Portrait of John Hunter Hammett. IMB Photo
John Hunter Hammett, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Taiwan, died June 5, 2024, in Houston, Texas. He was 94.
Hunter was born June 10, 1929, in Athens, Texas, to the late John Herman Hammett and Willie Joe Rash. He graduated from Tyler (Texas) High School; and received the Bachelor of Arts from Baylor University, Waco, Texas; the Bachelor of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas; and the Master of Arts from Soochow University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Hunter came to faith in Christ as a 9-year-old. While seeking appointment, he wrote in his testimony that his grandmother’s faith had a great impact on his life, as did the influence of friends, Christian teachers, and the evangelistic preaching of his pastor. In college, Hunter felt God’s call to “preach His message of grace.” During seminary, he became engaged to Patsy Price from his hometown and accepted a call to be a full-time pastor. Hunter and Patsy were married on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, 1954.
While seeking appointment Hunter wrote, “Then, in January 1959, at the Evangelistic and World Missions Conference in Dallas, I knew I was for the first time feeling God’s call as a missionary. I was surprised and thrilled.” Hunter waited to see if God was working in Patsy’s heart. In his testimony, he continued, “Within a week I knew, because after an associational W.M.U. meeting, we opened our hearts to one another and found that God had been speaking to both of us.”
In 1959, the International Mission Board appointed Hunter and Patsy missionaries to Taiwan. They served in evangelism and church planting, taught Bible classes, and managed several Baptist bookstores in Taipei. Hunter also served as a pastor, mission administrator and mission treasurer during their 33 years on the field.
Hunter was preceded in death by Patsy, his wife of 65 years.
He is survived by two sons, Joel T. Hammett, and Glenn M. Hammett; one daughter, Lydia O. Finch; seven grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.
A graveside service was held June 26 at Rose Hill Cemetery in Tyler.
Read an obituary here.