R.I.P. Majoor Bosshardt
June 25, 2007Zojuist bereikte het trieste nieuws mij dat Majoor Bosshardt is overleden. Ik wil bij deze een diepe, diepe buiging maken voor de Grootste Nederlander Aller Tijden, een voorbeeld voor ons allemaal. Diep, diep respect voor deze vrouw.
Ik ben in dienst van God om mensen te dienen. Niet mij, maar Hem komt alle eer toe.
The sad news has just reached me that Majoor Bosshardt, the Greatest Dutchwoman of All Time, has passed away, at age 94. Majoor Bosshardt is the Mother Theresa of the low countries; in 1934, she started working in an orphanage, for the Salvation Army. When the Army was prohibited by the Nazi occupiers during the war, she continued her work for the Army undercover, helping mostly Jewish children who were brought to the Orphanage. However, a traitor reported her to the Nazis, and she was captured. Luckily, they forgot to close the door so she could escape; she continued her work, collecting food for the children during the Hungerwinter of 1944-1945.
After the war, she was stationed at the Salvation Army’s headquarters in Amsterdam. While there, she noticed the Army did little to no work in the Red Light District; as a consequence, she set up the Army’s presence in the District, taking care of the prostitutes and celebrating Christmas with them. During this time, she gave then-princess Beatrix (now my Queen) a guided tour in the Red Light District. The princess was undercover as a Salvation Army person.
She continued her work for the Salvation Army even after she retired in 1978. She continued to spread the Army’s newspaper, she visited the sick, held lectures, until 2005. She was widely known by now, and appeared on television numerous times. She has received many official decorations from the Crown. She always remained in celibacy, she never got married, and did all her good work as a volunteer. She was an extremely funny, sharp, and charming human being; she dedicated her life to serving those less fortunate. Drug addicts, prostitutes, the homeless; they were all people to her. She saw the people behind the misfortune.
One of her most famous quotes, one that shows how humble she always remained about her activities:
I am but a servant of God to serve people. All honour goes not to me, but to Him.
I bow in deep respect for this womam, one of the few people in the world who are truly good, in heart, mind, and soul. My country is in deep sorrow.
I am a christian who lives and works in the Tech industry. I am a Geek, I have Linux, BSD, Windows (gotta play games) and Mac boxen around my house. The Techie world can be very unfriendly for a christian. But I think this woman demonstrates the needed characteristic - “put up or shut up”. My tagline for my email is “Faith without Works is Dead” (from James). The world, especially the Tech world, cannot stomach shallow christians. But when Faith is put into Real practice, like we see above, nobody complains. I also think of Corrie Ten Boom, who saved the lives of many Jews during WWII - people were willing to listen to her testimony because it was backed by real action.
‘Nuff said.
Comment by Tom Dison — June 26, 2007 @ 4:53 pm