Night Preacher

This story is told through the eyes of bettje and jan, children of menno simons, who lived almost 500 years ago. menno simons was first a catholic priest. as he read and studied the bible, menno began to understand the christian life in a different way. eventually he became an anabaptist preacher. it was against the laws of that time for him to preach so menno's preaching was done in secret at night to small groups. soon, menno simons became the leader of the anabaptists, now known as mennonites. for 9-to-14-year-olds. from the back cover the story of all that happened as menno went about preaching is seen through the eyes of bettje and jan. they too suffered hardships because their father was a night preacher. one mennonite historian who read the story said that it was a "lively, accurate, highly readable" story of menno simons. the author was careful in adding details to see that they were in keeping with the way people lived and thought in those days. louise a. vernon was born in coquille, oregon. as children, her grandparents crossed the great plains in covered wagons. after graduating from willamette university, she studied music and creative writing, which she taught in the san jose public schools.