George Muller & Corrie ten Boom

Have you ever thought about why we should care for widows and orphans?

It is very important to God and therefore should be important to us:

Psalm 68:5 “5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”

James 1:27 “27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

We will close with some things we can do but I want us to be thinking about what are ways you at your age can help minister to the widows and orphans.

We have two people from history tonight who lived out their faith with great care and affection for the widows and orphans.

George Muller

He lived almost the entire 19th century, being born in 1805 and dying in 1898. He served alongside DL Moody, Charles Spurgeon and Hudson Taylor. He was born in Germany and grew up with unbelieving parents. He lived a life of lying and stealing. His mother died when he was 14 and he wasnt there because he was wandering the streets with his friends “half intoxicated”. At one point he was in prison for stealing and his dad bailed him out and then beat him. He then took him to another town to live. Muller made money by teaching other Latin, French and math. His dad eventually sends him to the University of Halle to study divinity (neither of them were believers but his dad thought it would provide well for him finanically). Of the 900 students in the school, Muller estimated less than 10 feared the Lord.

His life changed at 20 when he was invited to a bible study where they read the bible, sang, prayed, and read a sermon. He became a believer and his life changed. He ended up going to England in the hope of being a missionary with the London Missionary Society. over time he realized his views were not in alignment with them and he broke off.

Then his life changed again—he got sick. And while recovering he was in a town called Teignmouth in 1829. He met a man, that to this day no one knows his name or anything about him. But at this little chapel he met this man who sat down with him and walked through the scriptures and taught him two things: 1) the preciousness of reading and meditating on the Word and 2) the truth of the doctrines of grace.

He married his first wife when he was 25 and they had four children. Two were stillborn, one died at 1 year old and the other married James Wright who succeeded him as the head of his ministry. But she died at 57 years old. Muller remarried when he was 66 and she died when he was 90. In total he was married for 39 years to one and 23 years to the other but at the end of his life he outlived all of him family.

So what is Muller known for, why do we care?

In 1834 when he was 28 he founded the Scripture Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad. A big fancy title for a simple ministry—love people. It included 5 things: 1) schools for children and adults to teach Bible knowledge, 2) Bible distribution, 3) book and tract distribution 4) missionary support, and 5) to board, clothe, and Scripturally educate destitute children who hav elost BOTH parents by death.”

While all five were significant, here are some facts through 1868 (so in the first 30 years of the ministry):

16,500 people were taught in those schools

44,500 bibles and 40,600 New Testaments and 20,000 portions of the bible in various languages were distributed

31,000,000 tracts in various languages were distributed.

Over 120 missionaries were supported by the ministry.

By the way this is during the American Civil war, so during that era in England, the final category is what is amazing:

In George Mullers lifetime, he built 5 large orphan houses.

in 1834 there was housing for 3,600 oprhans in all of England. Over 7,000 kids were in prison.

He sparked a movement to care for these kids so that by 1880 there was housing and care for over 100,000 orphans.

George Muller alone cared for 10,024 orphans in his lifetime. It was not uncommon for him to have over 2,000 kids under his care at a time. And he never once asked for money. He prayed and trusted that God would provide. When he wanted to do something and the money was not there, he knew that was God directing him elsewhere.

You know I love history so someone like Nicholas Winton who was a British stokebroker. He orchestrated an operation called Kindertrasport in which he saved 669 kids from Czechoslovakia during World War II. Jewish kids that were going to be killed by the Nazis, he smuggled into Britian and care for them.

In 1988 he was surprised with an award and at the award ceramony, he didn’t know it yet, but the host asked anyone whose life was saved by this man to stand up, and the entire room stood up. They filled an auditorim with the children that he saved from the Nazis.

Its great and it makes you cry (well makes you cry)—you can do the same with Oskar Schindler who was said to save some 1,200 Jews from the Holocaust.

But for George Muller could fill half of Tom Benson Stadium with people that he saved as orphans. That he cared for and got on the right path.

What is one thing you are thankful for this week?

Corrie ten Boom

“Between rows of beds in a dark, rancid bunkhouse, Corrie ten Boom trudged behind her prison guard, searching for an empty bunk where she and her sister, Betsie, could rest their weary bodies. The beds were square platforms stacked three high and wedged in every possible area of the bunkhouse, an enormous dormitory; it was a glorified prison cell in Ravensbruck, a concentration camp located deep in the cold, dark heart of Nazi Germany. The guard stopped and pointed to an unclaimed spot on a second-tier bunk, so close to the one above it that neither sister would be able to sit up without bumping her head. As Corrie and Betsie climbed into the bunk, they were met with nauseating smell of soiled straw along with a startling realization that the straw was flea-infested. The fleas set upon them immediately, causing Corrie to jump out of the bunk, scratching and flailing, as she cried out to her sister, “Betsie, how can we live in such a place?” Betsie’s answer was more startling to Corrie than the fleas. She recalled what the sisters had read together earlier than morning in their contraband bible: “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess 5:16-18). Betsie’s startling answer was that they should obey Scripture by giving thanks to God for every single thing in their barracks; for their shared bunk, their contraband Bible, even the crowded beds that meant more female prisoners would hear that very Bible’s words of life. She thanked Gof for everything, including the fleas.”

Born in Holland in a Christian family, Corrie worked in her fathers watch shop.

One of their devotions they would do is Psalm 119: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path…Thou art my hiding place and my shield, I hope in thy word.”

Corrie couldn’t stop wondering why called was called a hiding place—he world was happy and light—what would she need to hide from?

Her siblings fell in love and got married and Corrie fell in love with a man named Karel but his parents forbid them from marrying and the relationship fell apart. She became convinced she would never marry.

During that time the world was becoming a dark place. He brother went to Germany to get his doctroate and came back and warned them of the looming problems of Germany.

In May of 1940, the Prime Minister gave a speech saying Holland would remain neutral and not join the war. Less than five hours later, the country was attacked by Germany and within a week had surrenderd to Germany. As the Germans began to identify and take Jews, the ten Booms talked about ways to help their Jewish neighbors. Opprortunity came to them—literally. The Germans ransacked their neighbors buisness, stole his goods and threw him on the streets. The ten Booms took him in and hid him.

They began an entire operation to hid Jews. They were eventually caught and arressted. There family was broken up and she would never see her father again. While being processed a nurse befriended her and asked her if there was anything she could do for her—she asked for a bible. The bible I read about in the beginning, which would be the Light of the World in the darkest places.

As the Allies closed in on Germany, they were transferred to a work prison named Vught and she was reunited with her sister. It was there they learned they were betrayed by a fellow Dutchman who was working undercover for the Gestapo. As the Allies advanced the guards grew anxious and in two hours over 700 male prisoners were executed. Everyone else was stuffed into train cars and transported to Ravensbruck—which was known as an extermination camp.

She continue to pray—Lord show us how to live in such a place.

Every day they would work all day under supervision of the guards. But everynight they would be totally unsupervised in their barracks. They could never understand it, but they were able to read their bible in peace with no fear of inspectation of punishment. And they would share with others and talk about Jesus openly. Why did they not care? One day they found out—a guard was asked to come in and settle a dispute and he refused to enter, saying, “That place is crawling with fleas!”

A week after Betsie died, just as the war was winding down and one week before all women at Ravensbruck were executed, Corrie was released because of a clerical error. She then set her goal to helping those who lost everything during the war. She told anyone should could of the hope of the gospel in even the darkest place in the world—traveling to 60 countries sharing her story.

Ill close with one story—forgiveness at all times in all circumstances.

Quote from book page 68.

She died in LA in 1983.

Who in your life do you need to extend forgiveness to? Who has wronged you that you need to forgive?

So what can we take away form this?

What can we do: (from Ligonier)

1. Visit

Never underestimate the power of presence. A visit to an orphanage or the home of a lonely widow in your church is a powerful ministry in which any Christian can engage. A greater commitment to this work can be embraced by repeated visits to a certain widow’s home who is a member of your church, or by partnering with a missionary that serves in needy orphanages around the world. Presence is powerful, and anyone can do it.

2. Include

A natural burden for orphans and widows is loneliness and a lack of belonging. Therefore, a wonderful way to care for them is to include them in your family. This can be as simple as inviting them to participate in your family birthday parties and holiday celebrations. But as God would lead, there can be a permanent inclusion through formal adoption of orphans and the informal, organic adoption of a widow into your family.

3. Honor

Widows and orphans commonly lack the family structure that provides opportunities to be honored in ways that many of us take for granted. The best opportunity to honor an orphan is to celebrate his or her birthday, while a widow commonly feels most loved when remembering her wedding anniversary with her husband (though how each individual widow needs support on this day may vary). This would require you to know these dear ones personally, as well as those important calendar dates.

4. Listen

We all need someone in our lives to simply sit in an unhurried manner and listen. Widows and orphans are no different. In fact, because they often lack a sense of belonging, taking the time to sit with them, listen to them, attentively hear them, see them, and love them in this way is certain to encourage those who battle loneliness.