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"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost."
(Isaiah 55:1)
This week, I am sharing stories about Corrie ten Boom and my visit to the Corrie ten Boom House in Haarlem, Netherlands. On my actual tour, I went with my sweet husband and a dear friend of mine from college who had come to visit. The house is now a museum that is free to visit, you just need a reservation. So we entered at our designated time and were invited to go upstairs to the living room and take a seat. I entered first and went around observing the pictures on the wall, the music sheet set before the piano, and the furniture–some of it original. I took a seat, and slowly the rest of the group all joined me in the various seats and couches in the living room. Then, our lovely Dutch tour guide gave an introduction and asked us to share where we were from and if we had any previous knowledge of the ten Boom family. When it was my turn, I shared that I was an American living in Germany and that I had seen The Hiding Place movie when I was a freshman in college and had been interested and encouraged by the story since. Others were Christians from places like California, Florida, and Ireland. There were also two ladies there from Ecuador. They shared how one had recently moved to the Netherlands for her husband's job and the other was just there to visit her friend. They had only heard that the ten Booms were important members of Haarlem's community, but they didn't know the whole story.
We went through the tour, and our guide shared some of the stories I've shared this week, as well as many others, and showed us the actual hiding place in Corrie's room (they asked that we don't share any pictures, otherwise I would include some). We went through the whole house, and our guide included his own testimony of how he came to follow Jesus. He shared about the faith of the ten Booms and of Corrie's ministry after her freedom was regained. At the end, we exited through the front of what used to be the ten Boom's clock shop which was now a small book store where we could sign the guest book and purchase some books if we wanted.
I was perusing a book in the store when I began to overhear our guide sharing the Gospel again with these two ladies from Ecuador. They asked him some questions about Jesus. They had been raised nominally Catholic and hadn't heard someone talk about having a personal relationship with Jesus like they had heard from this man. I tried not to eavesdrop and just began to pray for the Lord to open the hearts of the ladies. However, I couldn't help but overhear him share the Gospel again and tell the ladies that he wanted to give them a Bible. He briefly walked away and came back with a Spanish copy of the New Testament. Their faces lit up when they saw it was in Spanish! They turned to the back cover looking for a price tag and asked our guide how much the book cost. With a kind smile I saw him look them in the eyes and say "Oh no, it is free!" They were astonished. "Free?! Really?" Our guide paused and looked them intently in the eye again. I'll never forget what he said next: "You see... the Gospel is free."
Cue goosebumps!
I began to get a little choked up as I remembered hearing this man share this fundamental Gospel truth, and I rejoiced in my heart for these women that Jesus paid the price for their salvation through His blood, and He invited them to come, free of charge! We bring nothing, and Jesus brings everything! All these ladies had to do was take the book, and it was theirs! More importantly, all they had to do was turn to Jesus, and they would be saved. God would do the work.
I was so encouraged by the witness of our guide. After the ladies left, my husband, my friend, and I went up to him and asked if we could pray together for the ladies. Let us rejoice today in remembering that the Gospel is the free gift of God.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(Romans 6:23)
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