Dirk Willems lived in the Duchy of Guelders (what we call the Netherlands today) in the 16th century. He was an Anabaptist. This meant that he didn’t believe in infant baptism – he believed in the believers’ baptism. He hosted a church in his home, but was caught by the state church. Any challenge to the state church’s theology was seen as an affront to the righteousness of Christ and to the authority of the state. He was put in a prison that was surrounded by a moat.
Day by day, Dirk collected scraps of rags until he finally had enough to tie into a rope. He wasted no time in scrambling down to make his escape. He ran toward the moat, but he could hear a guard chasing after him. It was early in the Spring. The frozen moat had begun to melt and it was covered with a thin sheet of ice. Dirk hadn’t been fed much when he was imprisoned. His weight was so low that he made it across safely. The guard who chased after him had eaten just fine over the same period of time. He fell through the ice, yelping, panicked. As a Christian, Dirk believed he had no choice but to save the guard’s life. Dirk turned back to save him when he could have been free.
The rescued guard told his superiors they should let Dirk go. How could a man with such love be a threat to the kingdom? Still, they recaptured Dirk and imprisoned him in a tall church tower. He freely confessed his faith. A panel of seven judges found him guilty and ordered that he be burned at the stake. The place of execution was three miles outside of town, but there was a strong wind that day. It was so strong that people in the town could hear his voice calling out: “O Lord; my God” over and over. He witnessed his faith to the end, trusting his soul to God.
Sources:
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Willems
*https://amnetwork.uk/resource/why-did-dirk-willems-turn-back/
*https://www.goshen.edu/mqr/dirk-willems/
*https://anabaptistfaith.org/dirk-willems/
*https://bc4gc.org/blog/2024/02/23/dirk-willems-loving-his-enemy-to-death