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was never s t e r e o t y p e d . Through timely visits, brief notes, pertinent enclosures, he ' individualized e v e r y friend whom he contacted. He was ever on the watch for Chris tian literature which would apply to each person and give spiritual uplift to the one who received it. If any were bereaved, or had severe illness in the home, a letter went for ward immediately, cairying comfort to the one who needed it. All this was done with a genuine interest in each per son—an interest wholly inde pendent of gifts made to the Institute. In the “process” of his work, Mr. Hunt has been, , and is, a soul-winner, always on the aiert to. present the claims of Jesus Christ to young and old.
be either small and cramped, or large and expanding—depending on C the individual’s response to a need. Once a woman in a southern Cali fornia city asked me to call to explain the policy of the Institute and some thing of its activities. While I was in her home, she gave me a gift of $25.00 for the work of the Bible Insti tute of Los Angeles. In the course of our conversation I had mentioned the China branch of the Institute, located in Changsha, Hunan, China. After I returned home, she wrote that she felt the Lord would have her support a Chinese student in China, so that, while she slept, she would have a representative on the other side of the world, being pre pared to give out the gospel faithfully there. She inclosed in her letter a check for $75.00 for this purpose. A few months later, another lifter • arrived, and this time she said the Lord was leading her to have an active part in the training of a stu dent here at home, as well as onO in China. For this she enclosed $150.00 which is approximately the cost to the. Institute of one year of training of a student for Christian work. Is it surprising that alongside this record of giving is the fact of the donor’s own growth in faith and in spiritual discernment? I have found, too, that he who gives to the Lord’s work is never impov erished thereby. In a city some dis tance from Los Angeles, I once met a nurse who had for a long time been interested in the Institute. She was a warm-hearted person, caring for an afflicted boy in a private home. She said to me, “ I want to give some thing more toward the witness for Christ ^at the Bible Institute.” She handed me a check for $25.00, smiling as sht did so and adding, “The Lord will have to replenish the treasury— but I feel He wants me to do this.” From her manner and her words I surmised that her bank account must be low, and I hesitated to accept the gift. But I quickly realized that I dared not refuse it, if it was given at the direction of the Lord. A little later, I was having luncheon when she telephoned. “I felt I must tell you,” she said,, “that just after you left, the postman came and, to my astonishment, there was a letter for me, containing a check for $25.05. This was the quick answer of the Lord in taking care of my bank ac count.” I rejoiced with her in the blessing the Lord had given.
MOTTO
Lord, help me to ac complish the greatest ppssible good in the s h o r t e s t possible time.
Th^ task of a field representative is not an easy one. A friend gave me a clipping once, that I have never forgotten. It said: “A successful field representative should have the learn ing of a college president, the con secration of a clergyman, the execu tive tal,ent of a financier, the humility of a deacon, the supernatural powers of a seer, the doggedness of a detec tive, the financial resources of a banker. He must be a diplomat for tact, an optimist for hope, and a hero for courage.” Judged by that defini tion, I have been a very inadequate field representative. But for what ever service I have been able to render, the Lord Himself has gra ciously given the preparation, and .to Him all the glory belongs. He kept me in commercial business for half a century, in order to prepare me for the further service He had for me at Biola. When I came to the Bible In stitute of Los Angeles from - Canada, in October of 1920, I was launched at once into financial matters which utilized all the training of the former years. God does not make mistakes when He keeps us in the “desert” until we are ready for the task He has for us.
air, I saw Mrs. B. mount the family mule and hurry off over the mountain path to the cabins tucked away in the hills,- until she had made the rounds of the miners to invite them to the meeting. By seven o’clock, the guests had gathered—rough weather-beaten men with their quiej wives and young children, all crowded into the living room. I looked into their faces as they listened quietly, and prayed that the Lord would give me the right words .to speak. Warned that some would want to argue, I had asked them to refrain from questions or -argument until I had finished speak ing. Several very old questions of skeptics were flung at me afterwards. But I rejoiced to see that many of the listeners drank in the Word thirstily. I remembered the Lord’s promise: “My word . . . shall not return unto me void.” I had no way of knowing what fruit He would cause to be borne as a result of that night of witnessing of “Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” but suddenly I real ized that He must have had a purpose in my being there, and I was glad I had made the extra trip.
Born in London, England, where hjs father and brother were barristers in the service of the government, Mr. Hunt had^xcellent training along many^ lines. For a time he taught salesmanship in a Ca nadian Government position; also he was affiliated with the Canadian Pacific Railway, and ’later served as financial sec retary of the Y.M.C.A. in Van couver, B. C, In all of these positions, as well as in his subsequent years at Biola, his life was enriched through association with outstanding leaders.
That is always the way it has been: the spiritual min istry has been uppermost in Mr. Hunt’s mind. His concern has been to solicit prayer sup port for the Institute before and above temporal support. But because he has considered dollars as a means of eternal investment, he has stressed the privileges of stewardship
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as well. In the years of my association with the Institute, the Lord has shown me many times that people’s interest in the Lord’s work often hinges on the matter of giving. That interest may
A life-long friend of the In stitute once remarked laugh ingly, “-Mr. Hunt is a pretty good hand to get money for the In: ‘■'tute—but we enjoy the process^" The “process”
One of the greatest privileges of my whole ljfe was to be associated with f Continued , on Page 400]
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