perspective.
Walking through Haarlem late one night, she visited her old home, the Beje. Standing before the watchmaker's shop, she ran her fingers over the door, remembering how her father had once led her through it to school. Now her heavenly Father was leading her into a world where He was her only security. The Beje was no longer her hiding place-Jesus alone was.
As she stood in the darkness, the cathedral chimes played Luther's hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." She found herself singing it in German, and laughed at God's grace in reminding her of His love through a German song. When a policeman passed by, she greeted him, "Good night, Policeman. A mighty fortress is our God." She was truly free.
Her first trip to America became her first lesson in complete dependence on God's guidance. While many Europeans wanted to go to America for various reasons, she faced seemingly impossible barriers obtaining the necessary papers. She prayed, "Lord, if it is Your will that I go to America, then You must provide."
She discovered that man's importunity is God's opportunity-He uses our problems as building materials for His miracles. When she needed final approval from an official described as "hard as flint," a chance meeting with a previously unknown cousin provided the connection she needed. When told she'd have to wait a year for passage on the Holland-America Line, she found immediate accommodation on a freighter through American Express.
She arrived in New York with only fifty dollars, staying at the YWCA for a week before being told she couldn't stay longer. Just as she needed to leave, a letter arrived from a woman who had heard her speak, offering her son's room while he was in Europe. God was teaching her that home isn't a physical place but wherever He leads.
Chapter 5
Healing Wounds Through Forgiveness
The second check from an American businessman was smaller than expected, leaving Corrie embarrassed and humbled in New York. With no money and seemingly no work, she turned to prayer: "Father, for Your honor's sake, You must help me out." The answer came gently: "Do not worry about My honor. I will take care of that."
A breakthrough came when she met Reverend Burggraaff, who recognized her from stories about her concentration camp experiences. This led to speaking opportunities, followed by a meeting with Irving Harris, editor of The Evangel. Through Harris, she connected with Abraham Vereide in Washington DC, whose recommendation opened doors everywhere. For ten months she traveled across America sharing her testimony.
As the year ended, she sensed God leading her to Germany-the one place she dreaded returning to. She realized her reluctance was disobedience, and if she truly desired to be filled with God's Spirit, she had to follow His guidance.
In Germany, she helped establish a home for displaced persons in a former concentration camp in Darmstadt. With assistance from the Lutheran Church and the Sisterhood of Mary, they transformed the cruel camp into a refuge where defeated people could find their way back to life.
Among the refugees was an elderly woman, once a professor at Dresden Conservatory, now huddled in the corner of a crowded room with nothing left. When Corrie learned she had access to a minister's piano miles away, she walked with her there. Despite the instrument being terribly damaged with rusted strings and broken keys, the woman played Bach's difficult Chromatic Fantasy with astonishing skill. As tears filled Corrie's eyes, she realized that like this woman making beautiful music from a broken piano, wounded Germany would survive to create again.
In another cubicle, she found a bitter German lawyer in a wheelchair, his legs amputated. Once active in his Lutheran church, he now harbored resentment toward God and humanity. Seeing similarities to her own experiences, Corrie visited him specifically to address his bitterness, beginning bluntly: "The only way to get rid of bitterness is to surrender it." When he challenged her about understanding bitterness, she shared her story of betrayal during the war and how she'd learned to forgive the man who sent her family to concentration camps.
Chapter 6
The Ultimate Test of Love
In 1947, Corrie traveled to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives. After speaking at a church in Munich about how God casts our sins into the deepest ocean, she was confronted by a former Ravensbruck guard-one who had been particularly cruel. He didn't recognize her, but she remembered him vividly. Now a Christian, he asked for her forgiveness.
She stood frozen, unable to take his outstretched hand, remembering her sister Betsie's suffering and death at Ravensbruck. Yet she knew forgiveness wasn't about emotions but an act of will. Praying for Jesus' help, she mechanically extended her hand-and suddenly felt God's love flood through her. "I forgive you, brother!" she cried with all her heart, experiencing God's love more intensely than ever before. It wasn't her love but the Holy Spirit's power working through her.
This experience became a turning point in her ministry. Years later, when Christian friends deeply hurt her, she found forgiving them even harder than forgiving the camp guards. For weeks she seethed inside until she asked God to work His miracle in her. She made the cold-blooded decision to forgive, followed by joy and peace.
Yet she kept waking at night rehashing the affair. God showed her another forgiveness principle: she must not only forgive but live it out by treating their sins as buried in the deepest sea. Years later, when she smugly told an American friend the matter was forgiven, he noticed she'd kept all their letters as evidence. "Aren't you the one whose sins are at the bottom of the sea? Yet are your friends' sins etched in black and white?"
That night she burned those letters in her coal-burning grate. Forgiveness, she realized, is the key that unlocks resentment and breaks the chains of bitterness. Jesus' forgiveness makes our sins as if they had never been.
Chapter 7
The Power of the Holy Spirit
Standing in Basel's train station, Corrie suddenly realized she didn't know where she was supposed to go. For ten years after her prison release, she'd traveled worldwide at God's direction, often not knowing her purpose until arrival. But this time was different-she had no contacts and felt tired and panicked. At sixty-three, she wondered if she was overworked or if God had withdrawn His presence.
She found an address in her suitcase but the people there were strangers. Another contact also didn't know her. Unable to fly home due to storms, she took a train to Haarlem where she slipped on wet pavement, injuring her hip. Though God instantly removed the pain when she prayed, she couldn't stand.
A policeman helping her asked if she was from the ten Boom family arrested ten years ago. He remembered her father reading Psalm 91 that night at the police station, creating an atmosphere of peace despite their heading to prison. She realized God's shadow over her wasn't absence but His nearness.
Though her hip wasn't broken, she was bedridden for weeks. Impatient to attend a student conference in Germany, she asked for prayer for healing. A minister came, had her confess her impatient attitude, and laid hands on her. She experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit with overwhelming joy that turned her mourning into dancing.
Ten days later she went to Germany, where she discovered why God had filled her with His Spirit-she encountered many demonized people and was able to minister deliverance through Christ's power. She learned that trying to do God's work in her own strength is exhausting, but when filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus' ministry flows through her.
For weeks she had been traveling through Eastern Europe, speaking in home groups and churches. In a large Communist city, she was invited to speak at a cathedral. She spoke about the abundant life in Jesus, but noticed most people sat rooted to their benches, unable to receive the spiritual food she offered. It was as if demons kept them in bondage. On the final night, after prayer, she boldly commanded in Jesus' name for all dark powers to leave. Immediately, the people came alive and began rejoicing. She learned two precious weapons: the power of Jesus' blood and our authority to cast out demons in His name.
Chapter 8
Divine Provision and Protection
God showed Corrie early in her ministry that she should never ask for money-not even travel expenses. After speaking in England about her work with refugees, a wealthy woman handed her a large check. When Corrie asked what she thought about the spiritual aspects of her message, she became haughty. Corrie returned her check and prayed about this situation. The Lord clearly directed her: "From now on you must never again ask for money." Remarkably, that same day she received letters from both her sister in Holland and a woman in Switzerland confirming this exact message from God.
She learned to trust God completely for provision. Once when needing 5,000 guilders for a trip to Russia but having only 3,000, God instructed her to give away 2,000 guilders to a mission group. Though it made no logical sense, she obeyed. Later that day, she received an unexpected publisher's advance check for more than she needed!
Her stubborn nature often prevented her from fully trusting God. While traveling to Auckland from Sydney, she reluctantly let a pilot take her precious suitcase containing all her Bibles, notes, and slides. To her horror, the bag was left behind in Sydney. She was frustrated and angry, despite having just witnessed to a stewardess about Christ being victor in every situation.
During their night flight over the Tasman Sea, smoke filled the cabin, alarming passengers. The stewardess approached with "good news"-they were returning to Sydney to retrieve her bag. When Corrie asked about the danger, she reassured her it was merely "hydraulic difficulties." A fellow passenger revealed the truth: all mechanisms on the plane depended on the hydraulic system, and they could lose control at any moment.
Facing possible death over the sea, she wasn't afraid but knew she wasn't right with God because of her resentment. She confessed her sin and prepared to meet the Lord. Looking around at unprepared passengers, she felt compelled to share the gospel but remained shamefully silent. After landing safely in Sydney, she sat dejected until a Jewish doctor approached, asking about her peace during the crisis. This gave her another chance to witness about Jesus. Though weak, God used her, teaching her that "when I am weak, then am I strong."
Chapter 9
Faithful Companions Along the Way
After twelve years of traveling alone, the Lord provided Corrie with a companion in Conny van Hoogstraten, a beautiful young Dutch woman she met in England. They formed an excellent team despite occasional difficulties that ultimately brought them closer to Jesus as they learned to walk in the light together. Conny had an infectious sense of humor and the gift of making any house feel like home.
Eight years into their partnership, Conny told Corrie about someone special in her life, meaning they would need to pray for a new partner for Corrie. Though difficult to accept, she surrendered Conny to the Lord during a long walk. In their final year together, when Corrie felt called to Vietnam, Conny couldn't join her as her fiance disapproved. God answered their prayers by bringing Ellen de Kroon, a registered nurse, to replace Conny.
During their final weeks together at Lweza in Uganda, Corrie learned another valuable lesson about honesty in relationships. While enjoying the garden's beauty, she noticed Conny seemed discouraged. They were visited by William Nagenda, a dear African saint, who asked unexpectedly, "Do you walk in the light together?" They both quickly affirmed they did.
Later, Conny confessed to William that she didn't truly walk in the light with Corrie. "Tante Corrie is so much more mature," she explained. "When I see things in her life that are not right, I hesitate to speak them out to her."
William was startled: "That is not right. The Lord wants you to be very honest with Tante Corrie. That is one reason He has put you with her."
That night, Conny courageously shared the things in Corrie's life that bothered her. Though difficult to hear, Corrie apologized and thanked her for her honesty. The final breakthrough came in Brazil when Corrie thoughtlessly repacked Conny's suitcase without permission. A week later, walking along a beach, she finally confessed her frustration. From then until Conny married in 1967, they traveled the world together-always trying to walk in the light.
Chapter 10
Miracles in Unlikely Places
During Corrie's first trip to India, she was scheduled to speak at a missionary conference in Vellore, but her flight was delayed in Bangkok for three days. Distressed about missing half the conference, she spoke with an Indian hotel employee about her situation, mentioning they should pray about it.
"Do you profess to be a Christian?" he asked, startled.
"Yes, I am a professor of Jesus Christ. And what about you?" she replied.
He confessed he was "a lost sheep," and after their conversation, he recommitted his life to Christ. They prayed together, and then she asked him to pray with her for a miracle so she could reach Vellore in time.
He suddenly rushed out, returning half an hour later with news of another plane taking a different route to Vellore. At the airport, she discovered they had held the plane specifically for her. The stewardess explained, "Our hotel agent told us you are an important professor from Holland who has to give significant speeches in Vellore."
At the conference, a shy English missionary approached Corrie in the garden, asking if she truly believed in God's promises and if the Lord still heals the sick. She assured her He does, sharing a story from Indonesia where she had prayed for a badly injured Chinese woman who was instantly healed when no doctor would come.
The missionary asked if Corrie needed to know a person's illness before praying. When Corrie explained that it's the Lord who heals, not her, she quietly revealed she had leprosy and asked for prayer. Corrie laid hands on her and prayed in Jesus' name. After she told Corrie her condition, Corrie was filled with fear, thinking leprosy was too difficult for the Lord, then felt ashamed of her small faith.
Five years later in India, this same woman visited Corrie, completely transformed. "The Lord wonderfully healed me," she said. "The doctors say I am absolutely healed from leprosy." Corrie praised God, acknowledging that He meets our needs even when our faith is small.
Chapter 11
The Real Corrie ten Boom
In Havana, Cuba, before the Communist takeover, Corrie was invited to speak at a Salvation Army youth rally. The small hall was stifling hot, and the meeting started hours late. Seated between two men with enormous drums, she endured deafening music and stomping feet until her head throbbed with pain.
By 10:30 PM, the room was filled with flying insects buzzing around the light bulbs. When the captain gave an altar call, Corrie selfishly thought, "I hope nobody comes forward. I just want to go to bed." To her surprise, twenty young Cubans responded. Suddenly she realized her terrible egotism-valuing her sleep over their salvation. She confessed this sin to God and joyfully prayed with the new converts until 11:30 PM.
The next morning at a prominent Havana church, she read in their parish magazine that she was "tireless and completely selfless in my absolute dedication." The Lord prompted her to tell the truth about herself. Despite fearing rejection, she confessed to the congregation about her selfishness from the night before, explaining: "Corrie ten Boom is lazy, selfish and filled with ego. But Jesus in Corrie ten Boom is just the opposite of all these things."
Reading from the parish paper, she admitted, "Sometimes I get a headache from the heat of the halo that people put around my head." She shared how her own sleep had been more important to her than the salvation of young people. She explained that she knew what to do with her sins-confess them to the Father so Jesus could wash them in His blood. "They are now cast into the deepest sea and a sign is put up that says NO FISHING ALLOWED."
Instead of rejecting her after hearing the truth, the congregation leaned forward eagerly. They were all simply sinners who knew Jesus died to lift them from ego into the light of His love. God had blessed the truth!
After twenty years as a tramp for the Lord, her body had grown tired at seventy-three. Her doctor advised a year's furlough, so she settled at Lweza in Uganda. When the Sabbath Year ended, she secretly rebelled against returning to travel, preferring to stay put while still serving locally.
Her stubborn plan was interrupted when a minister from Rwanda arrived, reminding her how her prison testimony had strengthened him during his own imprisonment. When she tried changing the subject, he opened his Bible to Revelation 2, reading about the church at Ephesus that had "lost your first love."
The arrow penetrated her heart. She had lost her first love-her burning desire to tell everyone that Jesus is real, that He lives, that He is victor. Now she was more interested in her comfortable bed than souls. She repented, and as God's love was poured out into her heart again, she set out on her journeys-once more a tramp for the Lord.
Chapter 12
Looking Toward Eternity
Everyone needs a place to belong. Heaven is such a prepared place, with a special house reserved for each of us. Born prematurely with blue skin, Corrie was expected to die, but her family surrounded her with love. Her aunt Anna kept her warm by tying her against her stomach in her apron.
As a fearful child, she first found security in Jesus at age five when her mother told her He could live in her heart. Throughout her years as a "tramp for the Lord," whenever afraid, she reached for the hem of Jesus' garment. Now at seventy-seven, she finally had her own apartment in Holland, though she was rarely there as she continued traveling. Yet her greatest longing was for her heavenly mansion.
At a student meeting in the Midwest, she told new Christians about her 75 years with Jesus, assuring them "He will never let you down." She shared how Jesus' light is stronger than the darkest experiences, even concentration camps.
She saw two armies marching worldwide: Christ's army and the Antichrist's. The Bible foretells a time of tribulation when the Antichrist will establish one world religion and currency. When a theological student scoffed at Christ's return, she pointed out that such scoffers are themselves a sign of the end times according to 2 Peter 3:3.
Despite these dark predictions, she wasn't afraid. Once while smuggling Bibles into Russia, she prayed over her suitcase at customs and momentarily saw angels surrounding it. The customs officer, instead of inspecting it, carried her heavy suitcase to a taxi. Even as we approach the Antichrist's time, Jesus' presence is greater than anything Satan can deploy against us.
In Lithuania, Ellen and Corrie secretly visited an elderly woman twisted by multiple sclerosis, confined to a small sofa in a one-room apartment. Though her body was nearly immobile, she had one functioning finger-a finger she used to glorify God. Each morning, her faithful husband would position her on the couch with pillows and place an ancient typewriter before her. With just that one finger-peck, peck, peck-she translated Christian books into Russian, Latvian and her native language.
"Why doesn't God heal her?" Corrie wondered silently. Her husband explained: "Every other Christian is watched by secret police. But because she's been sick so long, no one ever checks on her. She's the only person in the city who can type undetected."
Corrie thought of Jesus watching the widow giving her mite and rejoiced at this woman's sacrifice. She later learned that this woman had worked typing with that one finger until midnight on her final day, glorifying God until the very end-a fitting image of Corrie's own life of service.
