Anne Frank, Corrie ten Boom, & Amsterdam

 Erin and Denise and I went to Amsterdam on the way to visit Dwight and Letty Grismore who live in the southern part of the Netherlands.  I really enjoyed Amsterdam.  Almost everyone spoke English...which is a bonus when that is your language and there are water canals everywhere.  I also liked the quaint tall buildings.

 As soon as we arrived at the airport at 8am, we figured how to get to the Anne Frank House.  We were not able to take pictures inside, but it was a very interesting tour.  She had many deep thoughts as a young girl living in hiding for over 2 years.

 Here I am with Erin and the Anne Frank stature.  Erin though she would have been easier to hid since she is so small you could just put her in your pocket....

 This is the Anne Frank House that I am in front of.  I am across the street and the canal from the house.

Amsterdam is made up of as many canals as streets.  Most of the buildings are narrow and tall because people were taxed on how much sidewalk space their building took up, but not how tall the building was....so they built up and not across.

We then jumped on the trail to Haarlem to visit the Corrie ten Boom House.

 Here we are in front of the door to Corrie ten Boom's house. There is a watch shop next door that her father use to own and Corrie was the first woman in the world to be certified to make and fix watches.

 The plaque remembering the Ten Boom family.  This family helped many of the 10% of the Jewish people that survived the Nazi regime.  Hilter's goal was for 100% of the Jewish people in the Netherlands to be destroyed.  He almost reached his goal, 90% of the Jews of Holland did not survive.

 Corrie's house was left like it was set up when she was alive.  Family pictures are on the wall and we were able to take pictures and see and feel the house.

 This is the door to the hiding place.  It was in Corrie's bedroom and disguised as a linen closet.  I was able to climb in there.  Six people, 2 women and 4 men survived in there for 47 hours without heat in Febuary and with their waste bucket that was knocked over the first day.

 The doorway to the hiding place with blankets in towel in place.  After the door was shut with the 6 people inside, Corrie put towels in front of the doors.  The Nazi soldiers ripped up the carpet and fount a bunch of ration cards in the floor boards along the stairs, but they did not find the people in hiding.

 Here I am with Denise and Erin inside the hiding place.  The wall was made out of brick and so sturdy that the Nazi soldiers did not know that it was a fake wall.

 Here are some picturees of Corrie after she survived the concentration camp, she traveled to over 60 countries telling others about Jesus.

 Here are some of the ration cards that they used to get food and supplies for the people in hiding.

 This is a Jewish star and a sign telling people Jews were not allowed in certain places.

Here is the tour guide showing us the back of needle work Corrie did.  Corrie would show people how the back was all jumbled and confused, but the front made a beautiful crown. This is what the Lord does with our lives.  To us things do not look clear, but the Lord sees the big picture and it makes something beautiful.

We then took a canal cruise through Amsterdam.  It was very interesting. Then we got back on the train for 2 hours to go see Dwight and Letty Grismore.