The White Rose

February 22nd 1943. A young German university student was marched into a bleak room, empty but for several guards and a large, meticulous guillotine. The heavy blade slid with a quiet thud.
21-year-old Sophie Scholl was dead. A few moments later her brother followed her. Then a friend. All had been convicted of treason by the Gestapo—treason, because they dared to speak out again the tyrannical leader of the Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler. Little by little, the members of this small resistance movement in Germany were found and executed. Standing up for liberty, honor and morals under a totalitarian regime was a crime worthy of death. Most found this worthy enough reason to look the other way. Only a few chose to love not their lives unto death.
Such were the members of the White Rose Resistance.

Sixty-six years later my mom and I were at a conference at Bethel Church in Redding, Ca. During a particular session we were to practice giving one another prophetic words of encouragement. My mom’s partner told her, “God sees you as a white rose.” This was a lovely word of encouragement, but held little deep significance for her: at that time neither my mom nor I had ever heard of the White Rose Resistance during WWII.
God carefully tucked that word away in mom’s heart. Months later, while studying WWII, mom came across the story of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose. Intrigued, she looked deeper into the lives of these brave, young Germans, who were willing to die in an effort to enlighten a nation in denial—to make a stand against the forces of evil.
It was then God brought back the prophetic word he had given my mom in February—that He saw her as a White Rose. This time the symbolism, parallel and meaning struck deep. What a perfect example of what we, the citizens of the Kingdom of God, are called to do for a world threatened by the powers of darkness.
As if that one prophetic word were not enough, she then remembered an incredible tie to this word from many years before. For her wedding, my mom had chosen simple floral decor. She carried a bouquet and dad wore a boutonniere made up of one red and….two white roses. To them it reflected how they were washed pure, white and clean by the sacrificed blood of Jesus.
Apparently, God knew a further significance to their wedding flowers, and excitedly revealed it to them this year—the year they made the decision together to tell the world about the amazing love of Jesus no matter the cost.
A Resistance movement. A stand against the dark forces of satan, who has crippled and imprisoned the Church in religion.
Lovingly and beautifully, as only God can do, He spoke to my mom’s heart in the form of Prophecy and Story. He revealed to her a call for us, the Church, to form a Resistance against propaganda of the devil.
No, we cannot listen to his whitewashed lies that cover-up the atrocities he commits in God’s name any longer.
No, we cannot let the message that sin separates believers from God to be taught.
No, we cannot ignore the concentration camps of guilt and condemnation that millions of Christians suffer in.
No, we cannot look the other way while the world perishes in depression, depravity and hopelessness.
We must make the choice, like Sophie Scholl did, “between what is right, and what is easy.”
Thus, we call upon you to stand with us now in bringing the Light of God’s power, truth, love and Gospel to a people in desperate need of revelation and salvation. It may sometimes feel like we’re behind enemy lines; yet the Kingdom of God is advancing around the globe. The hour is late. The time is now. He needs us, wherever we are, whatever we’re called to do, to join His Resistance.
His White Rose.

By Hannah LeBlond, July 2009