Dios es Amor It seems your publication isn't ready to go worldw | Page 25

Farmer’s Wife Becomes Evangelist
the corn planter trying to make straight rows across the wide field, and pulled herself
reluctantly from the clutches of a warm bed to harvest corn before school on shivery fall
mornings. Although life was demanding—Minnie worked away from home on-and-off
from the age of 13 to contribute to the family income—the children felt love and security
in their family.
Mrs. Day occasionally read the Bible to her children, but Minnie grew up craving
more religious instruction. After hearing her mother read the story of the flood from
Genesis, Minnie found her mind whirling with questions, questions, questions, for
which she could not find answers.
Sometimes as she rounded up the cows on the prairie to bring them home to be
milked, Minnie looked up into the blue sky and felt a keen longing to know about God.
She wished that people around her would talk about God more. At the age of 10, the
child felt herself a wicked person whom no one could understand or help.
When meetings were held in the Brethren Church, Minnie eagerly responded to a
call to give her heart to God. Although she felt somewhat better as a result, after the
meetings ended she was still dissatisfied because she didn’t understand the basics of how
to believe in God.
At 13 Minnie was glad that her parents finally consented for her to be baptized into
the Christian Church. As she tried to live a godly life, the troubled girl sometimes felt
peace. More often, however, she seemed overwhelmed with a sense of her sinfulness.
The reassuring knowledge that she was forgiven eluded her.
Mrs. Day longed for her children to receive an education. She taught Minnie to read and
encouraged the girl to attend school as much as possible. Eventually Minnie had opportunity to attend normal school for teacher training. From this program she received a certificate that allowed her to start teaching just before her eighteenth birthday.
Minnie Day taught at several schools. For the most part, she was a successful teacher.
She did encounter a few challenging discipline problems. On her first day of teaching, a
14-year-old lad asserted his authority over the younger boys in challenge to the teacher
(who, you recall, had reached the mature age of 17). Minnie decided that she must give
the uncooperative lad a sound thrashing. She kept him after school, closed all the doors
and windows, and set to the task with determination. She found with relief that the
young man responded by causing no more trouble. All such crises Minnie resolved with
creative resourcefulness. She came to regard the classroom an effective training place for
teachers as well as students.
Soon after she went to teach in Sand Creek Township, Minnie met an eligible young man
of good reputation, Logan P. Sype. One reason she liked him was that he didn’t smoke or
drink. Minnie had vowed that no suitor would ever puff tobacco smoke in her face.
Logan was a religious person; more specifically, he and his parents were Seventh-day
Adventists. This religion sounded strange to Minnie, but she admired Logan’s Christian
principles enough to be happy to date him. Because he had a splendid voice, frequently
he was asked to present a solo or lead the singing for some event, and he would ask

25