Florence “Floss” was born on January 2, 1922 as the second oldest of a family with five children. Her father owned 2,000 acres of land in Rankin County, Mississippi. She said in her slow southern drawl, “I grew up in the deep south where people were respectful and polite. As children, even though we had servants and lots of them, we were never allowed to be rude to them at all...my parents didn’t allow that.” She continued, “I had a wonderful upbringing with Christian parents and attended a Baptist church all my life. When I was nine years old, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I understood what I was doing and was baptized.” After living on the farm for eight years, her parents moved the family to Jackson, Mississippi so the children could receive a better education. Years later, Floss graduated from college with a Bachelor’s degree in business and then later earned her Master’s Degree.
Floss met Alf Waggener in Baptist Young People’s Union (BYPU) at the Calvary Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi. She laughed as she recalled, “I was in a play where he was the voice behind the piano giving us our cues. He was going to Mississippi College at the time and I was a senior in High School. We met and soon fell in love. Then, the war came along. We were married in California in December, 1942 with no relatives present because travel was restricted during World War II.”
The newlyweds moved seven times over the first year of marriage, because Alf was an Aviation Cadet, learning to fly airplanes. During their second year of marriage, Alf was away from home flying combat missions over Germany in P-38s and P-51s. He flew cover for the D-Day Invasion of France. Floss stated, “God took care of him! He had a verse of scripture that he carried with him when he flew over enemy territory. ‘For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.’ II Timothy 1:7(NKJ).”
In August, 1951, the Air Force sent Alf, then a young captain, to be a Procurement Officer in Tokyo, Japan and also to fly combat cargo missions during the Korean War. Floss recalled, “I had no desire to go to the Far East. I wanted the Air Force to send us to Europe, because I thought it would be wonderful to travel there.” While dealing with her disappointment about the new location, she found that Japan was closed to military dependents and she had to travel later as a tourist. Alf made arrangements for her and their six year old daughter, Pat, to join him in Japan three months after he arrived. Floss and Pat ended up taking a 17 day ocean trip on a small freighter which left port out of San Francisco, and sailed right under the Golden Gate Bridge. Floss recalled that trip, “Before we arrived in Japan we hit a typhoon! I didn’t know how to swim, but being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it wouldn’t have mattered. I tried not to let my daughter know I was afraid!”
Alf, Floss and Pat rented Japanese houses for six months awaiting government housing to become available. Floss said, “I learned enough Japanese to ask directions and how much things cost. It was our young daughter, Pat, who spoke it well.” Despite the language barrier, Floss was able to drive all over the city of Tokyo as well as pick up Alf from the Air Force Base at Tachikawa several miles away.
Floss remembered seeing bombed out buildings since they lived there during the years of 1951-1954. Despite any possible hostility the Japanese people might have had in the aftermath of World War II, Floss felt quite safe. She said, “I didn’t meet any rude Japanese people; they were all very nice to us. My husband worked with them in procurement and he got along really well with them too.” They even hosted a Bible study for a group of Japanese university students each week in their home. The students wished to learn English so they taught them, using a Gospel of John printed in Japanese and English.
While stationed in Tokyo, Japan in 1951, Alf and Floss attended church at the Army Chapel Center. There they met many missionaries who were in Tokyo attending language school. Floss remembered, “One day, I got a call from Dave Morken, Head of Youth for Christ in Japan. He asked me, ‘Have you ever heard of Corrie ten Boom?’ He continued, ‘She is coming to Tokyo and I need a home for her to stay in and a driver to take her around to speaking engagements. She will be here in about two weeks.’ Then, he asked me if we would be interested. I did not know anything about her, but I immediately told him, ‘Yes, we would love to keep her in our home!’ That was how my ten unforgettable days started and they resulted in a life-long friendship with Corrie ten Boom!”
Cornelia “Corrie” ten Boom (1892-1983) was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on April 15, 1892. She was a Dutch Christian, along with her father, Casper, a watchmaker, and sister, Betsie. Over a 20 month period they helped many Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust. Several members of the ten Boom family were arrested in February, 1944. Casper, Corrie and Betsie were transported in cattle cars by the Nazis. Casper died just 10 days later at Scheveningen prison. Corrie and Betsie were sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp where they spent the next 10 months in deplorable conditions. Just 12 days before Corrie was released on a technicality, Betsie died. Years later, Corrie wrote many books including her autobiography, The Hiding Place (1971), which, in 1975, was released as a film of the same name. It starred Houston actress, Jeanette Clift George as Corrie. After the war, Corrie traveled to 60 different countries sharing her testimony. Many people became Christians throughout the world. One of those countries was Japan where Corrie met Floss.
Floss described her first impression of Corrie ten Boom, “She was a charming lady. I thought she was old then, although she was only 62! She wore her hair in a bun and had a thick Dutch accent. She was so courteous and polite and had eyes that sparkled. Miss ten Boom was such a happy person and had such a positive attitude. She also had a good sense of humor.” Floss continued, “I just fell in love with her...my whole family did.”
Floss fondly remembered those ten mornings and evenings that Corrie spent with them in their home, “We got up every morning and had breakfast together. Then I would drive her to her different speaking engagements.” Floss said, “She was the same person everywhere, all day long as well as into the evening. We would come home and have dinner together, along with Alf and Pat. Miss ten Boom was wonderful to our daughter. Pat has vivid fond memories of her to this day.”
While driving Corrie to and from her speaking engagements, Floss got to spend a lot of one on one time with Corrie. She recalled, “Miss ten Boom would not have a long conversation without mentioning something about Jesus. While in the car or stopping to eat, she would talk about Jesus!” Floss continued, “She was a true believer! She would also tell us about her own faults; about her doubts. She said that when people say they didn’t ever have any doubts, she said she always wondered about them”!
Several of the speaking engagements were at universities in Tokyo. Corrie would share her experiences of the Holocaust through an interpreter. She always gave an invitation to each audience and would remain afterwards to talk with anyone for as long as it took. Floss attended every speaking engagement, listening to Corrie share her heart through her stories, over and over again. She recalled, “Miss ten Boom had such a beautiful way of talking and such a powerful testimony. She told them what she had been through, which was much worse than what most of the people she talked to had ever experienced in the war. She always told them how God was always with her, even though He allowed Betsie and her father to die, but that He was with them all the way.” Floss continued, “She made it clear that God didn’t promise to save you from pain and suffering on earth, but would never leave you during it. She did talk a lot about our Heavenly home. She was a very humble person with such a strong and vibrant faith.”
Corrie shared with Floss and others at her speaking engagements information about her life with her family before the war as well as her time spent in the terrible conditions of the concentration camp. One specific story was about a very mean German guard. Floss recalled her words, “Miss ten Boom said, ‘I just hated him! I knew that wasn’t right, but he just treated everyone in the concentration camp something terrible.’ She told me that as years went by after the war was over, she went back to Germany and while speaking to a large group she looked out and saw that very German guard in the audience!” Floss continued, “She said, ‘Hate just came over me and I thought, ‘Here I am, Lord, going around speaking about You and I am letting hate into my heart again!’ That’s when she remembered the Lord’s command, ‘You will love your enemy’. Miss ten Boom said as she finished her speech, the man came running up to her and said, ‘Do you remember me?’ to which she replied, ‘Oh, yes I do’. He said, ‘I want you to know that I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and I want to ask you to forgive me.’ She reached out her hand to that once evil man and said in a soft voice, ‘Sir, I will forgive you as my Father has forgiven me!’” And in that moment, God lifted a huge burden from Corrie’s heart. Floss said that because of this experience and others, Corrie constantly preached about the importance of forgiveness and God’s love and faithfulness.
Floss was also impressed when Corrie told her about the tiny New Testament Bible that she was able to keep with her during the entire time of her imprisonment. Floss shared, “She was so afraid that they were going to take it away from her, but God just took care of that New Testament the whole time. That is what she and the other women would read while they were imprisoned. When they would get together in the room that they all had to sleep in at night, she said they would read out of
that New Testament.” Because of that experience, Corrie always told the people that they should memorize scripture because you never knew when the Bible could be taken away, “She told me to be sure to memorize scripture.”
The relationship with Floss and Corrie remained strong. Floss spoke softly as she remembered, “We kept up with her until she died. We always wrote at Christmas and in between too! She always answered our letters. One Christmas, we didn’t hear from her and we knew that she was gone. She was an outstanding Christian.” Floss recalled, “She just impressed me so much with her deep, deep faith. I have never met anyone with such a strong a spiritual walk with the Lord. That increased my faith because of hers.”
One of the main things that Floss took away from her 10 days with Corrie ten Boom was the importance of prayer. “She taught me that prayer is one of the most important things that a Christian can do. She said, ‘Don’t ever give up on praying for someone even though they look like they are never going to accept Christ. Never give up! God always hears your prayers.’” Floss said with conviction, “My prayer life has grown stronger and stronger since I met her and that is now the deepest aspect of my life! I am 91 now, so I can’t do a lot of things, but I can pray! She taught me that it is a privilege to pray for other people.”
Floss pointed out that Jesus Christ was always at the center of their lives and marriage. She said, “Alf and I prayed together before we were married and still do 71 years later! We are a praying couple. Christ is extremely real to me and has blessed us through the years, even when life hasn’t gone smoothly. My favorite verse is ‘Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ Romans 15:13 (NKJ).’”
As the writer of this article, I am extremely privileged to be a recipient of Floss’ daily and persistent prayers for my five year old son, James, who was diagnosed with epilepsy a year and half ago. She has never met me or my son, but heard about us from my grandmother, Emogene Benson (88), who lives in Ohio and attends the same church as the Waggeners. I once asked her why Floss prays every day for James. She laughed and then corrected me saying, “Oh, Mikelle, she doesn’t just pray daily...she petitions God 3, 4 and 5 times a day on his behalf...she is a prayer warrior!” What a humbling thought that such a godly woman who has never spent a minute in James’ presence cares that much. Though, over 1,100 miles separates us, we are united through Jesus Christ. So, those days when I just do not want to get out of bed, I remember that an elderly lady named Floss is praying for us and that encourages me to begin my day. God is so amazing when we realize that He can put two very different women together like Floss and Corrie for ten days! Lives impacted back then as well as now, including this writer’s life, will never be the same!