The authors, John and Elizabeth Sherrill, give us an explanation of how they came to write The Hiding Place in the Preface. They point out that they were writing God's Smuggler when the name Corrie ten Boom began to crop up. She was known behind the Iron Curtain and even called by the honorable title Double-Old Grandmother in Vietnam. They considered, upon hearing about her missionary work, to include her in the book, but changed their minds when they realized that she was a book unto herself.
Then, in 1968, at a church service in Germany, the authors listened to two speakers who had been prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. The first speaker showed the deep pain he still felt in his face and in his shaking hands, but the second speaker - Corrie ten Boom - radiated love, peace, and joy. She so intrigued the authors that they stayed behind to speak with her.
Corrie ten Boom was spreading a world wide ministry of comfort and counsel
which had begun in the concentration camp where she had found, as Isaiah
had promised, a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest
. . . the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. The authors got to
know her and traveled with her to the places that held so much meaning
for her. They came to the conclusion that they were not looking into the
past, but into the future and came away learning many truths they adapted
to their own lives. They also realized that this woman and the people
from her life were people the authors wished they had known. And so they
decided that they would make them known by writing about them.
The authors prepare us for this indefatigable woman who will character this book by examining some of her obvious traits: a constant feeling of love, peace, and joy in spite of her terrible experiences in a concentration camp; a deep commitment to a ministry of comfort and counsel to people who have been severely scarred, both physically and emotionally; and a loving memory for the places and the people she loved.
They also indicate from where the title of the book was derived: Isaiah's comments in the Bible about the hiding place. So we know now that what we are about to read is not just about a physical place God provides to protect us from the storm, but also the deep emotional comfort he offers when we need it most.
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Cite this page:
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on The Hiding Place".
TheBestNotes.com.
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