As I was thinking about Psalm 84 recently, and looking at verses 5-7 which describe those who believe in the Lord, I realized that v. 6 describes a unique way of doing the work of missions:
“Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring; The early rain also covers it with blessings.”
The “valley of Baca” is the valley of “weeping”, or the valley of “suffering”. It is a HARD place. We, as Jesus’ people, are intended to bring “refreshment” to HARD places.
According to Christian radio, May 1st was to be observed 
as “Holocaust Remembrance Day”, in order to remember the 6 million Jews (and others) who were put to death during World War II, by the Nazis in their concentration camps, etc. The Holocaust experience was definitely a “place of weeping”, a HARD place.
When I think of that time, I always think of Corrie ten Boom (see photo on right) and her family who were sent to the concentration camps because they had hidden Jews from the Nazis in order to save their lives. On our return from India, a couple of years ago, Pastor Bob W. Lee and I had the opportunity to visit the Corrie ten Boom museum in Haarlem in the Amsterdam area. We were able to see the secret “Hiding Place” in their home where the Jews were hidden. When the ten Booms were arrested for their “illegal” activities, the hiding place was not discovered and the Jews hiding there were later let out by friendly Dutch policemen. The ten Booms were practicing this unusual missionary work of bringing “refreshment” to HARD places in their hiding of the Jews. They continued to fulfill Ps. 84:6 as they were sent to the concentration camps. Corrie writes in her “Tramp For The Lord”:
“When I was in a prison camp in Holland during the war, I often prayed, ‘Lord, never let the enemy put me in a German concentration camp.’ God answered no to that prayer. Yet in the German camp, with all its horror, I found many prisoners who had never heard of Jesus Christ. If God had not used my sister Betsie and me to bring them to Him, they would never have heard of Him. Many died, or were killed, but many died with the Name of Jesus on their lips. They were well worth all our suffering.
They fulfilled both parts of this verse:
1) they made it a place of “springs”, a place of unexpected refreshment, like a spring of pure water bubbling up from the ground. A week after her sister died in Ravensbruck (see photo at left), Corrie and the other thousands of prisoners in the camp were gathered in the cold morning wind for roll call. Corrie was called to stand apart and she wondered why? Was it for punishment?...or freedom?…or execution?...or to be sent to another camp? A young girl was called to stand beside her. The girl thought they were to receive the death sentence. Corrie prayed for the Lord to give her all the love and wisdom she needed for Him to use her to make use of this last chance to bring someone to Him before she arrived in heaven. She introduced herself to the girl and asked if she read the Bible and if she believed in God. When the girl wanted to know more, Corrie told her about Jesus who died on the cross for them and is always with them even in their suffering and who took away all her hatred and bitterness for her enemies. For the 3 hours that the roll call lasted, she explained many things about Jesus with the prisoners behind them listening. She told her how to ask Jesus into her heart and the girl did. The siren sounded and the prisoners left for work. Corrie was left standing alone and released to freedom due to an administrative blunder.
2) the early rain covered it with blessings. As they came to this HARD place, trusting in the Lord, He acted in their situation, answering their prayers, and bringing them a “SHOWER” of blessings. When they first came to Ravensbruck, Corrie was carrying a Bible, hidden in a bag on a string between her shoulder blades. They needed to take off all their clothes and walk naked past the guards. But they asked to use the toilets and were let into the shower room and they were able to hide the Bible in a pile of benches and retrieve it later. But then it made a bulge under her prison dress, so Corrie prayed the Lord to send His angels to surround them and be “untransparent”. The woman behind her and her sister after her were both searched, but they didn’t touch or even look at Corrie. They went through another examination line, but when Corrie slowed down for it, they moved her along. As a result they had God’s Word and held Bible studies in their barracks which became known as “the crazy place, where they hope.”
WE are also called to bring unexpected “refreshment” to HARD places, the valleys of our own sufferings, and the valleys of other’s sufferings. Are you refreshing, and being refreshed, by Jesus, today?
Editor’s note: If you want to see a live interview with Corrie ten Boom on YouTube, please click here.
Craig Wentzel
