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<\/p>\nAn important principle in disciple making is to find the hungry hearts and feed them (2 Timothy 2:2.)\u00a0 This was Paul\u2019s admonition to the hungry hearted Timothy (Acts 16:1, 2) as he handed the ministry baton to his spiritual son.\u00a0 The context for this treasure hunt, though, is a larger group of witnesses.\u00a0 Paul ministered to the many while always being on the lookout for the faithful few; the doers in the crowd of listeners.\u00a0 The late Mark Zook, well known for the EE-taow story and one of our trainers often challenged us to remember that this treasure hunt should begin in the very early days of ministry.<\/p>\n
The signs of faithfulness can be detected in an unbeliever before the Gospel is presented just like a rough diamond can be detected in the coal.\u00a0 A rough diamond must undergo quite a transformation before it is placed into its setting so to the signs of a future elder will only be faintly seen in the disorderly life of an unsaved man, so you have to watch closely.\u00a0 We have been watching closely these years.\u00a0 Literacy class has provided a great environment for spotting diamonds in the rough.<\/p>\n
Can you see the hungry heart?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This is a picture of one of our literacy classes in session.\u00a0 My buddy in the red shirt, let\u2019s call him Big Potential, was our \u2018A\u2019 student at the time.\u00a0 Peeking over the wall is another friend, let\u2019s call him Hungry Howie.\u00a0 As you can guess from his vantage point, Hungry Howie wasn\u2019t\u00a0 part of the first literacy class.\u00a0 Big Potential was an easy choice for us.\u00a0 We felt like he would easily succeed and could quickly become a teacher in his own rite.\u00a0 Hungry Howie on the other hand had many strikes against him although he made it clear he wanted to be in the first class.\u00a0 Lot\u2019s of people were disappointed as we only selected fifteen applicants.<\/p>\n
Quickly, though, it became apparent that Big Potential was going to be only that; potential.\u00a0 He took a lazy approach to his studies and responsibility and quickly started missing classes.\u00a0 All the while Hungry Howie peeked over the wall showing that he was undaunted and still wanted in.\u00a0 Eventually we asked Big Potential to stop coming to class.\u00a0 His reputation was in question and we wanted to save him further embarrassment.<\/p>\n
When it came time to start class two Hungry Howie had a spot.\u00a0 He was not our best student and he still has a lot to learn but he never missed a day.\u00a0 He finished every stitch of homework and was an excellent example of faithfulness.\u00a0 At the end of his course he felt like he wasn\u2019t given enough homework to do to help him get into the post literacy class.\u00a0 In fine Amdu fashion he found someone to advocate for him and they came and plead their case with me.\u00a0 For his grit and tenacity I decided to give him a few extra homework lessons.<\/p>\n
Hungry Howie isn\u2019t the only example of diamonds in the rough that we have been spotting.\u00a0 Each find thrills our hearts as evidence that the Holy Spirit is preparing the soil in Amdu for the sowing of the seed of the Gospel.\u00a0 Will Hungry Howie be one of the faithful men we entrust to take the helm of God\u2019s church yet to be born in Amdu?\u00a0 What a thrill to know that our Captain sees it all from beginning to end already.\u00a0 He has gone before us and will come behind.\u00a0 It is such a privilege to be disciple makers in Amdu<\/p>\n
Pray that God would continue to supply us with the wisdom we need to effectively make disciples among the Amdu people.\u00a0 Pray that we would be expertly prepared to feed the many while being keenly aware of the hungry hearts among them.\u00a0 And pray that God would sustain us to the day we are able to hand the baton on to the faithful men and women that Grace will raise up.\u00a0 If you are reading this and haven\u2019t yet subscribed to the Amdu Hatton\u2019s Newsletter will you add your name to the list.\u00a0 Fill the form out that you see in the right hand column of this webpage.\u00a0 We covet your partnership in prayer in these important days!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An important principle in disciple making is to find the hungry hearts and feed them (2 Timothy 2:2.)\u00a0 This was Paul\u2019s admonition to the hungry hearted Timothy (Acts 16:1, 2) as he handed the ministry baton to his spiritual son.\u00a0 The context for this treasure hunt, though, is a larger group of witnesses.\u00a0 Paul ministered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1054],"tags":[48793,94995,448,321,652,638,95000,94998,160,2751],"class_list":{"0":"post-1129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-the-very-latest-news","7":"tag-amdu","8":"tag-disciple-making","9":"tag-ethnos360","10":"tag-gospel","11":"tag-literacy","12":"tag-papua-new-guinea","13":"tag-thrive","14":"tag-trainer","15":"tag-training","16":"tag-tribal-church","17":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1129\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}