ing. Someone shouted, “A man’s been shot outside.” "Hand Over Your Guns" Miss Bethke went to the door, the light shining on her white hair. She pleaded, “ Boys, give me your guns. This is Christmas Eve, a time of peace on earth. Don’t be fight ing.” She continued pleading until the men stopped fighting but the program was called off. Since then no night program at the school- house has been planned. It’s just too dangerous. I n spite of such incidents prog ress was made. The people have learned to trust Miss Bethke and those who help her. Probably the surest proof of Miss Bethke’s success is seen in the l i ve s o f those wh om she has touched. When she first went to Los t Creek, Sewe l l Land r um attended the school. He came from a large, Christian family. Miss Bethke led him to the Lord and encouraged all the children to go to the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Three other brothers and a girl went ahead of Sewell and the mother depended upon Sewell. A younger brother was killed in a hunting accident, so the mother came to Miss Bethke and said, “ I’m a wonderin’, if I don’t let Sewell go to that B io l a place, if the Lord might not take him, too.” “ If the Lord is putting that on your heart, you’d better let him go,” Miss Bethke said simply. Sewell went to B io l a , graduated and went back to live in Clay Hole. Here, where it is usual to hold the church in the schoolhouse, Sewell Landrum has financed the build ing of an attractive church. Things have changed in the mo un t a i n s o f Kentucky. Mi s s Bethke no longer rides a mule. Now, at 76, when she goes to de liver a baby she rides in a jeep. Her persistent purpose for God has brought her a welcome. END.
much sound to their preaching. This, Annie Bethke knew, was a place to which she could take the gospel.. S he was 40 when she graduated in 1919. That summer she nursed, saved her money and gave it to “Daddy” Hillis to buy her a ticket to Kentucky. He went to the ticket office. But when he put his hand into his pocket to take out his wallet, he found it had been stolen. Grieved, he returned to B io l a and reported the loss. Im mediately an offering was taken to buy Miss Bethke’s ticket. So she left Los Angeles with only 25 cents in her purse. In Denver, a friend met the train and gave her $10. Miss Bethke went to work at Biverside School, a Brethren Mis sion, in Lost Creek. She found the conditions all “Daddy” Hillis had said they would be. The hills had a breathless beauty but life was primitive and hard. The ground was steep and terraced. Often a boy hoed com or sweet potatoes on a level with his waist. There were no cows because there was no grazing ground, and only a few chickens and a pig or two. They'd Sing 15 Verses When a death occurred, the body was buried simply. Then once or twice a year the people gathered for a great memorial service, honoring those who had died. They would bring a picnic lunch and sit around on the g r ound or on stumps. They’d sing songs, often with 15 verses, and the local preacher preached from Genesis to Revela- tion and back again. Then every one would cry and mourn. At the school Miss Bethke was matron, Sunday school teacher and advisor. She had been there for four years when -a girl said, “Miss Bethke, why don’t you come to Stray Branch? We ain’t never had no Sunday school. We’re just plain heathen.” Miss Bethke smiled at the little girl and thought to herself, I’ ll go as soon as 1 have $200 saved to
start a mission. Is $200 o f m ore value than souls? came the answer from the Lord. “ I’ll go,” Miss Bethke answered the Lord, as much as she did the little girl. Stray Branch was a schoolhouse and a few houses at the entrance to a “ holler.” In 1924 these mo un t a i n c a n y o n s were thickly settled. About 435 persons lived in Stray Branch, with no way out except to walk or ride mule back. The canyon’s mouth was crossed by a wide and deep river. One had to skirt the moun tain two miles to either right or left to find a bridge to cross over to the main road. Home in a Feed Shed Sewe l l Robe r t s offered Miss Bethke his feed shed (a lean-to) to live in. He was sick and thankful to have a nurse nearby. The rats who had had the place to them selves objected to Miss Bethke moving in. During the night they raced and skipped over her body. She had to put her face under the blanket to keep their claw-like feet off her. T he people in the holler wanted no part of her. She was a “ for eigner,” and a squatter. It was in the hope of getting rid of her that they wouldn’t help her build her house. And when the house was built, they wouldn’t dig coal to sell her. They figured to freeze her out. She burned every stray board and paper she could to keep warm. One morning someone left a sack of coal at the foot of the path leading to her house. After that she was able to buy coal. But the way was never easy. She did reach the place where she thought she’d have a program at the schoolhouse on Christmas Eve. The children were trained. The parents were invited. The people began to gather and, with them, the boys from the hollers. Soon outside the schoolhouse they were d r i nk i n g and whooping it up. Next, they were fighting and shoot
From the forthcoming book, "Medical Mission aries You Would Like to Know," published by Zondervan.
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O C TO B ER , 1955
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