Irena Sendler loved children.

She spent years of her life smuggling them out of Warsaw Ghetto, an unofficial internment camp set up by the Nazis in Poland.

The penalty for assisting Jews at that time was punishable by death, but Irena fearlessly sought to find safe havens for thousands of babies and small children anyway. She kept a secret list of which convent, orphanage, or other charity facilities each child was in, so one day they could be reunited with their families.

However, three years into Irena’s mission, the Nazis discovered what she was doing. Arrested and brutally beaten, she was sentenced to death. But she never shrank back. She never betrayed the details of her mission. She never revealed any children’s names.

Because of Irena, thousands were saved and thousands stayed safe. On her way to stand before her firing squad, God sent rescuers.

Did Irena go into hiding then? No! Under a new name, she boldly went on with her humanitarian work.

When something really matters — such as the well-being of God’s precious children — when someone is truly valued, fear is forgotten. Those things, those people that our hearts are poured into, we stand boldly to defend. We don’t shrink back on our passions.

God wants to be our passion. Great love doesn’t shrink back.