Miss Nancy

Title: Miss Nancy
Author: Harvey Yoder
Major Themes: Amish, Belize, Missionaries
Synopsis: An Amish woman spends her life helping people in Belize, Central America.

I’ve enjoyed every book I’ve read by Harvey Yoder. He has a gift for telling the story of a person’s life in a way that makes it read like a novel. The stories he tells are quite inspiring, as well. Each describes the life of a person or people who live for God.

One of my sisters gave us Miss Nancy several months ago. My “To Read” list is so long that I only now got around to reading it. This book is well worth reading. Miss Nancy’s life touched many people, both in the United States and in her adoptive country of Belize, as she lived out her strong faith in God.

Nancy Coblentz was born to an Amish family in Ohio during the difficult early years of the Great Depression. As soon as she was old enough to be helpful to her family, she was put to work planting, weeding, and harvesting the family’s enormous fields of celery and other produce. She would look at the airplanes flying overhead, however, and dream of someday flying on one “to whereever airplanes go!” When she reached the age of 16, she dedicated her life to Jesus, and was baptized a couple of years later; several years after that, she had an experience with God that changed her whole life. She lived her life, from then on, sold out to Jesus. He led her to Belize (when the country was still known as British Honduras) as a missionary with Amish Mennonite Aid when she was 35, and she has spent her life there to this day.

I found Miss Nancy challenging and exciting. It was quite challenging to read of Nancy’s dedication to her Lord. She knew she wanted to spend her life in service to Him alone, and she did, even praying that a man who was interested in marrying her would not ask her to marry him. She spent much time praying for people in need, people who were possessed with devils, people who constantly stole from her, people who were starving and ragged. It was exciting to read of the way God is working in the lives of people in Belize and to see what He can do with their messed-up lives. Miss Nancy is truly a book to encourage you in your walk with God.

WARNING: Not for children; there are graphic descriptions of people under the control of demons.