Marja Bergen

author, mental health advocate, follower of Christ

Category: Day by Day (page 13 of 30)

Krakow – A life worth living – Part 43

Emalia KRAKOW In September 1939, the German army invaded Poland, occupying Krakow. This ancient Polish city became the seat of the German occupation administration and was home to some 60,000 Jews. The city attracted German entrepreneurs hoping to capitalize on Poland’s adversities and make a fortune. Schindler was one of them. He appeared to thrive […]

Read More...

Oskar Schindler, a complex man – A life worth living – Part 42

Holocaust scholar, Louis Bülow describes Schindler this way: “To 1,200 Jews a womanizing, heavy-drinking, German-Catholic industrialist and Nazi Party member named Oskar Schindler was all that stood between them and death at the hands of the Nazis…Today there are more than 8,500 descendants of his Jews living in the U.S., Europe and Israel.” Schindler’s imperfections […]

Read More...

Oskar Schindler and the Holocaust – Part 41

Now we’re going to make a big jump—from a doctor in the depths of Africa to a Nazi profiteer who saved 1,200 Jews. You will find this an interesting story.   THE HOLOCAUST In January 1933, Adolph Hitler and his Nazi regime came to power in Germany, starting a twelve year rampage against all peoples […]

Read More...

The ministry of service – A life worth living – Part 40

As a person who had studied and meditated on Christ’s life, the following words from Philippians 2:5-7 must have helped inspire Dr. Schweitzer to become the servant of God he was: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with […]

Read More...

Controversy & The hospital today – A life worth living – Part 39

Alas! None of us—including the great people we talk about in this book—are perfect. We are human and we all have flaws. Trouble is, when a person is famous and highly acclaimed like Albert Schweitzer was, it shows more.  It kind of dampens the good story we’d like to tell. But we must stay truthful, […]

Read More...

Reverence for life – A life worth living – Part 38

When Dr. Schweitzer was around eight years old, he experienced something one Sunday morning that helped shape his life. At the urging of a young friend, he reluctantly aimed his slingshot at several birds which, he later wrote, “sang sweetly into the morning sunshine.” Moved, he “made a silent vow to miss. At that moment, […]

Read More...

Caring for the sick – A life worth living – Part 37

Schweitzer created a hospital village as well as a leper village. By the mid-1960’s more than 100,000 patients had been treated since its founding in 1913. In the 1960’s it was housing 500 patients and their relatives at a time. Before this, people had to depend on fetishes and superstitions. When new patients arrived, they […]

Read More...

The hospital-a village – A life worth living – Part 36

The Albert Schweitzer hospital of the 1960’s was far from the traditional hospital we’re familiar with. It was not a single building filled with beds where patients recovered from illness in a formal setting. Gabonese patients came a long way and stayed in huts, along with those who had brought them. This was a hospital […]

Read More...

Founding the hospital – A life worth living – Part 35

In 1913, the Schweitzers prepared to travel to Lambarènè, on the Ogowe River in what was then French Equatorial Africa. Here they founded their hospital at a station set up by the Paris Missionary Society. This area is now part of the independent West African republic of Gabon. But first, they needed to do a […]

Read More...

…and you shall find

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” – Matthew 7:7

Read More...
Older posts Newer posts

© 2025 Marja Bergen

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑