Sister Bettie is an older woman who works at the Union Gospel Mission and becomes a spiritual mentor to Deborah and Mary Ellen. Sister Bettie is beloved by the homeless community, having sold all of her possessions and committed her life to working with the poor after she became a widow. Sister Bettie inspires Deborah to take her ministry to the homeless beyond the mission and starts bringing her to feed people and conduct church services in Fort Worth’s most destitute neighborhood. Within the narrative, Sister Bettie represents the sort of person Deborah seemed destined to become, where she not been taken by cancer at such a young age.