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Called By God
God to give her the needed message. He answered her prayers, she spoke freely, and a
revival started among the students as a result.
Mrs. Sype could be used by God to reach diverse groups. Children, youth, and adults
found her sermons powerful, dynamic, and captivating. People who knew her have fond
memories of her person and preaching. (Shown in letters to the writer from:W. A. Howe,
Hendersonville, N.C., August 5, 1989 (See appendix A, 2.1); Mrs. Joseph S. (Lorene) Moore,
Arlington, Washington, July 7, 1984 (See appendix A, 2.2); Dr. J. M. Sorenson, Riverside,
California, July 15, 1984, See appendix A, 2.3.)
Mrs. Sype attended the Union Conference Session held at Minneapolis in the spring
of 1908, at which the Iowa Conference Committee voted to ask her to move to the
northwest corner of the state. Logan’s mother, for whom he had been caring, had
recently died, leaving him free to move with Minnie.
The Sypes arrived in Hawarden the evening of May 13, 1908, and that same night
Mrs. Sype attended a union prayer meeting sponsored by several denominations. She
was concerned when she heard one of the four ministers thanking God that there would
be a long period of peace before the end of time. Observing these influential-looking
ministers, Minnie asked herself, “Who am I, and what can I do?” She was 39 years of
age, without formal education, but on fire for God. As she asked what she could do
among these ministers who had many advantages, the answer came to her clearly, “Not
by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.” (Zechariah 4:6.)
The next day while looking for a tent site, Minnie encountered the Baptist minister.
He asked, “You make a distinction between the laws in the Bible, don’t you?”
“We are only practicing what you Baptists preach on the law question,” Minnie
replied.”You preach the Ten Commandments; we keep them.”
The preacher soon switched the topic to the weather, and the relationship remained
friendly. Mrs. Sype was invited to speak at the Baptist missionary meeting.
After the Sypes had raised their small tents and were preparing to pitch the large one,
a man claimed that he had permission to use that very ground to plant a garden and he
wanted to plow it. The Sypes assured him that they had made proper arrangements to
use the vacant lot. The disconcerting facts were that while the Sypes had made their
agreement with one man, the gardener was dealing with someone else.
Faced with this unpleasant reality, the Sypes prayed earnestly. Then Mrs. Sype met
with the real estate man from whom she had obtained permission to use the lot and
offered to pay him 5 dollars for the use of the ground; that would pay for the gardener’s
trouble, she thought, in securing another plot. The real estate man said he would do
what he could. A day or two later the Sypes thanked the Lord when they learned that
they were to be allowed to use the lot. (This incident illustrates Mrs. Sype’s method in
working with problems. She first asked the Lord for guidance and help; then she took such action
as inspiration and ingenuity devised. Five dollars had greater significance in 1908 than now.)
Before long, the big tent stood in place. Raising a large tent was a dramatic event that
attracted the attention of the whole community. Alas, the night after the happy tent-raising
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