The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1928, Page 23

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER. 23

Obtaining the consent of the Mission Board, we
again started the work at Ackerville, asking God to
bless the effort. An old shack was rented (I think
it costs $2 a month), a teacher was placed at this
station, and a school was opened. ‘The enemies
again directed their attack against the little flock
which had become interested. They showed a united
front, and their slogan was: “The Lutheran Church
shall get no footing here!” Many parents declared:
“We would rather have our children spend their
youth hunting rabbits and get no education than
have them attend the Lutheran school.” An oppo-
sition school was opened by the enemies. Still, the
faithful few continued to attend services‘and to send
their children to school. A class willing to be in-
structed in the Word of God and join the Lutheran
Church was formed.

March 20, 1927, brought a harvest at Ackerville.
On that day thirty-four souls were received into
the Lutheran Church. A very large crowd gathered
to hear a sermon preached by Pastor Westcott.
That same day the organization of the congregation
was effected. Great was our joy and the joy of the
people over this success of God’s Word, success
which came in the face of bitter and furious oppo-
sition. Since that time several classes of confir-
mands have been added to our St. Mark’s Congre-
gation here.

It may be of interest to say a few words about
one soul received into the fold on December 13,
1927. We refer to old “Aunt Patsy” Benson.
“Aunt Patsy” had never joined a church. She was
born quite some time before the Civil War. In

“Aunt Patsy” in Front of Her One-Room Hut
near Ackerville.

fact, it was during that war that her husband dis-
appeared, never to return. What happened to him,
whether he is dead or alive, no one knows. “Aunt
Patsy” has since spent her days alone, living in a
little one-room hut. She is now, she says, about

ninety-two or ninety-six years old. Still active, she
does her own little farm work and ekes out a scanty
living. Before her conversion she was mean, selfish,
and even dangerous. We heard of her long before

Pastor John Thompson and Family.

we had an opportunity of seeing her. Her name
was on the lips of people throughout the surround-
ing country. She would curse; she would fly into
a rage upon the slightest provocation. For this
reason people had nothing to do with this old soul
who lived “way back yonder in the woods.”
Nothing seemed to arouse her fury so thoroughly
as when some one would try to tell her about God
and heavenly things. She was even reported to
have thrown hot water and irons at those who at-
tempted to speak to her about her soul. We longed
to see “Aunt Patsy” and tell her the wondrous story
of redeeming love.

Venturing near her home one day, we saluted
her. In answer to our greeting we got, “Who are
you? I ain’t got no time to be worried with you-
all.” When we informed her, “We'll wait until
you are through with your work,” she left ‘the room
with the order, “Don’t you let me find you here
when I come back!” We left — and others watched
and laughed. A few days later we returned. We
confess that we held our distance. Whether “Aunt
Patsy” saw us coming and closed her door, we do
not know. But for several weeks there was no
answer coming from behind that closed and for-
bidding door when we called.

One cold morning we arose with “Aunt Patsy”
on our mind. A few hours later we were at her
cabin door. Actually, the door was open. ‘This
convinced us that she could not be far away. There,

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