Rosalie Hunt, 82, of Guntersville and her husband Bob were International Mission Board missionaries more than 30 years, serving in eight countries.
She has been and continues to be very active in Woman’s Missionary Union at local, state and national levels. She teaches Girls in Action (GAs) and children’s Sunday School and serves on ministry-related boards including TAB.
A graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University, Hunt additionally earned three master’s degrees and attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Hunt has written six books about missions heroes.
Ministry: Emeritus International Mission Board missionary, writer, speaker
Church name: First Baptist Church, Guntersville, in Marshall Baptist Association
Life verse: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)
Describe where you focus your greatest ministry efforts.
I love being part of WMU and a member of the board of the national WMU Foundation. I have a burning desire to pass on our missions legacy — that which has been handed to us by our missions heroes — and especially love researching their lives and writing their stories.
Q: Who was or is one of the most influential people in your faith life? Why?
A: No doubt on this — my mother and father. Growing up as a missionary kid in China, I saw depths of faith lived out every day in the lives of my parents.
They taught me early about God’s love; but beyond that, they lived what they said. As a child, I thought everyone had parents like that — came to find out that this wasn’t the case! I was blessed.
Q: Identify a turning point in your life and how God was involved.
A: A watershed moment for me came on Christmas morning 1947 in Zhenjiang, Central China, where my parents were IMB missionaries. A beggar, a leper, appeared at our front door begging for food and explaining he was starving.
As a 9-year-old child, God spoke to my spirit in that moment and, as I gave the leper bread, I realized I needed to spend my life telling needy people like this man that Jesus is the Bread of Life. What a privilege it has been to be able to follow that call.
Q: What has God been teaching you lately?
A: Along with the many millions in our nation (and around the world), my family and I are experiencing the “new normal” and encountering anew the need to examine the depths of our own faith and trust in the only One who is able to guide us through this pandemic.
Q: If there were one thing you could tell your younger self about faith, what would it be?
A: I knew from early years as an MK growing up in China — learning Scripture about faith and watching faith in action in my parents’ lives — that God never did fail them or fail me. And yet, I spent way too much time fretting and worrying in the ensuing years. That was wasted time! His promises never failed, no matter where I was and what was going on.
