Jamie and Char Hunt serve in Paraguay, sewing the seed of God’s Word.
Isn’t it encouraging to receive a letter from your missionary with a glowing report of hearts changed by the truth of God’s Word? Truly, there is nothing more thrilling than when the seed of truth falls into good soil; a soul turns to God in belief and repentance in response to the ministry of teaching truth. But just like in Jesus’ parable of the Sower and the Seed, not all truth falls on receptive hearts. Sometimes it falls along the hardened path.
Such was the case during a seminar Jamie taught this month on Biblical counselling. The focus was on how to encourage one another in times of suffering. Before Christianity came to the people group that he was ministering to, sickness was believed to be caused by an enemy paying a witch doctor to curse you or as the result of someone close to you not obeying dietary taboos. Sickness could always be blamed on someone. Now sickness is seen as God’s vindictive punishment for sin. The sick person is either being punished for their own sin or the sin of a close relative. Once the “sinner” confesses their hidden sin to someone, then healing is possible for the sick person. Jamie had taught all day doing contrastive teaching, comparing the people’s worldview on sickness with the biblical theology of sickness and suffering.
Confronted with the truth of the Bible, by God’s grace, many gave testimony to the joy they had at finally knowing the truth. However, one friend seemed to be blinded by his own past experience and faulty human wisdom. As a missionary, these kind of responses can be discouraging until they remember that they are called to scatter the seed, but the heart response is outside of their responsibility. Please do pray for the people. Pray that God would prepare their hearts to receive truth, first the seed of the true Gospel and then truth that will enable them to grow in grace and freedom. Pray that the Enemy of the Gospel, our adversary the Devil, would be thwarted at every turn in his attempt to snatch away what is being sown among the people of Paraguay.