ABCs of May: H is for....

H is for …..

Hero/Heroine.

People often talk about their “heroes”. I looked up the definition of hero….hero is a word attributed to a man, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, a hero is, “a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities.” A heroine is the female counterpart to hero, the definition is slightly different, it is, “a woman admired and emulated for her achievements and qualities.”

There are 4 women that I especially admire and think of as “hero”. Three of these women are from the past, one of whom is still living. The 4^th woman is a “present day” woman, whom I know. Let me tell you a little about them, and why I consider them my “heroine’s”.

1.) Corrie ten Boom was born on April 15, 1892, in the Netherlands. She was the youngest of four children. She lived with her father who was a watchmaker, her sister Betsie and her 3 Aunts. Corrie and Betsie never married. They lived above her father’s watchmakers shop.

Corrie began training as a watchmaker in 1920 and in 1922 became the first female watchmaker licensed in the Netherlands. She was a very devout Christian and an active member of the Dutch Reformed church.

During WWII the Germans came to Haarlem, the ten Booms decided to make a hiding place for the Jews. They built the hiding place in Corrie's room. The room was behind a piece of architect by the Dutch Resistance. When the Nazis invaded, six Jews went into the Hiding Place.

The Germans arrested the entire Ten Boom family on February 28, 1944 at around 12:30 with the help of a Dutch informant. They were sent first to Scheveningen prison (where her father died ten days after his capture). Corrie's sister Nollie, brother Willem, and nephew Peter were all released. Later, Corrie and Betsie were sent to the Vught political concentration camp (both in the Netherlands), and finally to the notorious Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany on December 16, 1944, where Corrie's sister Betsie died. Before she died she told Corrie, "There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still." Corrie was released on New Year's Eve of December 1944. She later learned that her release had been a clerical error. The women prisoners her age in the camp were killed the week following her release. She said, "God does not have problems. Only plans."

Corrie ten Boom died on April 15, 1983 at the age of 91.

2.) Darlene Deibler Rose was born in 1917 in Boone, Iowa. When she was 10 years old, she felt the call to be a Missionary.

On August 18.1938 she and her husband of 1 year, Russell Deibler set foot in their new “home” the Celebes islands of the Netherlands East Indies. They were there to bring the Good News of Jesus to the primitive Kapauku peoples of the Wissel Lakes area of western New Quinea.

Two short years later, the Nazi’s invaded Holland, on May 5^th, 1940, because of this the Deibler’s missionary outpost must be abandoned. They had to return to Celebes. They continued their work there until March 13^th, 1942 when the Japanese Imperial Army swept through the Netherlands East Indies. They took all of the Missionaries prisoner and interned them in prison camps. March 13^th was the last time Darlene saw her husband, he died of dysentery in the prison camp “Pare Pare”.

Darlene was taken to a prison camp in Kampili. She underwent starvation, depravation, and disease and remained in this prison camp until the war ended.

After the war, she returned to the States where she met and married Rev. Gerald Rose. In 1949 they returned to her beloved Kapauku people in New Quinea.

Whenever Darlene shared her story, she would say “I would do it all again for my Savior.” Darlene went home to be with the Lord on February 24^th, 2002 at the age of 87.

3.) Elizabeth Elliot was born December 21, 1926. She is a Christian author and speaker. Her first husband, Jim Elliot, was killed in 1956 while attempting to make missionary contact with the Auca of eastern Ecuador. She later spent two years as a missionary to the tribe members who killed her husband.

Elizabeth and her husband Jim went individually to Ecuador to work with the Quichua Indians; they married in 1953 in the city of Quito, Ecuador. Their daughter, Valerie (born 1955), was 10 months old when her father was killed. Elisabeth continued her work with the Quechua for two more years.

For nearly thirteen years (1988-2001) Elisabeth could be heard on a daily radio program, Gateway to Joy. She almost always opened the program with the phrase, "'You are loved with an everlasting love,' - that's what the Bible says - 'and underneath are the everlasting arms.' This is your friend, Elisabeth Elliot ..."

Elizabeth is still living.

These 3 women are my “heroines” from the past. I obviously have never met any of them. So, why are they my “heroines”? They all withstood unimaginable suffering, pain, and loss for the sake of Christ. They not only withstood these sufferings, they withstood them and NEVER lost their faith. They were willing to give up everything, even their lives to follow God’s leading. When I think about these women, I ask myself, would I be willing to do what they did, would I be strong enough to endure it.

4.) Jody Gates. Jody is one of my good friends. She is the wife of Pastor Rob Gates. Rob and Jody have been very special friends for many years. Rob is the pastor that helped lead my husband to Christ. I met my husband sitting in Rob and Jody’s living room. Rob officiated at our wedding.

Jody isn’t “famous”, she’s never been imprisoned for her faith but I know that if she were put in a similar situation as the other 3 women, she would withstand it as well as those women did, and she would never lose her faith.

Jody’s goal in life is to love the Lord with all of her heart and to become more and more like her Savior, and she models that for everyone to see.

Jody’s gentle and quiet spirit has been a great influence in my life, and I am blessed to have her as a friend.

When I think of these 4 women and their example of Christ-likeness, I am encouraged to be like them and grow in my faith so that I will never be ashamed of Jesus.

^{1 Peter 4:12}

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵ If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶ However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.