Her name was Irena Sendlerowa. She lived in Poland when the Germans had the Jewish people imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto. Irenea was responsible for the identification and treatment of tuberculosis so she had frequent access into the Ghetto.
Irena knew that her life mattered beyond treating TB. She saw the handwriting on the wall for the Jews in Europe and knew that she had an avenue to help bring freedom. It wasn't an all out assault, it was more like a slow trickle of hope offered to the imprisoned Jews.
This is what she did. She smuggled infants and young children out of the Ghetto.
This is how she did it: she trained her dogs to bark whenever the German guards were present so that the children weren't detected, even if they were crying in fear. She put them in suitcases, bags, even coffins to smuggle them out.
Eventually, Irena was caught and brutually tortured and sentenced to death. However, she bribed a guard and escaped. All in all, she saved 2, 500 lives. She kept their names in a glass jar buried in her yard, so that when the war was over, she was able to re-unite many of the children back to their families.
I love this story.
I love the idea that if we take our ordinary circumstances and think creatively with God's imagination planted within us, we can do extraordinary things!
I dream about what can happen with Missio Lux. Imagine people all over the world, dreaming and asking God how they can take their ordinary life and make it count for something that will transform entire villages, generations, or even the course of history.
Irena Sendlerowa died on May 12 this year. She was 98. We won't have a holiday named after her, but for her courage, she deserves one. I choose to remember and honor her life, the power of her life should not be forgotten. Who do you know that is making a silent difference in their circumstances? Perhaps it is you; let's tell the stories!
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