The Five Silent Years of Corrie Ten Boom

Book excerpt: Pam Roswell Moore had her doubts when she interviewed to be companion of the much-loved author Corrie ten Boom. Corrie's bestselling book The Hiding Place, which recounted how she and her family had hidden Jews during World War II in Holland until their betrayal and arrest by the Nazis, had launched for Corrie a worldwide ministry of travel and speaking. Awed by the spiritual challenge this companionship posed, Pam wondered how she could keep up with the energetic 83-year-old. But God knit a strong bond between the young Englishwoman and the remarkable Dutch evangelist. Then Corrie suffered a stroke. Hospitalization followed; physical therapy; then long, loving hours at home. Corrie regained a little mobility for a time--until the next strokes hit. She never regained her speech. But the ministry that had touched millions continued as Corrie communicated through her eyes, through elaborate guessing games with those around her, through silent intercession for people God brought to mind. For those five silent years of imprisonment, Corrie's spiritual depth offered mute testimony to her ongoing trust in her heavenly Father. The details of these years will move all who loved Corrie ten Boom. They will encourage those involved with the elderly or handicapped--and those who are themselves bedridden--that God is at work mysteriously in and through even the most incapacitated. This book attests to the truth Corrie loved so dearly: that, in spite of everything else, Jesus is always Victor.