Otillie Pechous
And it came to pass... (Part 2)
January, 25, 2012, 12:22 PM
The following is another excerpt from the article written by Otillie A. Pechous (Director,1923-1940)
A new missionary had come to the field. Among the duties that were assigned to her was calling in the homes, with the definite purpose of interesting women in the study of English. After three weeks of such effort it seemed like an almost hopeless task. The only response which she had received was a shrug of the shoulders, a shake of the head, and on one or two occasions the door had been shut in her face. Late in the day of that third week the worker decided to knock upon one more door. She had climbed a rickety flight of stairs to reach this door in the rear of the building. To her great surprise the door was flung wide open, and there stood a bright-faced Polish woman inviting her to come in. The missionary was so startled by this reception that she scarcely knew what to say, but was soon in the room, chatting with the woman. When asked if she was interested in studying English, the Polish woman replied, “Yes,” immediately and enthusiastically. Almost in the same breath she asked, “When you come?” The worker promised to come the following day.
The next morning, the Polish woman came to the Center and when she found he visitor of the day before, she said rather reproachfully, “ I wait and wait and you no come.” The worker assured her that she would come to see her in the afternoon. Arriving at the home the missionary found the Polish woman and her neighbor, a Greek woman, waiting for her. They had pencils and tablets in the readiness for their lesson. After what seemed a long English less for this occasion, the teacher rose to go, but the Polish woman said, “You wait.” She went into another room and returned with an arithmetic. In her broken English she explained that Rosie [her daughter] was studying fractions, that every day she came home needing help, but the mother said, “I so shamed. Rosie know more than I do.” A lesson in fraction followed the English lesson, and the Polish mother proved to be an apt pupil. O her own accord she added a speller, grammar, geography, and history to her list of books, and one day she asked, “ My husband think physiology good. You think physiology good?” And another subject was added.
Through the interest and enthusiasm of this pupil other women were enlisted and met for study at the Center. Needless to say, the Polish woman was the first of the group of men or women to receive naturalization papers and to her they were a priceless possession.
Her interest in spiritual things came about through the sickness and death of the baby in the home. Many times after that experience when the worker called she would find this mother pacing the floor, clutching either a piece of paper, the “holy picture” which was taken from the casket, or a bit of wax, the candle that had been thrust in to the dying baby’s fingers. From the piece of paper and bit of wax this Polish mother was trying to get comfort. It was then worker’s opportunity to speak to the woman about Christ and the heavenly home, for the mother grieved deeply for “the little, dead baby under the ground.” As eager as the woman had been for reading, writing, and arithmetic, just so eager was she now for the things that really count. She was given a New Testament in her own language, and hat she read it the worker well knew, because of the question the woman asked and the comments she made. After a time she announced of her own accord, “I must accept Jesus as my personal Savior.” Later she said, “I must follow him in baptism.”
Many friend and neighbors of this Polish woman came to the church to witness her baptism; but a much larger group, among them her husband and other relatives, stood on the outside and jeered at her as she entered the church. Standing on the top step, just before entering she looked down upon that taunting mob and said, “ I care not if the whole world laugh; I have Jesus.”
Weeks and months of persecution followed. She was almost ostracized from the group with whom she had associated. Her immediate family made life miserable for her, but the woman’s faith persisted. The time came when her husband, son, and daughter followed in her footsteps. “We can only submit to the Christ who has made such a changed woman of my mother,” was the son’s testimony.
Thus it has come to pass that the pass that the purpose of a Christian center as set forth by our two Home Mission societies is being realized. That purpose is “so to interpret the gospel by teaching and service as to make for Jesus Christ a commanding place in the life of the individual, the family, and the community; in other words, the regeneration of every life and all life.”
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Otillie A. Pechous made a tremendous impact during her 17 years as Director. Her writings show us the amazing spirit and attitude that she had while serving this broken community. We have only a few photographs of her but in the photo on the left you will see that she was a lovely woman that loved the work that she did. We thank God for Bethel’s “great cloud of witnesses.”
A new missionary had come to the field. Among the duties that were assigned to her was calling in the homes, with the definite purpose of interesting women in the study of English. After three weeks of such effort it seemed like an almost hopeless task. The only response which she had received was a shrug of the shoulders, a shake of the head, and on one or two occasions the door had been shut in her face. Late in the day of that third week the worker decided to knock upon one more door. She had climbed a rickety flight of stairs to reach this door in the rear of the building. To her great surprise the door was flung wide open, and there stood a bright-faced Polish woman inviting her to come in. The missionary was so startled by this reception that she scarcely knew what to say, but was soon in the room, chatting with the woman. When asked if she was interested in studying English, the Polish woman replied, “Yes,” immediately and enthusiastically. Almost in the same breath she asked, “When you come?” The worker promised to come the following day.
The next morning, the Polish woman came to the Center and when she found he visitor of the day before, she said rather reproachfully, “ I wait and wait and you no come.” The worker assured her that she would come to see her in the afternoon. Arriving at the home the missionary found the Polish woman and her neighbor, a Greek woman, waiting for her. They had pencils and tablets in the readiness for their lesson. After what seemed a long English less for this occasion, the teacher rose to go, but the Polish woman said, “You wait.” She went into another room and returned with an arithmetic. In her broken English she explained that Rosie [her daughter] was studying fractions, that every day she came home needing help, but the mother said, “I so shamed. Rosie know more than I do.” A lesson in fraction followed the English lesson, and the Polish mother proved to be an apt pupil. O her own accord she added a speller, grammar, geography, and history to her list of books, and one day she asked, “ My husband think physiology good. You think physiology good?” And another subject was added.
Her interest in spiritual things came about through the sickness and death of the baby in the home. Many times after that experience when the worker called she would find this mother pacing the floor, clutching either a piece of paper, the “holy picture” which was taken from the casket, or a bit of wax, the candle that had been thrust in to the dying baby’s fingers. From the piece of paper and bit of wax this Polish mother was trying to get comfort. It was then worker’s opportunity to speak to the woman about Christ and the heavenly home, for the mother grieved deeply for “the little, dead baby under the ground.” As eager as the woman had been for reading, writing, and arithmetic, just so eager was she now for the things that really count. She was given a New Testament in her own language, and hat she read it the worker well knew, because of the question the woman asked and the comments she made. After a time she announced of her own accord, “I must accept Jesus as my personal Savior.” Later she said, “I must follow him in baptism.”
Weeks and months of persecution followed. She was almost ostracized from the group with whom she had associated. Her immediate family made life miserable for her, but the woman’s faith persisted. The time came when her husband, son, and daughter followed in her footsteps. “We can only submit to the Christ who has made such a changed woman of my mother,” was the son’s testimony.
Thus it has come to pass that the pass that the purpose of a Christian center as set forth by our two Home Mission societies is being realized. That purpose is “so to interpret the gospel by teaching and service as to make for Jesus Christ a commanding place in the life of the individual, the family, and the community; in other words, the regeneration of every life and all life.”
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And it came to pass...
January, 24, 2012, 01:44 PM
The following is an excerpt of an article written by Otillie A. Pechous (Director,1923-1940)
Near the muddy Kaw where the fogs come up, and near the railroad yards where the noisy engines belch forth their black smoke and cinders, where the packing houses rise menacingly rather than protectingly above the tumble-down, unpainted, little houses – into this area of human desolation, made up of some fifteen different nationalities, there went a kindly, great-souled woman. Miss Nathana L. Clyde was going where she felt Christ would gladly have gone. Her desire to serve as a foreign missionary had been thwarted by home conditions. But the travail of her soul was to be satisfied in an outgoing love to the dirty, neglected, foreign children of “the bottom.” Here in April, 1911, the Baptists began a mission work in a building known as “the Bethel” and owned by the Congregationalists.
The work opened with just a small Sunday school, followed in the summer by a vacation Bible school. These schools were attended mostly by small children. By the next fall industrial classes were add, so that almost from the first the work has been characterized by settlement house features.
A few years later, when many of the families were moving out of “the bottoms” in another residence section adjacent to the packing houses, factories, and railroad yards, a branch work was opened in this district. The outlook was so promising that one of the present buildings was remodeled to meet more nearly the demands of the programs. In May, 1920, the mission in “the bottoms” was discontinues, and all the efforts were centered on the new field. In the summer of 1928 an addition two-story building and cottage were purchased to more adequately provide for the growing works. Soon afterward a “dumping ground” was secured for a nominal sum, with the hope that a much needed playground would be made possible someday. Thus it came to pass that Christian center known as the Bethel Neighborhood Center was established in Kansas City, Kansas.
Near the muddy Kaw where the fogs come up, and near the railroad yards where the noisy engines belch forth their black smoke and cinders, where the packing houses rise menacingly rather than protectingly above the tumble-down, unpainted, little houses – into this area of human desolation, made up of some fifteen different nationalities, there went a kindly, great-souled woman. Miss Nathana L. Clyde was going where she felt Christ would gladly have gone. Her desire to serve as a foreign missionary had been thwarted by home conditions. But the travail of her soul was to be satisfied in an outgoing love to the dirty, neglected, foreign children of “the bottom.” Here in April, 1911, the Baptists began a mission work in a building known as “the Bethel” and owned by the Congregationalists.
The work opened with just a small Sunday school, followed in the summer by a vacation Bible school. These schools were attended mostly by small children. By the next fall industrial classes were add, so that almost from the first the work has been characterized by settlement house features.