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

All of the material listed herein is the property of the Byron McCartney family, and may not be copied without express written authorization.

My father had two primary objectives as a missionary. First, he wanted to educate as many people as he could about what Jesus Christ had done for them on the cross of Calvary and their need for that work to be applied to their lives through salvation. Second, he wanted to establish churches into which his converts and other Christians in the area could become members and continue learning and applying God's Word to their lives.

At this point you are probably thinking, "Well, Duh! Isn't that what missionaries as supposed to do? Make converts and establish new churches?" To which I would answer, "Your 'Duh' is well justified. But please bear with me as I attempt to merge the introduction with the rest of this article."

What most people are unaware of is that in order to accomplish those two goals the missionary must make himself available around the clock. The simple reality is that in order for his message to be heard his prospective listeners must have some degree of confidence in his integrity. This confidence can only come about as a result of the listener getting to know the missionary.

The result of making himself available is that the missionary soon becomes the source of many different kinds of help to those in need. Trained mostly in theological and ecclesiastical disciplines, he suddenly finds himself fixing the neighbor's car, helping with their home repairs and a myriad other things for which he has little or no training. And so we come to how my father became known as 'Doctor Byron.'

As with most of the previous experiences this one too happened while we lived in the interior of the northeastern state of Pernambuco. As you may recall from earlier articles this area was heavily wooded, tropical jungle actually, and populated by simple yet hard working peasants. You may also recall that the purpose of establishing a mission in this area was to provide a distraction free environment for a Bible institute, far away from the vices and influences of the port city of Recife.

Once we moved onto the property it did not take long for us to meet our closest neighbors. Most were uneducated homesteaders sustaining themselves with the produce from their gardens and what they could trap or hunt in the jungle.

My father, always eager to help soon gained a reputation and occasionally someone would come by and ask for some assistance or other. One evening a distraught mother brought her crying son to our home. The boy was having a difficult time breathing and not having the resources to get him to the nearest hospital two hours way or the knowledge to help alleviate the condition the mother desperately sought my father's help.

My father's first reaction was to pack the mother and son into the jeep and head for town. But after considering the lengthy and rough drive and the fact that the boy was not in a life threatening state my father decided to see if he could determine the reason for the boy's difficulty breathing. He asked several questions of the mother while watching the boy who had stopped crying and was busy studying the inside of our home with eyes as wide open as they could get.

My father noticed that the boy could breathe just fine through his mouth but could not do so through his nose. He then used a flashlight to look up inside the boy's nose and discovered a bean lodged inside the right nostril. After conferring with my mother he went to the medicine cabinet and retrieved a syringe and a hemostat while my mother went to the kitchen after some olive oil.

Before we go on, let me explain how it was that we had such medical supplies. I'm unclear on the exact details but the major facts are that an American ship docked in town and through mutual business acquaintances my father and the captain came to know one another. During the course of their visit the captain explained that he had a large supply of vitamins, medicines and a few medical instruments donated by someone in the US to the captain for his distribution to anyone he determined would best be served by them. My father mentioned that he could use the vitamins and any topical medications such as iodine, mercurochrome, zinc oxide and anti-fungal creams. The captain gave my father a good quantity of these medicines along with some of the instruments and some bandaging materials. These proved to be of great help to us over the coming years. Now back to the bean up the nose.

My father first partially filled a syringe with the warmed up olive oil my mother brought him. Next, he asked the mother to hold her son's head very still in a nose up attitude. He then squirted a tiny amount of the oil into the blocked nostril, inserted the hemostat, pinched the accessible portion of the bean and extracted it without any problem.

Overcome with gratitude it was the mother's turn to shed tears. After fruitlessly trying to find some way to repay my father for his help mother and son said their good-byes and headed home. The next day the father showed up and offered himself as an indentured servant as payment for my father's help. Of course my father did not accept but he did hire the man to keep the areas around the buildings on the mission clear of the ever encroaching jungle. It was not long after this event that both husband and wife accepted Christ as their savior and joined the church my father established on that mission. Nor was it long afterwards that my father became known as "Dr. Byron."

Over the years we watched "Dr. Byron" help many people. Those who had minor scratches and bruises he treated himself much as you or I would our own children. However anyone with a serious condition was immediately taken to the nearest hospital or treatment center. Some of these more critical cases involved a partially severed limb, a gun shot wound, a stabbing, broken bones and other pretty terrible injuries.

What we most noticed about our "Dr. Dad" was that he always took the opportunity to tell these "patients" about Christ. We saw many of these people come to know the Lord as their personal Savior and go on to lead productive Christian lives. When we later moved to the city of Rio Dad's pseudonym did not follow but his eagerness and willingness to help those in need did. He continued being the ever helpful and caring man up until the moment God took him home. His willingness to serve others gave him an open door to tell others about the greatest Servant of all, Jesus Christ.

SUMMARY:

Each of us Christians have the responsibility to have a servant's heart. In Matthew 5:38-48 Christ admonishes His disciples to turn the other cheek (v. 39), to give more than is asked for (v. 40), and to love their enemies (v.44). These are the heart felt qualities our Lord wants to see in us today. Their purpose is not to show the world how good or how pacifistic we are, but to show the world the love of God for them as it radiates to them through us.

In verse 16 of Matthew chapter 5 Christ specifically stated that we are to live our lives according to God's principles ("let your light so shine") so that those around us will see our good works and glorify our Father which is in Heaven. When your neighbors and co-workers see that you care for them personally and that you will be a reliable and good friend to them they will open the doors of their hearts and minds to at least listen to what you have to say from God's Word.

Submit yourself to the Lordship of Christ this day and every day. Determine that you will put the needs of others ahead of your own. Then you will be rewarded with opportunities to speak to them of Christ.

NEXT LESSON:

Have you ever been lost? I don't mean lost in a strange city or lost in a crowd. I mean really lost. So lost you didn't know which way led to safety? Join me in the next article and I'll tell you about my experience with getting lost and how God not only saved me from death but helped me find my way home.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"