Apostolic Friends Forum

We have a thread here on AFF titled, “Can Women Pastor?” It has about 1400 replies so far. Whenever I see that title I almost want to chuckle to myself. Can Women Pastor? Well, of course they can. They’ve been doing it for years, actually centuries, and some of them do an excellent job of it. Oh yeah, some people will huff and puff and spit and sputter and pontificate about women and their “place” in ministry but God just ignores their protestations and continues to call and bless women as He chooses.

This is an article from pages 42 and 43 of the February 2010 Pentecostal Herald. It is written by Carlton Coon who is General Home Missions Director for the UPC and in it he honors a great servant of God and her ministry.

More “Redeemers” Needed

Do you know anyone who started eight churches? What about someone who just loves to take on situations that are clearly a challenge? How about a person who feels a bit unworthy and that no meaningful opportunity could ever come his or her way?

I want to introduce you to someone who would answer “yes” to all three questions. More than likely you do not know the person. First, this happened in a rural part of the country. Also this “hero” is a woman. (I have a feeling she would scoff at me using the term “hero.”) Several decades have passed since this unfolded.

This is the story of a home missionary who impacted eternity through home missions settings. Some say, “I have no chance to make a difference.” History proves something different. In home missions there is a chance for you, ladies, and for you, young person! In home missions there is a chance for the educated and the uneducated. Now on to the compelling story of Eva Hunt, whose example encourages us all.

If Eva Hunt knew that her life would one day be chronicled, she would consider herself unworthy. There was nothing glamorous about her ministry, yet the fruit of her labors continue to blanket the Pentecostal landscape of South-Central Illinois.

Her ministry serves as a how-to for church planting and renewing that were virtually extinct. Home Missions --then and now-- demands hard work, prayer, patience, and humility. Eva Hunt’s strategy paid off and people are still being born again through works that she established.

Eva Hunt was a first-generation Pentecostal born to an unsaved family on July 27, 1902. After her salvation encounter, she quickly became active in many areas of the church such as comforting the sick and ministering to children and young people. Her pastor learned to rely on Eva whenever there was a job nobody else was willing to do.

Eva’s involvement in preaching was not something that happened quickly; for years she struggled with her sense of unworthiness and personal lack. She felt her eighth-grade education deprived her of any opportunities to become a full-fledged evangelist. When she spoke to young people, she saw her preaching as mere sermonettes. Nonetheless, children were hearing the gospel through Eva Hunt and getting saved.

The Ministry Begins

During her early years, she sharpened her soul-winning skills. By working at an insurance company, Hunt was taught how to meet the public, which she applied to presenting salvation in a way that people would cling to and become discipled. Hunt’s ministries reflected a genuine love for people, accepting them for who they were.

Meanwhile, Eva’s home church was stumbling through depression times and was evicted for non-payment of the mortgage. One night, Eva had a dream in which the Lord told her, “Redeem! Redeem! Redeem!”

Despite lacking funds to get the building back, Hunt told the real estate agent she wanted to “redeem” the church. The broker gave her thirty days to come up with $300. To raise the money, Eva and a friend fasted lunch and visited businesses asking for money. In one week they produced $280. The congregation was back in their building the following Sunday.

The word “redeem” became a motto of Eva Hunt’s ministry. She would look for small assemblies in distress and learn what it would take to get them back on their feet. Eva Hunt “redeemed” churches all across southern Illinois: Pana, Shelbyville, Nokomis, Oak Valley, Ramsey, Witt, Taylorville, Greenleaf, and Herrick.

The first work of “redeeming was done in Pana. On arrival in town, she asked a fellow, “Are there any Pentecostals in town?” He directed her to a prayer meeting. She was dismayed to see tobacco juice staining the shirts of praying men and women. She was invited to come and preach the next week. It was humble --chairs in a front yard and a table on the porch for a pulpit. Her first year’s salary in Pana totaled $20.

One thing every home missionary must do is overcome unexpected obstacles. When Eva told a property owner that the group willing to buy his land was Pentecostal, he complained about a Pentecostal preacher who had left town owing $50 for rent. Hunt sensed the poor reputation of the the earlier group would limit her work, so her first act was to repay the debt. The property owner was so shocked that he praised the honesty of this Pentecostal group all over town. From humble beginnings the church in Pana grew. Their pastor’s willingness to take on other challenges defined the impact of the church.

Shelbyville was Eva’s next mission. As always, the initial prayer meetings started small. Soon a group of Nazarenes in Shelbyville received the Holy Ghost. The “mother church” in Pana helped purchase a tavern to adapt into a church. Hunt brought twenty-five from Pana to help. Within four years the work in Shelbyville was autonomous.

As is often true, because the home missions works did not have “saints” available to do the work, Eva Hunt put “unqualified people” to work. Trustee boards might be made up of sinners, sinners who would eventually be saved. She once visited a musician who had a glass of wine in hand. Eva said, “I want you to play the piano for a new church I’m starting in Witt.” He waved his glass and said he wasn’t willing to give up the booze. The church planter told him, “That’s all right. We need you, so we’ll use you just the way you are.” Over three decades later, the fellow who wasn’t willing to give up his booze is an Apostolic music director. She believed the Spirit would draw people to repentance.

A church started in Lakewood because of the plea of a new convert. Again, the Pana “mother church” invested in purchasing an abandoned school. Within weeks, attendance at the new church went from one to thirty-five. Hunt soon turned the work over to another pastor.

In 1951, the Oak Valley Pentecostal Church was scheduled to close. A distraught neighbor made an appeal and Hunt was called in to keep the church form closing and the building from being razed. The trustees consisted of three unsaved townsmen. Forty people traveled from Pana every Sunday to help. Eva pastored the church for three years, at times holding service by kerosene lamp, before releasing the secure work into the hands of a pastor.

In 1957, Eva was called to “redeem” another church in danger of closing in Ramsey. She led the Pana youth to revive an abandoned building project. The young people were then instrumental in helping with the first services in the new building. She turned the leadership to James Karr.

In August of 1966, weakened by ill health and after twenty eight years of pastoring (often pastoring multiple churches at one time) Eva stepped down as pastor. Her rest was brief. Eighteen months later she got the itch to “redeem” another church. The town of Witt had a little group of five people who wanted a church. When a local Assembly of God church became available, Hunt led the group to raise $2500 to purchase it and repaired a damaged Pentecostal reputation. She “redeemed” it and put it in the hands of a pastor.

Finally, while in her seventies, Eva found one more church in need of “redeeming.” She was called to preach a revival in Herrick after the pastor resigned. On her first Sunday, nine people were present; windows were broken, and a wall was falling in. After two weeks of preaching, Eva felt to stay in Herrick. That year, the church in Herrick received the award for the largest attendance increase. At seventy, the life-long missionary joined with church members in renovating their tired old building. In 1975, Hunt recruited Thomas Suey from Nashville to eventually take the pastorate.

On October 22, 1977, Hunt resigned from her eighth work of “redeeming.” Her message was, “I don’t regret a mile I traveled for the Lord.”

Eva Hunt is a model of what is needed. Her churches were founded on hard work, outreach, prayer meetings, persistence, passion, and humility. Church-planting wisdom can be found in these practices. Jesus used her to bring out potential. In weakness, she always found strength. The churches she redeemed still thrive in the Apostolic tradition.

Thank God for a woman who accepted the call to “redeem” --a home missionary hero!

Someone reading this can be just like her.