Lonnie Byron Harbin - Tribute

There are several reasons for these words. They are about bidding farewell to a loved one who has passed from this reality into the next. They are about shared grief at Byron’s passing. They are a seeking of encouragement on facing our own mortality, experiencing the death of one we have loved and who has loved us and others. They are partly what I would have shared in a funeral service for my Father. Understanding the imponderables of life with all its uncertainties is aided by telling and retelling stories of our connections and experiences of those who have impacted us. Those stories also help us process our grief.

There is always much to process as we bid loved ones adieu, and we cannot do that all at once. For each loss, our lives are impacted in different ways. In Byron’s passing some are impacted for his having been a father. For many, he was a friend. He was grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin, neighbor, coworker, pastor, professor, deacon, advocate, choir member, bowling companion, missionary, confidante, card player, preacher, and one with whom to have theological discussions. People will miss different aspects of who Byron was, according to their individual relationships with him, along with our varied connections and individual ways of processing the stories of shared experiences.

Grief may wage war upon us, bombarding us with disparate emotions. There is loss, but there may also be shock, relief, uncertainty, sadness, pain, joy, doubt, and peace all mixed in together. Byron was ready to go on from this life in many respects. Part of that was his own grief at Dora’s passing last year. Part was his faith preparing him for what lay ahead. Part of it was knowing he had lived a full life, making a positive impact on many around him. He was assured of his relationship with Christ and God’s faithfulness and grace. Death is part of human existence. We may be prepared, but death never seems to come on our timetable. It ever seems to come too soon, especially in regard to our loved ones. No matter our preparation, death is still difficult for us.

¹You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; ²and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well. (NRSV) 2^nd Timothy 2:1-2

The above verses were lived out in the life and ministry of Lonnie Byron Harbin. Comments from friends and colleagues upon his death consistently refer to Byron as a gentle, gracious man. They remark on his teaching and encouragement, on his friendship. He was a learned scholar, but he was likewise a scholar steeped in grace.

In many ways, Byron was more background in my life than front and center. He made a definite point of making time for family, but his work as seminary professor in São Paulo kept him out most weeknights until midnight. Saturday mornings were moments of recovery. Sundays were time for church, where Dad would most often be preaching, holding meetings, visiting during the afternoons, and preaching again at night. The times we were together were cherished, but also warm, loving, and deeply meaningful.

He was known officially as a seminary professor in Brazil, but he was so much more than that. He was also a mentor to students. He worked consistently to heal and rebuild churches that were in need of interventional leadership. He took his faith with him in his encounters with people in the public marketplace, connecting with them and finding ways to spur conversations to issues of faith that never felt confrontational or strained. He took time from his teaching, writing, and class preparation to work with others engaged in other aspects of mission life, including as an interpreter for mission teams.

While the standard education for his area was eleven grades, he did not stop there. He became the first in his family to graduate high school and at 17, he went to Asbury College for part of a semester. Child labor laws prevented him from being able to work and he returned home hungry. A Baptist pastor got him to Norman College and then into Mercer University with enough financial help that allowed him to eat and study. From there, he went on to seminary in New Orleans, earning a Master of Divinity and then a Th.D. in Old Testament, his dissertation reviewing Amos' attitude on the cultus of Israel.

During his seminary career of study, he served as pastor of a church in Tylertown, MS. On a blind date, he met Dora, who was a student at the nursing school. They married in June of 1960 and began their family not long later with the birth of my eldest sister late the following year. Not long afterward, they moved to South Carolina, where he taught at North Greenville College and served as pastor on the side. My middle sister was born in Spartanburg. Then they moved to Clinton, SC, where Dad served at Joanna Baptist Church. While there, I was born and Mom began working at the local hospital.

Byron and Dora answered a call to missions and took us to Callaway Gardens for missionary orientation. They were appointed for Dad to teach seminary in Hong Kong, but had some reservations about that appointment. During orientation, a request came through for a seminary professor in São Paulo, and their appointment was changed to send us to Brazil. A couple of months after missionary orientation, we arrived in Campinas, São Paulo for language school.

During that first term in Brazil, Byron taught at the Faculdade Teológica Batista de São Paulo and served a church in the town of Jundiaí. The seminary’s classes were only at night, keeping him out late four nights a week. On Sundays, the family would spend the day in Jundiaí at the church and the home of one of the leaders.

Our first “furlough” took us to Pensacola, FL where Byron and Dora were missionaries in residence. They worked at the church to advance missions education, as well as reporting on missions in other churches. After that 10-month assignment, we returned to São Paulo, where Byron resumed his responsibilities at the seminary. Six months later, the decision was made to transfer from São Paulo to Recife, where Byron would teach both day and night classes. Dora was also given the opportunity to teach health in the women’s Christian education seminary next door.

At the conclusion of that term of missionary service, Byron took a semester position teaching at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, TN. Following that spring semester of 1978, the family spent the balance of that furlough in McLaurin, MS, returning to Recife amid the fall-semester.

Byron continued teaching at the seminary, as well as taking an interim position at a church in Recife. Not only were Byron and Dora involved in their official ministry positions, they also served as president and vice-president of the Parent Teacher Association at the American School in Recife. That included their leading the school Halloween parade as the two-headed monster and headless monster. At the conclusion of that school year, Trish graduated from high school and a decision was made to move back to the former position in São Paulo. The climate in Recife was difficult on Dora, and a change was in order as much as anything for her health. The family moved back to São Paulo. Shortly after moving, they saw Trish off to the US for college.

At the conclusion of that year, Byron and Dora determined they needed to return to the US to deal with an emergent family crisis. They took a leave of absence from the mission board and returned to be near family in Hattiesburg, MS. Byron looked for a position as pastor, but could not find anything suitable beyond some pulpit supply opportunities. Dora returned to work as a Registered Nurse and supported the family during that time until it was determined to return to Brazil.

As plans were being made for that new term of missionary service, Debbie asked to remain in the US to finish out high school, rather than moving in the middle of her junior year. Arrangements were made for Trish and Debbie to rent a house together while Debbie finished high school and Trish studied at the University of Southern Mississippi. Byron, Dora, and I moved back to São Paulo, where Byron once again taught at the seminary.

Knowing Dad’s responsibilities would likely take him far afield to needy churches, Dora took me to one church where she was beginning to pursue her own missionary efforts, while Byron took on responsibilities to aid struggling churches as the director of missions requested his assistance. After some time, the family shifted to First Baptist São Paulo until Byron took a different church that needed a minister of music and he pressed me into service during my senior year of high school. For that year, Byron was pastor, I was minister of music, and Dora was the church accompanist, on top of Byron’s work at the seminary and Dora’s work in social ministries. During this time, Byron was also writing a preface for the Portuguese edition of the Ridderbos' Tyndale commentary on Isaiah, detailing how the Dead Sea Scrolls added new light to the text that Ridderbos did not know about.

Although their responsibilities on the mission field included things beyond teaching seminary, serving churches, and expanding social ministries, it was during this term of ministry that their broader activities became most pronounced. They served the mission with lead roles on local and national property committees, audit committees, theological education committees, and other teams which led them much further afield than between seminary, church, social ministries, and home.

That term of service concluded with the family moving back to Mississippi to get Chris into college while Byron and Dora moved to Houston for Byron to teach at Houston Baptist University along with Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s extension on the HBU campus. Byron and Dora returned to São Paulo in 1987 to continue their missionary service. Byron taught at the seminary and began working to launch a master’s degree program as a joint effort among several of the Baptist seminaries in Brazil. Byron’s book, The Holy Spirit in the Bible, the Church, and History, written to address long-running issues among Baptists countering the influence of Pentecostal excesses, was dedicated to help fund this master’s degree initiative. Work with the new master’s program included Byron traveling to teach in places like Rio and Brasilia.

Byron worked at another couple of churches during the remainder of their work in Brazil, as Dora continued in social ministries, specifically with the Baptist children’s homes. They also took on the supervision of several missionary journeymen teaching at the school used by missionaries in São Paulo. They took a trip back to the US to officiate at my wedding to Karen. At the conclusion of that term of missionary service, they returned to the Jackson, MS area where Byron taught at Mississippi College and Dora took the load of missions support speaking engagements. At the end of that period of service, they went to Louisville, KY for Karen’ and my seminary graduation.

Their final term of service in Brazil was also my and Karen’s first term of missionary service in Brazil. Organizational changes in the mission made it hard for them to continue in missionary service. Part of that was the purposeful downplay of the role of women on the field and withdrawing funding for Dora’s ministry with the Baptist Children's homes. There was also a push to do away with theological education as a valid missionary enterprise. Compounding that, Byron suffered a heart attack and had to undergo bypass surgery. He recovered well enough from the heart issue to continue, but the organizational changes being brought to bear upon their ministries pushed them to anticipate their original retirement plans.

Byron and Dora returned to the Hattiesburg area of Mississippi, where they had purchased a parcel of land to use as home base during return trips to the US. There they built their retirement home near their daughters and granddaughters, and Byron took on the role of Minister to Seniors at First Baptist Church, Hattiesburg. Dora began working with Christian Women’s Job Corp, as well as working with the fellowship of retired missionaries in the area. Upon Byron leaving the role with First Baptist Church, they joined Main Street Baptist Church, where, after 50 years of ordained ministry, Byron became a deacon and Sunday school teacher. During this time, they were still active in missions, taking a couple of trips to Brazil, including one in which Byron taught a short term class on post-modernism at the seminary where Chris was working.

Byron did some teaching at William Carey College and the University of Southern Mississippi during his retirement years. He also sang with Dora in the Visionaires choir under direction of their longtime friend and colleague, Jim Hayes. As their health continued to decline, they made the decision to sell the house in the McLaurin community and move into an apartment in Hattiesburg proper. As their lease was coming to an end, Dora made arrangements for them to move into an assisted living facility. After her death in November of 2021, Byron moved from Provision Living to Bellevue Assisted Living, where he lived out the remainder of his days. During that period, he continued leading Bible study on Fridays for the other residents.

Byron was ready to pass on. He told his children and others repeatedly over the last year that he was ready to go on and be reunited with Dora. He felt he had accomplished all he needed. We may never be ready to let go of our loved ones, but reality interferes with our desires. There is another sense in which those who are gone are yet part of our lives. Our memories of those loved ones, the lessons we have learned from them, and the gifts we have received from their presence continue with us as we allow. We build a memorial to Byron in the paths we choose to take from here onward. What God has entrusted to Byron, he also passed along to many, as faithfully as he knew how. We carry the gift of his life with us, even as he remains present with God.

I will dearly miss the opportunities I had to discuss the Bible, theology, missions, and so many other things with Byron over the years. I will miss our singing together. I already miss having him available to review my theological writings, offering constructive criticism and sharing resources. I will miss having him around to review family history, to play cards, to share opportunities of ministry, and see his pleasure in the growth and maturing of his grandchildren. My life is much richer for my experiences with him, for his constant love and affirmation, for his gentleness and grace, for how he went out of his way to include, love, and accept all manner of people as he encountered them.

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Born in Tuscaloosa County, AL, on October 17, 1933, Lonnie “Byron” Harbin died on August 29, 2022 at Bellevue Assisted Living in Hattiesburg, MS. Byron was the first in his family to finish high school, going on to earn a Th.D. in Old Testament. Byron met Dora on a blind double date while he was a seminary student and she was a student in the nursing school. They were married on June 12, 1960, and began serving together in ministry, a shared journey of over 61 years. He pastored churches in Mississippi and South Carolina, as well as teaching at North Greenville College, prior to being appointed as a career missionary along with Dora.

The Harbins arrived in Brazil in February of 1970, where they studied Portuguese in Campinas as preparation for his missionary career focused on teaching Hebrew and Old Testament in São Paulo and Recife. He taught at several Baptist colleges between terms in Brazil and upon his retirement. He greatly enjoyed time with his grandchildren and was overjoyed with the birth of his first great-grandchild.

Byron was predeceased by: his parents, Lonnie Elmer Harbin and Maude Bell Harbin of Montgomery, AL; his wife of 61 years, Dora Ann Dunkley Harbin of Hattiesburg, MS; his sister Joyce Bryant of Montgomery, AL; his nephew Charles Michael Whatley of Citronelle, AL, his niece Renee Bryant of Montgomery, AL, his niece Suzanne “Susie” D. Jenkins of McLaurin, MS, and his son-in-law Joseph "Joey" Sanderford of Brandon, MS.

He is survived by: his children, Patricia "Trish" Sanderford of Hattiesburg, MS, Deborah "Debbie" Harbin Ingram (Clyde) of Hattiesburg, MS and Christopher "Chris" Byron Harbin (Karen) of Wingate, NC; his grandchildren, Kasey Renee Ingram Burge (Austin), Jessica Ann Ingram, Jonathan Christopher Goforth Harbin, Katherine Elizabeth Goforth-Harbin, and Joseph Ramshur Sanderford (Stephanie); his great grandchild Kayson Grant Burge; and two siblings Judy Lindsey of Mobile, AL and Jerry Harbin or Phoenix, AZ. He is also survived by several nieces and nephews.

— ©Copyright 2022, Christopher B. Harbin

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