How I Became a Guide at the Corrie Ten Boom Huis Museum

“Welcome to the Corrie Ten Boom House Museum. My name is Ali, and I’ll be your tour guide today.”

In November 2021 just a few months after my family and I moved to The Netherlands, we decided to go walk around the adorable city of Haarlem for the day. It’s a city that I was especially excited about seeing because it is the home of Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian woman who helped Jews escape the Nazi’s during World War II. Without any particular plan in place that day, we strolled around the Grote Markt, admiring St. Bavo’s cathedral and town hall and peeking into small boutique shops.

“Do you mind if we go see where Corrie’s house is?” I asked my family.

We didn’t have a reservation to go inside; I hadn’t even taken the time needed in order to research the tours offered, but I just wanted to go see where she lived. The kids and I read her story in years past, and they were open to the idea of seeing where she and her family lived, so we walked to Corrie Ten Boom’s house which was less than 2-minutes from the Grote Markt.

My first impression was one of awe and confusion and that’s because I was standing here looking at a home where Corrie Ten Boom was raised and where Jews were hidden during World War II, but there it stood like a relic situated right next to an H&M, which made the house seem so commonplace in my mind. People walked about – many of them, I’m guessing, not certain of the rich history they were passing as they walked to meet friends at cafes or go shopping and sightseeing. It was a strange dichotomy of extraordinary and so utterly ordinary sitting right in front of me; I began to feel as though I knew a secret that those around me didn’t. Here was this magnificent time capsule and one day I knew I would get to explore it… 

The house has two doors – one facing the street which was the entrance to the family’s clock shop years ago. The second door, in the alleyway, was the door that family and friends would use to enter the home. Next to the entrance of the house today is a world map display that highlights the various places in which Corrie traveled after WWII. I was elated to see the map and read about the family on plaques posted outside when, to my surprise, the front door suddenly opened.

“Are you here for the tour?” a friendly Dutch-accented voice asked.

We had no reservations, and, at that time, I was unfamiliar with the tour routine which alternates English and Dutch tours on the hour throughout the day. The tour guide who opened the door was intending on doing a Dutch tour, but none of her participants were there, so she kindly opted to do the tour in English and invited us in. If you’ve ever seen Kristen Bell’s visit to the Ellen show when they’re discussing the time Kristen was going to see a sloth and the immense overwhelm she experienced that led her to sobbing ugly-cry in the fetal position, you can understand my excitement. While I didn’t cry or hyperventilate or wind up in the fetal position outside of Corrie’s house, I stood stunned and goofy-grinning as my heart rate increased, and we accepted the invitation.

The tour started in the living room where I learned that Corrie’s brother wrote his thesis on the rise of antisemitism in the 1920’s, and, at that time, I found this nugget of information to be so prophetic for what the family would encounter just a few decades later. From there we went up to Corrie’s room where we saw with our own eyes and touched with our own hands the very hiding place in which 6 people hid for nearly 48 hours as they hoped and prayed to be safe from the Nazis. Next came the exposition room where numerous photos and documents further explained the war time and Corrie’s life after the war. In the front corner of this room, my family and I were surprised to see a beautiful Indian headdress that was gifted to Corrie during her time in Flagstaff, Arizona – the very place from which we’d moved to The Netherlands. After this we moved on to the dining room and saw a beautiful embroidery that Corrie used in many of her talks around the world where she would discuss the struggles we face in life. In her talks, she would first show the underside of a particular needlework cloth and the jumbled mess of the threads that are tangled together leaving onlookers unable to render any recognizable image. This mess, it was explained, is often what we feel or see when we’re going through hard times in our lives; we can’t make sense of it, and it often leaves us is a place of disbelief. But, when we turn the cloth over, we can see a beautiful picture, and this beautiful picture is what God sees when he looks at us and what he intends our lives to look like. The story of God’s love and forgiveness was overwhelming. And like, Kristen Bell before she encountered her sloth, I too, was in tears.

That was the first of many tours. I took all our visitors to the Corrie Ten Boom (CTB) House after that day. On my third visit, the guide asked when I was going to start leading tours? Ha! Silly guides; they’re smart and funny. Leading tours was not something I could really wrap my mind around at that time. Not only would I need to become an expert on the Ten Booms, I would also need to create a lot more time in my calendar and that wasn’t an option at the moment.

Fast forward two years..

On a cold day in February, my friend Amber hopped into my car; she had never been to the Corrie Ten Boom House Museum, and as usual, I was obligated to introduce her to this beautiful place. As this point I had lost track of how many times I’d been to the museum, but the night before the tour I lay in bed thinking to myself why can’t I be a tour guide? I don’t know what all the requirements are, but I clearly have a desire to share the family’s story with others. This old dog can certainly learn new tricks.

At the end of our tour, I approached the tour guide and asked if they needed any more English -speaking guides and what the process was to become a guide. She told me that the director of the museum had just prayed that morning for more English guides, and I instantly felt God’s approval all over this new endeavor.

Two weeks later I met in Corrie’s old kitchen, now office, with the museum director and the scheduling coordinator. One spoke great English and the other not so much, but they were both welcoming and eager to get to know me. After a brief interview, I was given a book (and bought a second one) and some paperwork to learn more about Corrie’s life and her family, and I began shadowing tours each week. Potential guides are required to shadow eight tours before being able to guide a group alone. So, I set to work, reading, gathering notes, listening to various stories, and organizing the information.

Shadowing was enjoyable to me. I learned new things from each different guide. I think there are perhaps at least 30-40 guides in rotation, all of which are volunteers. One guide I shadowed shared with us that her own mother delivered newsletters for the underground. Some guides read excerpts from Corrie’s books and some showed short video clips of Corrie’s talks. Each had their own style of sharing the story of the Ten Boom family and Corrie’s story, but one thing that never varied from tour to tour was the message of God’s great love and forgiveness. I felt (and still feel) honored to be a part of this unique ministry opportunity.

I finished my shadowing tours in May and had my exam which entailed leading a tour under supervision. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but I had cheerleaders who encouraged me, and I passed. Then I was given my own tours to guide (alone) the very next weekend.

I am one of the newest (and youngest) guides at the museum. I don’t speak Dutch, but that’s okay, regardless of the hairy eyeball I receive every now and then, because I only give English tours. I love sharing Corrie’s story and even more importantly God’s story with our guests. It is one that proclaims the incredible power of prayer, love, and forgiveness. I also love the time after each tour I have to connect with the visitors. Tours end in the former clock shop, where we now sell books and other items, and it is in this space that some of the guests open up and share their own stories. Most are from the US but there are others from Canada, the UK, Germany, and many other countries as well. They share their stories with me and the ways in which Corrie’s story has been an inspiration in their own lives, and I can’t help but leave feeling blessed.

I’ve met people who have waited for years to come to the CTB House – often displaying that same sense of overwhelm I had on my first visit. Then there are those who weren’t able to make reservations online. They come anyway, waiting outside the front door in hopes of perhaps, just maybe being allowed to enter in. I call them the “hopefuls,” and if there is room, I always welcome them to join the tour. The final group of visitors are those who aren’t really familiar with Corrie’s story at all but plan well enough in-advance that they were able to book reservations. I like to think of them as the ones who have just experienced some divine intervention on their holiday.

After a tour with such heavy content, not everyone is in the mood to chat. While some desire to connect through a bit of small talk, others just leave quietly, hopefully feeling inspired by the love of a woman and her family whose mantra was “the best is yet to come!”

For those of you who are planning to visit Holland. You must check out Haarlem – especially the CTB House. Reservations are made online and they’re free: https://www.corrietenboom.com/en/home. For English tours specifically, reservations book up quickly. So, if you’re hoping to visit, plan accordingly.