Piet Hartog

I have to tell you about a boy who worked with me in the underground movement during World War II. His name was Piet Hartog. He was a very brave assistant of mine. I remember that one day we heard that Jewish children in an orphanage in Amsterdam were to be murdered. I called together the boys I worked with and said, "You have to save the children." And they did. My boys got the children out of the orphanage; and my girls distributed them among many families-all in one day. It wasn't very difficult. Just imagine holding a baby in your arms and saying to someone, "Do you want to save this baby?' If you don't do it and I can't find anyone else, this baby will be killed." Of course the person will say, "No, no, no, give me the baby."

Piet Hartog said to me that evening, "I believe that we are involved in the most important work there is, saving lives from morning to evening. I don't want to go back to college. This is really essential work. It is wonderful." I said to Piet, "I too am so happy when I think of those babies; but, Piet, do you know that there's even more important work, not only saving lives but souls-showing people the way to Jesus." Then Piet laughed, and said what someone who hears this may say or think: "I am a Christian boy; yes, I'm a Christian. I read my Bible, I pray. I go to church. But telling other people about the Lord Jesus, that's the pastor's job." I said, "Piet, every child of God is called to present the Gospel, and in your life a time will come when you will see that's the most important thing for you!"

Six months later Piet ended up in jail and heard he had only a week to live. The day before he was shot he wrote us a long letter: "All the boys and men in my dormitory are condemned to death just like me. I am so happy that I was able to tell them that if they accept the Lord Jesus as their Savior, He will make them children of God; that a child of God may trust that, if he believes in the Lord Jesus, in the house of the Lord with its many mansions there is one for him. I think its so wonderful that I could tell them that they only need to tell the Lord of their sins and they will receive forgiveness. The blood of Jesus will cleanse them of their sins. Now I know that presenting the Gospel is the most important thing for every child of God."

I have a message from Piet Hartog for you. Are you a Christian? Don't wait then like Piet Hartog did, to the last week of your life, but say to the Lord today, "Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee." If you do that, the Lord will use you to tell others about the Gospel. The marvelous thing is not just that we may do it, but that we don't have to do it in our own strength. We only need to tell the Lord and He will do it. We only need to look to the Lord and He makes us, as it were, a mirror of His love. He has such longing and such love for the lost. If we let Him speak through us, then that love enters our hearts. Oh, how wonderful that is. If you do it, and you see people around you later in heaven, some of them will say, "You invited me." If you hear that, you will know that you didn't live in vain.

Ten Boom, Corrie. Messages of God's Abundance. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002, p. 23-25.

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