In The Secret Place

Book excerpt: Peter Van Woerden, Corrie Ten Boom’s nephew, began his career in the Dutch underground in 1942. He was the organist of the Reformed Church in Velsen and was at his regular post on the bench one Lord’s Day morning as he recounts: “On this particular Sunday, as I sat and mused, I suddenly realized that exactly two years before, on the 10th of May, the Nazi invasion of Holland had begun. As I looked over the congregation I decided that something should be done, something on this Sunday morning to demonstrate that we still were real Dutchmen at heart, something to express our faith and hope in a day of victory when we would again be a free people. The sermon over, I pulled extra stops out on the organ, then firmly and distinctly played the first chords of the Wilhelmus, the national anthem of the Netherlands. There was a rustling downstairs. People stood to their feet. One voice began to sing, then another, and others; and soon, like a mighty sea, the glorious old hymn rolled forth from the overflowing hearts of hundreds of Hollanders as tears streamed down their faces. For that one moment we were a free people in the midst of a dark world full of oppression and persecution.” That gesture landed Peter in prison where, in turn, he experienced, for the first time in his life, a deep hunger for God. After years in the church he met Christ and was truly converted. And thus an adventure in which Peter evaded the Nazis many months until the night he went to grandfather and Aunt Corrie.