Many people know the story of Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian who, along with her family, helped Jewish individuals escape the Nazis during World War II. Lakeland resident and First Presbyterian Church (FPC) member Renee Hawk presents a one-woman show that tells the story of ten Boom.
“I imagine I am doing what I am today because I always really had to find my own way,” Hawk says. “My parents were working class people, but my mom pushed for me to learn the violin, and that’s how I learned to read music. My teachers would say, ‘oh, Renee, you are so dramatic.’”
Hawk says she really didn’t admit until her 30s that God was tugging her toward him and that he had a plan for her life.
She began attending FPC and singing in the choir. “This choir has always been the most fabulous church choir I’ve ever known,” Hawk says. “We have always had good direction, and the choir has always been a treasure to me.”
Through the church, Hawk met Peggy Snow, FPC’s longest resident member, who helped Hawk research ten Boom. “In my heart, I was being told. Peggy helped me after I found Corrie’s story in Chicken Soup for the Soul. I did the monologue for His Company (a former dramatic group with FPC). People really gravitated toward the message.”
Storytelling Preparation
Hawk began to read all she could about ten Boom and said she thought her performance should center around social justice.
“I pulled out some things to make her more real, to bring out her personality and what she went through, what she lived through,” Hawk says. “I am a big believer in authenticity, and I try as much as possible to use Corrie’s own words.”
Her show is a 40 minute program with 15 minutes of question and answer afterward.
“I did my first real production of the show for OAM (FPC’s Older Adult Ministry) before the pandemic,” she says. “In 2022, I did it for a second time in the chapel.” Her production was part of the Performing Arts Series that year. More than 100 members of the church and community attended the performance.
The Life of Corrie
Born in 1892 in Haarlem, Netherlands, ten Boom was the head of a resistance movement in World War II that included 80 additional activists.
“She moved people to safe houses where they could hide and not be discovered,” Hawk says. “This quiet, demure lady had a fire within her that had to be big enough to defy the law, to defy existing mores.”
“That heart is what I want to express. She fought hatred and had to come to forgive,” Hawk says. “God is the one reason for Corrie’s never-ending energy. He knew what he had, he just needed to mold the clay.”
“I think the people of God need to hear this,” she continues. “We are here to open minds and hearts, and this drama should do that.”
Arts in Faith
“There is a power much stronger than my own will behind all of this as it has fallen into place,” she says. “It seems like this is the time. I prayed that God would provide something of my own in the arts.”
“Arts are so important,” she says. “The church needs to pick them up and have grassroots support for that. We can combine as many elements of the arts as we can with existing programs.”
“If you love it, you’re going to learn it,” she continues. “Drama is so important. You have to find kids who don’t know they need it. When you love the arts, you will find a way to do what is best for you and what is loved by others.”
Love of Choir
“Choir is my heart,” she says. “We are so blessed by Sam (Carlton, Classic Worship Arts Director), just overwhelmingly blessed.”
She says the church should encourage all efforts Carlton makes to update, embellish, and bring the arts at FPC into the 21st Century.
“He’s young, and we need to support, encourage, and pray for him,” she continues. “He’s one of the reasons older choir members are able to continue to sing as he teaches proper exercises and breath.”
Ten Boom at FPC
In 1973, ten Boom was a guest speaker at FPC. Ten Boom traveled to FPC with Ellen De Kroon Stamps who served as her traveling companion for nearly a decade before Stamps’ marriage. She wrote a book about her time and travels with ten Boom entitled, My Years with Corrie.
Ten Boom spoke to the church, and Stamps led a day of prayer and fasting. According to the FPC History Book (written in part by Snow), both meetings were open to the public and received overwhelming response.
Women of the church arranged for lodging for the two women and delivered home-cooked meals to their ‘hiding place.’
Margaret Clements, President of the Women of the Church, was responsible for the event.
Continuing Devotion
“God writes our scripts,’ Hawk says. “I feel like this is my life mission. I’ve been given something by God that flows through me. I will sing and present the Gospel in this manner until my last breath.”
“When I look back, I owe God my life. I cannot repay with this, but it is an outpouring of gratefulness,” she says.