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By KIM MULFORD
Courier-Post Staff
Ever since John Harvey became a missionary, he has relied on God and the goodness of others to supply his needs.
For the last 10 years, the 57-year-old and his wife, Sharon, have lived in the mountains of Guatemala. Unlike many missionaries, they are not affiliated with a denomination. They live a frugal lifestyle and they have no health insurance. The donations they receive are poured into their work.
A native of Chester, Pa., Harvey teaches the Mayans who want to become ministers. Sharon, who grew up in Camden, is a nurse. She runs a health clinic, serving about 4,000 people a year.
Conditions there are deplorable, said Harvey, and the needs are great. The average man has a second-grade education and the average woman has no schooling. People walk for miles to visit the clinic or attend Bible classes.
The Harveys also provide a service for those back home, offering an opportunity for others to serve as "short-term" missionaries. For the last six years, Dr. L. Robert Smith and his wife, Robbie, have volunteered their time each spring when they visit the Harveys for a few weeks. The Haddonfield duo packs their bags with medicines for the clinic and coloring books and crayons for the children.
It has been an eye-opening experience for the Smiths and their two daughters. They've seen first-hand how donations are used.
"It takes very little money to really accomplish a lot in a third-world country," said Robbie Smith.
Last week, they found assistance for Harvey, who has been plagued for the last decade with a condition called Dupuytren's contracture. The painless disease curled one of his fingers until it was unusable. There was no way he could get treatment in Guatemala.
The Smiths found a way to help him. The dermatologist and his wife, a nurse, are friends with Dr. Robert M. Dalsey, an orthopedic surgeon in Haddonfield. They are also friends with Richard E. Murray, president and CEO of the Kennedy Health System.
Last week, Harvey flew to South Jersey, where Dalsey operated to correct the problem. The surgery was done in the Kennedy Surgical Center in Washington Township.
Dalsey and Kennedy offered their services free. It's the first time the nonprofit health system has donated its services to a missionary, said Murray.
"He's a good example of a person who does so much good in a place where it's really needed," Murray said. "He's the one that really deserves the credit."
The surgery is another example of how Harvey's needs have been provided for - and he is grateful.
"I do see that as the grace of God," said Harvey, while being examined at the doctor's office last week. "We strictly live by faith. We give thanks to the Lord for each one who gives."
Reach Kim Mulford at (856) 845-6521 or kmulford@ courierpostonline.com
