Betty Yost Shares Her Massanetta Story

For nearly 100 years, Massanetta Springs has been a place for all people to experience God through renewal, discovery, and hospitality. Our mission is lived out in so many ways, but perhaps it is never better told than through one life at a time. When you give to Massanetta Springs before December 31, 2019, you’re changing lives one at a time. Recently I was able to sit down with a person whose whole life was changed through visits to Massanetta Springs over more than seven decades. It was a joy to visit with Betty Yost, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading a little about her story, as much as I did hearing it in person.

“So many things in my life have been ‘God things.’ Massanetta is certainly one of them.”

- Betty Yost

It was the summer of 1944 when a fourteen year old Betty Yost first made the trip to Massanetta Springs from Winchester, VA. Her family didn’t have a car, so she remembers making the trip in the “rumble seat” of an old roadster driven by Ada Glass Baker that year, and for several years after. Betty had no way of knowing how that simple trip would end up changing her life. Her first roommate for “Junior Camp” was RuthGray Harvey Lightner, and she remembers fondly staying in a second floor room of the Historic Hotel overlooking the entryway off of Massanetta Springs Road. It was during these formative years Betty heard Rev. Al Edwards preach on the old Vesper Hill and first gave her life to Christ.

Betty and her late husband, Pete, on their 50th anniversary in front of the Bond Memorial Gateway where they first met in 1947.

In the summer of 1947, Ms. Baker introduced her to Herb “Pete” Yost on the steps leading across Massanetta Springs Road. The two immediately took to each other, and the rest, as they say, is history. Betty and Pete were married three years later, and over the course of the next 67 years, they would find themselves at Massanetta Springs together often. Whether it was visiting with friends as newlyweds or later as a family with their sons Jeff and Greg who also grew to love Massanetta, they always held a special place for Massanetta. “I felt like when we came, I was coming home. It was so peaceful, and the people we met were so wonderful.” Betty remembered.

Before Pete passed away in 2017, they would come for conferences, with their church in Harrisonburg, and to volunteer in a variety of ways at Massanetta. Even this past summer, you could find Betty volunteering at the front desk during our Middle School Conference answering questions, and selling items from our gift shop. Betty has certainly had a lifelong love affair with Massanetta Springs. “I love being able to hear the young people sing at Hudson from my balcony at Sunnyside in the summer. It fills me with joy.”

When I asked her what she would tell a fourteen year old coming to Massanetta Springs for the first time in the summer of 2020, she simply said, “You’ll never be the same. It’s as close to heaven as you can get.”

Betty and Pete supported Massanetta in so many ways over the years, including being members of our Heritage Giving Society. When I asked her why that was important to her, she said, “I’ve been guided by the Lord every step of the way, and Massanetta has been a big part of that. I’d like to do what I can to be sure it stays that way forever for everyone.”

Because of your generosity, more people will be transformed by this place. Whether it is hearing a call to ministry, meeting a future spouse, making lifelong friends, or simply learning of God’s unimaginable love for the first time, Massanetta’s ministry changes lives. But we can’t change lives alone. It takes all of us supporting this important work to ensure it goes on for years and decades to come. Every gift of every size matters. Your gift matters. I thank you in advance for prayerfully considering making a gift to Massanetta Springs before the end of 2019.

PS - A few years ago, In what Betty would call, “one of those God things,” she and Pete decided to move into Sunnyside Retirement Community just across the road from Massanetta Springs. Little did she know that her first Massanetta experience was about to come full circle. As they were coming into their apartment building for the first time, who was the first person they saw? None other than RuthGray Harvey Lightner, Betty’s first Massanetta roommate! They’re still neighbors today (if not actual roommates anymore). Your gift makes lifelong “God things” possible for people like Betty and so many others!