“The suffering of Christ’s messengers ministers to those they are trying to reach and may open them to the gospel.” John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad p. 91
In this book, Piper tells the story of an indigenous missionary in India who walked barefoot from village to village sharing the gospel. After walking a long way he finally came to a village where he was spurned for his message. Being tired and discouraged, he went out of the village and fell fast asleep under a tree. When he awoke, all the villagers were there, anxious to hear his message. The head man of the village said that they had been looking him over while he slept, and when they saw his blistered feet they concluded that he must be a holy man. They were sorry for rejecting one who had endured so much to come tell them of Jesus.