10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
Pastor: Dr. Lester Hutson

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One last barrier to missionary work I'd like to mention is the social and economic or socioeconomic one. Simply put, a missionary could face resentment or at least resistance to his message because of his perceived affluence and or his race or nationality. How the missionary responds and deals with this type of situation is key to his success in reaching others for Christ.

I remember, for instance, that during the late 50's and early 60's there was a pronounced anti-American sentiment in Brazil. Many Brazilians, influenced by socialistic propaganda, believed America's presence in Vietnam was imperialistic and therefore wrong. "Yankee go home" and "US, leave Vietnam" slogans were plastered on many walls and sides of buildings. Even some of our Christian nationals held this same opinion. My father prudently pointed out that his allegiance was first to God and then second to his country. He could just as easily have tried to educate those people with the facts but he knew that to do so would result in more division. Because of his unassuming manner and his care to not exacerbate the situation he was able to win the hearts of the majority of those Brazilians who confronted him with this political opinion.

Sometimes, despite our best efforts to the contrary someone, because of their own ignorance, would get offended. I remember one case in particular which unfortunately resulted in two families leaving our church in Rio de Janeiro.

The membership of this church was a good mix of the local populace. We had some well educated and financially well off families, a couple poor and mostly illiterate families and a large number of working class yet literate people. My father took great care to address the needs of all the members and especially to not favor one over the others. However, there was one time when the difference between the illiterate and the literate was too large to overcome.

It happened as a result of man's landing on the moon. Every American was proud of that moment in our nation's history. Most of our Brazilian friends were very excited about this scientific achievement. However, there were two families in our church who did not believe that anyone went to the moon but that what was displayed on the television was an animation. They were offended that anyone could believe such an impossible feat could be achieved by any human.

My father, with support from the other members, tried his best to explain the developments over the past several years which made the moon landing possible. He explained what he could about rockets, space suits and the astronauts and their training. However, the more he explained the achievement the more angry these unbelievers became. Noticing the lack of progress in their conversion on the issue my father decided to drop the matter completely. But it just wouldn't go away. The two heads of these families (brothers) decided that the American and his Brazilian friends were conspiring against them and decided to move their membership to another church.

My father mourned their loss to our congregation. I remember some of his discussions with mother about how sorry he was and wondering what he could have done differently to salvage the situation. The truth was, though, that nothing was going to solve the problem. The television and radio stations were covering the event around the clock and there was simply no way to isolate the situation and pretend it never happened. Knowing this, however, did not help my father's feelings and from that day forward he was even more careful when discussing America's technological and medical achievements.

There was a time when my mother was faced with an uncomfortable situation with a Brazilian lady who worked for us. In those days you could hire a maid for about $5.00 a week which to us was a pittance but to them was a very good income. Nevertheless, this lady had only been with us for a short time and we had not yet become close friends.

My mother always considered the hiring of a maid as a two-fold venture. The first and foremost aspect was the opportunity to win someone to the Lord and the second was the added help with the daily chores thus freeing her to help my father with the church work. With the primary aspect in mind we always treated our maids as part of the family and soon became close friends with them.

This new maid was from a poor and illiterate family and was herself uneducated. During the first few days with us she made several comments about Brazil and her products being just as good as any other country's. These statements were totally unsolicited and resulted in our suspecting that she might believe we considered ourselves to be much better than she.

One morning while they were preparing breakfast my mother took the opportunity to compliment Brazil on her wonderful coffees. She mentioned that the city of São Paulo (in the south of Brazil), from where we had just moved, had great tasting coffee. The maid immediately reacted with an angry, "well, Brazil has good coffee too!"

Just as in the case with our two unbelieving church member families nothing my mother said could convince this maid that we loved her country and its people just as much as we did our own nation and its people. The resentment was so deep in this lady and the contentions so frequent and mostly unresolvable that we finally had to let her go. On her way out she did silently express her appreciation for our American products by absconding with several of them.

In addition to the occasional problem resulting from educational differences we also encountered some resentment to our financial status. Despite the fact that we lived on a very meager income compared to other American households, to the working class of Brazilian we were considered to be well off. After all we had a multi room home and a car.

In order for you to properly appreciate our dilemma you must know that at that time the average Brazilian laborer's monthly income was about $130. This might seem to you as a very small amount of money but you must also realize that this amount gave him and his family what they needed to live on. He might not have a multi room home with electricity, a television or a car but he would have adequate housing, kerosene lanterns or candles, enough food for the family, a radio and access to very cheap mass transportation. I remember taking a cab to the other side of the city for less than one dollar. So although he was barely making it financially he was still able to support a family.

The membership of many of the churches my father started included a large number of laborers. In some cases they made up the majority of the membership. It was, therefore, always a challenge for my father to teach putting God first in everything including one's finances to these men and women who barely made enough to maintain while we appeared to them as having more than enough to give to the Lord without creating any sense of loss. Compound this with the ongoing socialistic propaganda directed mainly at the working class and you get a fair picture of the situation my father was in.

Fortunately the majority of Brazilians accepted their position in life and were not offended nor even resentful of our situation. Those who accepted Christ and became members of our churches became faithful and mature Christians. Many of these went on to become missionaries, pastors and teachers in the Lord's work.

SUMMARY:

Paul admonished the Romans and by extension all Christians, "not to think of himself [themselves] more highly than he [they] ought to think" (Romans 12:3). We are to live our lives humbly before the Lord (Micah 6:8) remembering that we are all sheep, we've all gone astray (Isaiah 53:6), we are all sinners saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8, 9) and that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6).

In your dealings with those you mean to reach for Christ you will encounter some resistance. Our Adversary will see to it that something you wear, do or say will offend the person you are trying to reach. I pray that you will have the humility and patience to not retaliate in kind but to appease and reassuringly deliver Christ's message of salvation.

NEXT LESSON:

Have you ever had a near death experience? If you have you know that life becomes even more precious and if you haven't then don't go looking for one and be thankful for the life God has given you.

During their service to God in Brazil my parents faced many life threatening situations and I'd like to share a few with you in the next lesson.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"