Surf’s Up

"'Come!' He said. And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus." Matthew 14:29, HCSB.

“Surf’s up!” may not be the call to action for most missionaries, but for Mark and Jennifer Hunt surfing is more than a weekend pastime. It’s their call to ministry.

The Hunts serve in Shishikui, Japan as part of the International Mission Board’s Konsai cluster. Their assignment is to minister primarily to Japanese surfers. Both Mark and Jennifer grew up in Wilmington, NC where Mark has been surfing the waters off the Carolina coast for the past twenty-two years. When Jennifer and Mark met and eventually married, he also taught her to surf, and she has been surfing now for about three years.

Although Jennifer has had a heart for missions since she was a child, Mark knew for sure “that he wasn’t going to be no missionary.” But God had other plans, and after hearing the testimony of missionaries to West Africa at their church, God began to change Mark’s mind and his heart about the possibilities of serving Him overseas.

In November 2003, the Hunts began the first of three stages of paperwork to serve as International Service Corps volunteers through the IMB. Although Mark owned and operated his own cleaning business, he included that he was a professional surfer on his IMB application. In mid-February 2004, an IMB representative contacted the Hunts about a surfing position in Japan and asked if they might be interested. Although Mark had been moving out of professional surfing to concentrate on family life, both Mark and Jennifer realized that God wanted to channel Mark’s passion for surfing to reach lost surfers in Japan. Little did they know just how well God had things planned.

The Hunts arrived in Japan on December 7, 2004. The day they moved into their apartment, the Hunts met Yu (pronounced Y-U), a Japanese surfer. Although the Hunts speak no Japanese, Yu speaks English, and over the past several months, the Hunts have developed a friendship with him. Although Yu is not a believer, the Hunts have given him a copy of the NIV Surfer’s Bible, and they are meeting with him regularly to answer His questions. The Hunts were surprised to learn that Yu is not only reading and studying the Bible on his own, he is also encouraging his roommate and other surfers to read the Bible and to do what it says. The Hunts have been amazed at Yu’s boldness to share God’s word with others, and they are praying that he will soon become a follower of Christ.

Mark said, “Since we don’t know the language, all we can do is give the surfers a copy of God’s word.”

Jennifer agreed, “Although we can’t speak, we are seeing God’s word speak for itself.”

Pray that:

Yu will become a follower of Jesus and that God will use him to bridge the language barrier between the Hunts and other Japanese surfers.

The surfers of Ikumi Beach will continue to respond to God’s love.

God will continue to lead IMB workers in Japan to find creative ways to share the Good News with the Japanese.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.