Standing four feet and eleven inches tall, Irena Sendler was an unlikely heroine. As the Nazis moved into Warsaw, Poland, during World War II, she knew she had to help her Jewish friends. A Social Worker by trade, Irena had grown up with a large-hearted father who died after contracting typhus while caring for poor Jewish people affected by an epidemic that had hit their area. The lessons of sacrifice, care and courage rubbed off on young Irena, so when she saw the more than 400,000 Jews crammed into a tiny ghetto space, she acted.
For 18 months, Irena risked her life each day, going into the ghetto to smuggle children out. As part of an underground organization known as Zegota, Irena used her Social Welfare Department permit to gain entry under the pretense of examining people for symptoms of typhus or other deadly diseases the guards feared might spread rapidly. She and 25 other volunteers would sneak children past Nazi guards by carrying them on stretchers or hiding them in suitcases.
Irena was arrested in 1943 and was tortured and beaten for refusing to reveal the whereabouts of missing children and who else was involved in the operation. It is estimated that Irena and her comrades saved the lives of approximately 2,500 Jewish children.
The apostle John tells us that “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). True love is demonstrated through courageous sacrifice and heroic deeds like those of Irena Sendler. As followers of Christ, we are called to lay down our lives for others and follow Christ’s example of heroic love, risking it all for humanity’s salvation.
While we may not be living in a physical war zone, surrounded by inhumane soldiers and vulnerable victims like Irena was, millions are locked in the ghettos of false religion and destructive belief systems. God needs men and women willing to become unlikely heroes, putting their lives on the line to save those whom the enemy is destroying.
Ellen White tells us that, “A great work is to be accomplished; broader plans must be laid; a voice must go forth to arouse the nations. Men whose faith is weak and wavering are not the ones to carry forward the work at this important crisis. We need the courage of heroes and the faith of martyrs” (Testimonies to the Church Vol. 5 p. 187).
By God’s grace, you can be a courageous hero. He can give you the faith to answer His call into the darkest places of the earth to rescue souls in sin. Will you lay down your life today and ask God to enable you to demonstrate heroic love for the unreached? Please contact us at 800-937-4236 or recruiter@afmonline.org.
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References
https://www.lowellmilkencenter.org/programs/projects/view/life-in-a-jar/hero
https://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/939081/jewish/Irena-Sendler.htm
