On Saturday, April 16 a group of five other students and I took a day trip to Amsterdam and Haarlem, Holland. Our purpose for going was to see Corrie ten Boom's home, Anne Frank's home, and the tulips!
Our first stop of the day was in Haarlem, Holland. We went to Corrie ten Boom's home. If you have read or heard the story of Corrie ten Boom, she hid multiple Jews in her home. We waited in the alley next to her home for the next tour to begin. We stood in the same alley and by the side door where Jews used to come and ring the bell for help. Here is a picture of the house and the side door.
We went through her home on a guided tour. The house was in the same condition as it was when Corrie and her family lived there. When we reached Corrie's bedroom, we were able to see the place where her and her family would hide the Jews that came to stay with them. In the bottom of the linen closet, there was an opening where the Jews would crawl through to get behind the wall into the hiding place. Here are two pictures.
It was really neat getting to see where the Jews would hide. When Corrie's home was raided by SS officers, they never found the six Jews hiding in the hiding place. The only thing that the SS officers found were ration cards belonging to the Jews who were in hiding there. God's hand was at work. When Corrie and her family were taken to a concentration camp, she ministered to women within the camp. She also ministered to a guard within the camp. Corrie's faith was incredible. She is such an inspiration to me. I hope that my faith would be as strong as her's during times of horrible trouble and distress.
We left Haarlem and headed to Amsterdam. We had a couple of hours before our Anne Frank tour. We headed into Amsterdam. My first impression of Amsterdam..."This is the most worldliest city I have ever been in." Amsterdam was crowded with people. There were people smoking weed and drinking. There were inappropriate things posted all throughout the city. A girl in our group said that Amsterdam was a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah.
Luckily our Anne Frank tour was at 5:15. The Anne Frank house was where Anne Frank and her family hid above her father's business in a secret annex. The secret annex was located behind a magic bookcase. We were able to walk through the secret annex. It was huge. It was really neat getting to see Anne Frank's room and the magazine clippings she cut out and hung on her wall. We also got to see her actual diary. That was very neat. The secret annex was not furnished the way Corrie ten Boom's home was but it was really inspiring getting to see where they lived in hiding.
We didn't get to see any tulips because the gardens were located outside of Amsterdam. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see these two historical homes. The Holocaust was a terribly horrible time, but God was present and God was working. Corrie ten Boom was a perfect example. She should be an inspiration for us to stay true to our faith in Christ Jesus.
Our last and final trip is free travel! We leave on April 21 and return May 6! I will post all about our adventures when we return! Thanks for reading!
"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossians 3:17
