Pastor Alan Fiebelkorn, the first person baptized at Harvest Baptist Church, is our special guest this week as we continue to celebrate our 50th anniversary.
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Episode Transcript
Chris Harper: Welcome to Harvest Time. As you know, the last few weeks, we’ve been airing some very special interviews for our fiftieth anniversary. We have one more today that you won’t want to miss. Join us this Sunday at Harvest Baptist Church. It’s orphan Sunday.
We have another message on encounters with Jesus. This time from Mark 10 13-16 on suffer the little children. We hope you can join us at either 08:45AM or 10:45AM on Sunday. This week, we’re so happy to introduce you to pastor Alan Fiebelkorn. He’s the pastor at Calvary Bible Church in Tonawanda, New York, and was the first person baptized here at Harvest Baptist Church back in 1975.
This interview started right away via phone. Here’s pastor Alan Fiebelkorn.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Yeah. Was just thinking. I says, you know, I could still remember the last night I was there in Guam. We had a there was a service, and I I remember leaving there to the airport, but we had just moved down when we were we just remodeled the downstairs of that old factory, you know, and, you know, it was things were really looking really good. You know?
And but I see it online. I’m like, wow. Yeah. Wow. Look what god did.
Gary Walton: Yeah. It is just amazing what god has done, and it was really fun to see it through, you know, David and his wife, Mary Lee’s eyes, they came last summer, didn’t know that the fiftieth was happening, and so they came last summer just because he wanted to come back. He’d never been back since he left, you know, like you, forty seven years ago. So they came back and just were blown away by what God has done, and then they heard about the fiftieth, and they said, we wanna come back for that. So they’ve been here twice now in the last year or so.
But then even more so to see it through Mrs. Wring’s eyes, I just, I was moved by that. You know, just every single piece of, you know, watching and experiencing what God has done was just you know, she just said over and over again, you know, you don’t always sometimes you she said things like, sometimes you feel like you never really did anything for God, and you or you forget, you know, what the investment has been, and to be able to be here and see that seed that was planted that has, you know, really harp sprung forth in a harvest, in a bountiful harvest was just really fun to see through, you know, her perspective.
Alan Fiebelkorn: For sure. You know, I mean, you think back, well, you know, they were there from the inception. Actually, I was there when it, you know, when they first, I think it had one of the first services just in in the back of somebody’s home. Yeah. On the lanai, you know?
Yeah. And and we looked up to, you know, Pastor Bruce, and and we were all young GIs. You know? Yeah. All those guys go away from home.
You know? And, you know, thank God, you know, they were there. We looked up to him like the big brother and sister or, you know, or dad or mom even back. They’re only ten years older than in, you know, a lot of us. But I it was funny.
I was looking at your on your website where where they had a pastor Wring said he was wondering why Guam or something like that or you know, going to Guam. Yeah. Be back. It’s funny when I got my I was in Duluth, Minnesota in an air base and Sergeant comes in and he used to call me the munchkin because I’m short, you know, and he says, hey, munchkin. Guess where you’re going?
I go, what? He says, you’re going to the rock. I go, what are you talking about, Sarge? Was you going to Guam? I almost fell off the chair.
I go, and and I was going, why Guam? And you gotta be kidding me. You know? I couldn’t even find it on a map. And, you know, for me, I had gotten that was in January.
I got my orders. And in in April, I got saved because of a little let’s see. I don’t know. It was a major major in the air base. And he he was born again, and he got one of the guys in my office involved.
And they would invite me to church, and I I you know, being raised a Catholic, and I was studying to be a priest when I was a teen. You know? I was like, no. This is you know, it’s it’s all second class stuff, you know, and I and I ended up coming and I, you know, make a long story short. I was reading Act sixteen thirty one one day.
You know, they kept giving me scriptures and it just meant the lord just got a hold of me and I got saved that day and then, again, you know, you would think, why Guam? You know, I’m just saved. Now I go, why am I going to Guam? And now I know why Guam? And I think that’s a a almost, I guess, it would be a sermon.
Why not Guam?
Gary Walton: Right. You
Alan Fiebelkorn: know, for everybody. You know?
Gary Walton: Yeah. So what what was the answer for that for you? I mean, why why Guam? Was it about Harvest? What else was it?
Alan Fiebelkorn: Well, you know, why Guam? Because, you know, I got you know, I I’ll be honest with you, I got there being a a young GI. I was I was worried about getting into trouble. You know what I mean? I go, you know, I’m gonna be bored.
I go, I gotta find I knew that a church was gonna be started, and I and even the the the guy that helped lead me to the Lord, he did some footwork there, and he found out that the Wrings were going to to Guam. I think it’s through the BIMI missions, you know, Baptist International Mission. So he told me, you gotta find this guy when you get there. You know? And I remember, you know, when I got there, you know, you know, a week went by or so.
And but those days, the phones, oh my gosh. Try to call someone on the phone and and just did regular Guam there. It was it was like it was up off the Waltons. You know? And I was like, man.
So
Gary Walton: And expense and expensive too. Right? Wasn’t it very expensive?
Alan Fiebelkorn: Oh gosh. I can’t believe I’m talking to you right now. This time, because I remember calling my wife, and it was, $30 for ten minutes.
Gary Walton: Oh my word.
Alan Fiebelkorn: You know? Yeah. And I go, I can’t do that. I I tried to ham operate it over. You know, you gotta say over.
Yeah. Wow. Know, when you talk.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Yeah. What a what a diff. So but I remember I was praying. I go, God. I gotta find this church, you know, And I’m walking on base, and they’re on a three by five card.
It says new church in in in Guam, Harvest Baptist. Oh, I don’t know if it’s called Harvest Baptist at that time. Bruce Wring and, you know, and I got ahold of him, and he he visited me at the at the barracks. You know? And it was really funny because, you know, he’s from Kentucky.
Right? I mean Right. Big southern guy, and I’m a Yankee, you know, a Yankee from New York. And I he didn’t tell me this later. You know?
And and you’re not not right away, but months later, he says, when he first saw me, he goes, I is this all you can give me, God? Is this little Yankee? And I looked at him. I you know, I thought, are you kidding me? Another big southerner.
You know, why, Lord? You know? And, boy, I tell you what, he became my mentor. We became close, and I was one of those guys that, what do you want me to do? You know?
And I, you know, why Guam? I’ll tell you what, I grew. I mean, from the the what Bible studies, the services, you know, and then, you know, brought my first service to the lord in Guam, you know, in a, you know, couple of guys in my office came to the church, you know, and you know, if Guam became really to me a place that I would have said, you know, prior to being saved, like, yeah, you know, like, can any good thing come out of Guam? You know? Like, when he’s when Nathaniel said, can anything good thing come out of Nazareth?
Gary Walton: You know? Right.
Alan Fiebelkorn: And Guam to me is, right now, I would say, one of the high marks of my life because I I got I got right with God. I got called, and, I tried to run for a little bit from him, you know, even when I was there in the church, you know, but God got a hold of me, and I went from there to bible school. And, you know, I look back. I go, it wasn’t for Guam. It wasn’t for you guys, for Harvest Baptist Church.
I’m sure there’s countless now testimonies. If they weren’t there, I wouldn’t probably be here where I am now. I pastored forty years
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah.
Alan Fiebelkorn: The church I’m with right now in the Buffalo, New York area. Yeah.
Gary Walton: Well, well, let me back us let me back us up a little bit. Chris has been recording all along, so this is good. But I am talking to pastor Alan Fiebelkorn, pastor at Calvary Bible Church in Tonawanda, New York. It’s close to Buffalo. Is that right, pastor?
Alan Fiebelkorn: Yes, sir. Yes.
Gary Walton: Yeah. We got connected, don’t remember how long, maybe a year ago, less than a year ago, you had just reached out to the church thinking about, you know, your early ministry here, and, I think you had a chance to talk with pastor Jared. You and I got on the phone. I had such a great time talking with you on the phone, and, we’re trying to figure out how to come out through the fiftieth, and then, of course, you mentioned that you had some some complications with, other schedules. But it’s been so great, connecting, with you, and you were part of the church right from the very beginning.
In fact, I think you told me a story about being on a plane with your guitar. What what was that all about?
Alan Fiebelkorn: I gotta say, excuse me. I had you know, on top of it, there’s 300 of us, GIs, were were were were were, flying out of Travis while they’re all guys in a plane. And I got a big somebody this guy gives me a a hard covered Scofield bible. You know? Mhmm.
I’m carrying that on, and I got my guitar. And I remember sitting on the plane and the guys are looking at me. Why he says, what do you got that for? The Bible. The guy will you think we’re going down? I go, no.
I I said, I found Christ as my savior. He was like, oh, okay. But when I got off the plane, the guys at the office were where I was assigned were waiting. They were they were planning to get me drunk. And they said, we got a new recruit coming in.
So I walked off the plane with my Bible in hand and my guitar, and I heard a one of the guys groan, oh, no. A singing Billy Graham. So we’re not gonna have any fun with this guy. No. I said, sorry, boys.
I don’t do that anymore. But the the guitar I took with me because I used to play in the junior church for the kids, you know, and Mhmm. As as that was growing. And, actually, I wrote the first song I ever wrote about about the Lord being saved. I I wrote that in in Guam one night after a service, and I was walking in the back of the airfield just just just so joyful for what Christ did for me.
I remember walking out in the back of the airfield and, you know, it was along with God and like a a melody came and the the song. And so, you know, it was a so that’s the that was the thing about the guitar. So the guitar helped save me when from those guys when they saw me with the guitar and bible.
Gary Walton: Ah, it’s such That’s such a great story. Yeah. Yeah. And and you were saying this earlier, but you really were there in some of the earliest services. I mean, they only met in that Lanai, over Mangilao for a, you know, a few months, I think.
We’re talking about that before, you know, ended up with that first move, but you were there right away.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Yes. And, you know, the they would pick me up because I didn’t have a car at that time. I had that shipped later, and they had the old Volkswagen Harvest Baptist Church bus. Yeah. You know?
Yeah. That was great. I remember the the first time I was there, pastor Wring was preaching. And I was in we’re in a like I said, the back there, Lanai. And he gave an invitation.
I came forward, but what he was preaching on was, you know, had been baptized since been saved. And I’m sitting there during the service thinking, oh, he’s baptized as a baby. You know? And and he everything I’m thinking is is it’s going contrary. Not talking about being baptized as babies.
Like, the spirit of God was just ripping me apart of my old Catholic root there. You know? And so I came forward, and he said, oh, do wanna get saved? I don’t know. I said I’m saved.
I wanna get baptized. And, I think that the the that great story was that I got I was the first one baptized in that church.
Gary Walton: Right. Yeah.
Alan Fiebelkorn: And it was in the old piano crate. I never forgot that. When that, a piano was shipped from The States, and he and pastor Wring goes, you know what? He says, you know, with with all that water around us, you know, he says, let’s just, you know, use the crate, and he lined it with plastic sheeting and, made a little walk. You step up, and I got into that tank.
You know? That’s how it was the best one of the best baptisms I think ever taken place on Guam Yeah. For me. It was.
Gary Walton: Was anybody else baptized, that day, or is it just you?
Alan Fiebelkorn: No. No. There’s a number of us baptized. I I can’t remember how many. You know?
Maybe maybe four or five. I’m trying to Yeah. You know, someone has an eight millimeter film somewhere in this world. Someone someone was was taking a, had one of those old cameras. You know?
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Alan Fiebelkorn: And I was I was happy as could be. You know? So, yeah, from from that point on, you know, so that you know, from the Lanai, that’s when we moved into the the baptism was after we moved into that old factory.
Gary Walton: Yep. The old print shop.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Oh, I remember what that looked like. Oh, man. That thing was what a what a challenge that was. You know? And I’m thinking to myself, wow.
What I get myself into here, you know, with these guys. But, you know, Little by little, I think, you know, you know, grew and grew. But I think one of the things was I remember he had a he wanted to help us grow. So he says, we’re gonna do a thirteen day straight, you know, preaching and teaching from the book of Matthew. Mhmm.
So I was one of those I made every one of the services. Mhmm. Yeah. And one night, we’re we’re sitting there. It’s hot.
You know, there’s no air conditioning back then and had the louver windows. And I don’t know. It was like the the attack of the moth. Moths were filling the place, flying everywhere, bouncing off you know? Me, I and I really as a young man, I’d lost my hair to bouncing off my bald head.
I’m like, oh my gosh. You know? But here I stuck in there, heard the word of God, and you know what? I I really felt I, you know what? That was one one of those things, you know, thanks, Lord.
You know? I could care less if you had locust in there. You know? Yeah. It was just great.
The word of God every night. And, you know, so, yeah, we were there, and I remember, you know, when the, you know, painting I remember painting the rooms. You know, as time went on. I remember when they had all the construction and getting and he had then he brought in the ACE school, you know, and Mhmm. So about everything you can think of from the beginning, Like, we didn’t even have a lawnmower, and I used to take, what do you call, oh, man, what are we trying to say?
Not sick like a sickle. I forgot what you call it. Yeah. I cut the the backyard by hand by myself. You know?
And it didn’t bother me. I was as happy as could be. You know? I was doing it for the Lord, and and I met some great people, guys my age, you know, couples, you know, one guy, him and his wife were in I mean, he was at the base, and I kept telling him about the Lord and, you know, he got saved, and they they stayed with the church. And and another guy came in, and he same thing.
You know, he got he got his guy was a little backslidden. He got right with God, and he had a wife from Vietnam. And it was just it just it was a great thing. You know? And I all these things and all these memories, I go, you know, God was was taken me to a place.
I go, why Guam? I go, no. I wish everybody could know that why Guam feeling now.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah.
Alan Fiebelkorn: You just grew? So and another thing being that it was 9,000 miles away from home. Mhmm. And I thought about that and being a good I was, I mean, a staunch Catholic boy and really dedicated, you know, to the cause of the Catholic church and, know, and I didn’t know what salvation was, and it it Guam readied me to come home and tell my parents
Gary Walton: Mhmm.
Alan Fiebelkorn: That I’m following Jesus Christ. I’m going to bible school. Mhmm. You know? And I’m walking with him.
I’m you know? And my my mother said, did you leave the Catholic church? I go, my. I’ve gone in with the Baptist. I says, I’m following Jesus.
That’s what I’m doing, mom. Mhmm. And that didn’t go over well, and it was a lot of pressure. But if if it wasn’t for Guam, I and just growing, I would probably have buckled, you know Yeah. Under family pressure.
And, and I went out to Chicago by faith. Yeah. That was another story, but that’s a different story. You know, we were
Gary Walton: we’ve been talking
Alan Fiebelkorn: Go ahead.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Well, we’ve been talking about this idea over the last week of, you know, just even God’s, plan in the naming of Harvest Baptist Church, and, you know, the seeds that were planted, you know, back in those days, and it’s so great hearing your story because that that story of your whole, you know, coming to Christ, commitment to Christ, what God did out of a, you know, Catholic background, trying to communicate back to the family. I mean, pastor, that’s that’s is a seed that was planted, and that story has been repeated over and over and over. I mean, literally thousands of times over the years. The church is filled today with people that really have the very same story.
You know, all the parts are little bit different, but coming to Christ, following him wholeheartedly, some of the decisions have to be made in the middle of that, and it’s it’s so cool to hear the seeds that were planted back then.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Yeah. And, you know, when you said that about the church, because I was thinking, know, a little bit more. The I remember him preaching from John four thirty five Mhmm. You know, about the harvest. And he goes he goes, I believe this would be a great name for the church, the Harvest Baptist Church.
And we’re all like, yeah. You know, because you know, I can you know, and now that you when you we’re talking there, I get you you you get those flashbacks. I go, I remember that now. I can’t, you know, I can’t know, the framing of what I said when they when I first met them and they had the the the vans Yeah. That they they didn’t have a on them yet.
Right. I’m just they had them on or later. You know? So because they all consummated as we moved into that building. You know?
Yeah. Our the first Thanksgiving. Okay. He had a Thanksgiving service, and it was fantastic because, you know, again, all us GIs, we missed our homes.
Gary Walton: Of course. Yeah.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Church had had, like, six or seven turkeys, and we had a big spread. So he let us all preach. It was all the preacher boys that wanna preach. You get ten minutes apiece. You know?
Mhmm. And we’re all trying our best, and there’s one guy from Arkansas. I’ll never forget. His name was Bob Charles. And, you know you know, each of us is did a ten minute, you know, whatever a God had given us.
So Bob Charles gets up there and he says, hi, everyone. You know me. I’m Bob Charles. He says second Corinthians 13. I forgot what verse it was.
He said thirteen five. He says he says, the word says examine yourselves. He said, thank you. That that is all. He sat down to this day.
I can remember I can remember the whole sermon and examine yourself. Wow. That’s so great. You know, just some of the you know? I’ll I’ll tell you a story probably too, if if you got time.
Gary Walton: Of course. Let’s go. Yeah.
Alan Fiebelkorn: I remember there was this guy named Jack and Leah, his wife, and in an early church, and my friend said, I I work with this guy, Jack. He says, I wanna visit him. I says, he’s pretty rough. I says, okay. You know?
So we ended up it’s it was a guy was living off base in a Quonset hut, and I I walk in there. I says, you know, I says, yeah. I’ll I’ll I’ll help witness to the guy. You know? And we get in there, and this guy, Jack, he’s he’s whittling something with a knife, this big knife.
You know? Mhmm. And then there’s a couple guys there and his wife, and his wife’s got a bottle of Jack Daniels in her hands, believe it or not. So I’m sitting there like, holy cow. So I guess one guy was was high on something, smoking something, and Jack’s there, and I’m trying to witness.
He’s whittling. He says, you know, he says, I would nothing you know, I could kill a guy, you know, if I got, you know, in a wrong wrong spot with him. So I’m sitting here like, oh my lord. So I’m witnessing, and his wife’s laughing, she walks away. The guy with high is laughing.
So we we get out of there, and I my friend goes, I believe they’re getting saved. I said so. Yeah. I said, that’ll be a day. So wouldn’t you know it?
Two weeks later, Jack came in with his wife, Rita.
Gary Walton: Wow.
Alan Fiebelkorn: He heard the message. He walked the aisle. He got saved. His wife, Rita, ran out the door crying. She didn’t want anything to do with it.
She got saved two weeks later. We became really great friends and soul winning partner. I mean, these are some of the stories like you’re like Yeah. I would have never, you know, I’ll tell you one more, brother. I remember pastor Wring asked me to take this.
He says, take can you take this guy out? Yeah. Now I’m, like, just proven fat. I’ve been here, like, seven months. Mhmm.
You know? Like, I know what I’m doing. So I said so he says, how do you do this? I go, well, we just let the Lord lead us. You know?
And I had a little Ford Maverick, you know? And we came to a split in the road, and I took my he goes, take your hands off too. He said, said, what do you he was like, Lord do that. So so the car, you know, shifted to the right, you know, whether it was my my alignment or it was the Lord. So we end up going way down in, like, in the jungle area where Hudson, they they actually the women were actually washing their clothes, you know, like, in a pond and, you know, so these these guys are playing cards.
So I had one of those tracks. Remember those tracks he used to have had, like, a picture of Guam that would say, how to get to heaven from Guam?
Gary Walton: Yeah. Of course.
Alan Fiebelkorn: And, yeah. You know? So I went up to the guy. Hi. How are you?
I told my friend, just watch this. No. I said, this is this is how you do it. So I go up to the guy, and he’s staring at me. And I’m giving him a track.
He said, if you don’t get out of here, I’m gonna kill you right now. My friend’s running already to the car. And I’m like, thank you very much. I gotta go. So my friend’s in the car again.
The guy goes, let’s go home. Let’s go home. I go, no. No. We we we, you know, he pull out it.
I go, God’ll lead us. So we came into a neighborhood, and we opened the you know, it was a fenced house. We opened it up. We walked about just a couple feet, and here come two doberman pinschers chasing us. We went out and, like, slammed the gate.
He gets to the car. Please, he goes, take me home. I knew in my heart, I go, I just gotta be, you gotta help us. So I says, one more house. You know, we knocked on the door.
I was a Philipino guy. A guy opened up the door, young guy, let us come in, and I’ll never forget it. You know, he he opened his heart up, asked Christ to come in and save his soul. Wow. And then when we left him, my friend goes, let’s do this next week.
I should have amen, brother. Yeah. Those are just some of the stories, brother. You know?
Gary Walton: And God
Alan Fiebelkorn: Those are the array.
Gary Walton: Yeah. And god grew the church very rapidly. Mrs. Wring was telling us this week, and David, you know, son was saying, you know, maybe up to 200 within a few years. And, you know, just people coming to Christ. The school started growing pretty quickly.
Pastor Wring was here, for three years. How long were you here before you ended up getting shipped out?
Alan Fiebelkorn: Okay. I I got there. I was there, actually, fifteen months from Yeah. I was there for June ’75, and I got discharged out of there in September ’76. Wow.
So my last whatever I had left on my time, you know, I mean, I I didn’t even get out one day early. I got out to the day I got four years. It was to the so anyways, I was out for fifteen months. Mhmm. And, you you know, it did I remember one thing, brother.
We were running about seventy seventy, 80 people, and it was we were coming into the turn of the year in 1976. And I never and we went through, like, a spiritual type battle. It was it was a it was really a, you know, one of those, how would you say, you know, it’s hard to explain. It was just like something was, you know, the enemy had tried to get a hold on the church and that. And there was a breakthrough.
And I remember our church the church doubled in size size in, like, from February into March. We were, like, closing up to about a 140, 150 people. And then it just and then, of course, we we were holding and growing somewhat. So I don’t know. When I left, I think it was close to 200 or maybe even 200 at that time Yeah.
You know, for only fifteen months. And, and it was a lot of GIs at first.
Gary Walton: Sure. Yeah.
Alan Fiebelkorn: I saw I I see now. I mean, you you have all these man, what a mystery you just have. Yeah. You know? And and also brother John Lewis, I knew him as a business when he was a businessman.
Him and his wife were there. I forgot where he was working for, but Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And I didn’t you know?
And then I what a work that John did too. Wow. Yeah. That was unbelievable. You know?
Gary Walton: Well
Alan Fiebelkorn: You know, all you guys.
Gary Walton: Well, you know, it’s amazing to think about the way God has used every single individual that’s come through here. But, pastor, to think about, you know, your time here, God did bring you with your Scofield Bible and your guitar to come alongside, Pastor Wring and, the others. There’s a few others then, but, you know, just to get things launched, it’s really cool listening to that. I think you told me, that, there was a a few others that were part of the launch team. If I remember right, you you mentioned Don and Helen Hughes, missionaries from Saipan, and Jay and Jan Fabian, who are missionaries from Vietnam.
Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Alan Fiebelkorn: Yeah. They they were there about when when I was on at Lanai, they were there. They must all converge
Gary Walton: Okay.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Almost simultaneously. I wish I could give you a better but from the very inception, they were there.
Gary Walton: Okay.
Alan Fiebelkorn: And they helped us grow. You know, I can remember Don and and teaching, like, he do the Sunday school. Pastor Wring would preach the, you know, the morning service. Jay would do some bible studies, and they they work together. I think, Jay, I think in the turn of the I know wait a sec.
Just around yeah. In the turn of 1976 after we had that great breakthrough, a month or two later, Favians left.
Gary Walton: Okay.
Alan Fiebelkorn: And then the Hughes left. After we had this great typhoon that went through, and typhoon Pamela, I believe it was. But, so they were gone by, I would say, the summer of ’76, you know? So they were they were there about a year, you know, and I was there with them, you know? So Yeah.
It was, they were they were blessed people, which is great. You know?
Gary Walton: Well, well, that’s kind of the idea, just thinking about every single individual. But I you know, that first group of people that God brought together, you know, to get things launched were just just pioneers and passionate for God, and that spirit I mean, really, pastor, I I I hope that you’re able to come because I think you’d love what God’s continuing to do here, but that spirit has remained. I mean, there’s some ebbs and flows, but that that pioneering spirit of wanting to do something for God and giving our lives to him, I just think it was birthed in those early years, and by God’s goodness, he’s allowed that to just continue to kind of be the DNA that’s flowed through the Ministry of Harvest for fifty years.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Yeah. Because you you don’t see that. Yeah. I mean, you know, I mean, our church, it’s almost like a you know, we did years when we started the church from scratch. It was really booming.
You know? Mhmm. And, unfortunately, we hit the, you know, like, a plateau, and now we got I hate to say, we got geriatric. You know, we’re geriatric now. But, I mean, they’re great faithful people, but hearing what you’re telling me, oh, man.
See, I remember those days. And, you know what? You just gotta pray about it, and I gotta get out. Don’t be a stick in a mud either. I gotta get out there, you know, and I’ll bring my guitar.
Gary Walton: Okay. Well
Alan Fiebelkorn: Not a digital one. That’s that ‘s fun.
Gary Walton: If you show up with your big Scofield and the the guitar, it’ll be great. We’ll have a second round.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Yeah. I know. But, yeah, that, I’m so glad to to hear, and I I was just, you know, just looking at when I look at the at your web page and your site and everything, I’m like, wow. Yeah. Wow.
It’s and that’s that was right. I was about I talked to you way back, I was searching. I go, I wonder what happened to Guam, you know, Harvest Baptist Church. You know? Well, that was the amazing I That
Gary Walton: was the amazing part to me when I first talked with you because because, frankly, you know, the story of Harvest is broad. I I talk to people all the time from all over the world. There have been so many people that have come through here because of the military, because of the school and teachers. I mean, there’s just
Alan Fiebelkorn: Right.
Gary Walton: Many people that have at least a sense. You really can’t understand what God has done truly without being on the ground here. But still, there’s a sense of what’s happened, but I I remember that first conversation with you. You were just looking up, what happened to Guam? And then showed up on the website and said, wow.
So that was pretty neat.
Alan Fiebelkorn: I know. I know. It’s it’s to this day, I was just looking at I did catch a few things there on the Facebook, or or, you know, I know you’re, you’re you’re reaching a lot. You were telling me. Right?
Micronesia, Palmy, all
Gary Walton: the Yeah.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Areas around there, they’re they’re coming to Guam
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Alan Fiebelkorn: For, you know, I mean, wow. I’m thinking to myself, and look at that little island sitting out there. Well It’s like it’s no man’s land on it. You know?
Gary Walton: Well, that’s the thing. Right? And I think probably even anybody that’s come to serve here has felt that, but I I am sure even more so for that first group, you know, because there wasn’t the infrastructure that we have now as far as the ministry goes. And to be able to know that, you know, those initial sacrifices and investments, only God did what’s come after that, but he took that that offering, you know, that that you and others laid down before him, and he blessed it. And you’re right.
The influence of Harvest is all across Micronesia, that Bible colleges, kids that are here, that are going back. The touch of Harvest is only is something that only God could do. And, pastor, you were part of that. I love hearing the stories of what, what God did while you were here in, the church through you, and I hope that we get a chance to have you come out. We’ll, we’ll welcome you with open arms.
It won’t be the fiftieth, but we’ll have a second reunion, and, we’d love to introduce you to the folks here and what God is still doing here.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Oh, yeah. I’d love to you know what? I I’m really gonna see what I can do here. You know, I gotta just do it. You know?
My wife’s in glory. What do I got to do here? Yeah. I can. She’s home.
You know?
Gary Walton: She passed away, she passed away just a a year and a half ago. Is that right?
Alan Fiebelkorn: Yeah. Christmas day, it was. Yeah. Actually, Christmas morning. Yeah.
By God’s great grace, she called me before she passed, and she passed in my arms. I couldn’t ask for a better a better scenario. You know?
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Alan Fiebelkorn: So, you know, that yeah. I’ll see her again. You know, we all know that, you know, and that’s a great thing, but
Gary Walton: Amen.
Alan Fiebelkorn: You know, I still wanna do something. At 73, I’m I’m one of these. I go, I still wanna be used by God. I still, you know, use me, God. Here I am.
You know? Send me.
Gary Walton: Amen. So Well, we we got started quick in the interview without the formal introduction, but you’ve been at your church for forty some years now. Is that right?
Alan Fiebelkorn: That’s right. It forty years. It’s the church started in February 1985. Wow. So
Gary Walton: Well, that’s great too. That’s a faithful ministry there, and we’re gonna pray that God continues to bless that. And I I really do hope that you’re able to come out. We’ll we’ll talk offline about that, but let’s figure out a time that you can come. We’d love to have you be here Sure, brother.
See what God’s doing.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Yeah. Good challenge. I need the challenge, you know, at my age. Need the challenge. Challenge.
Gary Walton: Well, I can tell you what. This interview, as we send it out, we’ll send it out this weekend. This will be a blessing to people. So thank you for sharing. You know, you’re part of the Harvest story.
I know people are gonna be encouraged by that.
Alan Fiebelkorn: Well, I’ll tell you this, brother. I haven’t met you, but I love you. I love the people at Harvest, and we’ll see each other soon, brother. Okay. Guaranteed that one.
You know?
Gary Walton: Okay. I’m gonna mark it down. Pastor Fiebelkorn, thank you for, getting on the phone with us here our morning, your evening, praying for God’s blessing on you. Thank you for your investment in God’s ministry, but specifically the time here in Guam at Harvest Ministries. God bless you.
Alan Fiebelkorn: God bless you, brother.
Chris Harper: Well, thank you for listening to this week’s Harvest Time. We wanna invite you to join us at Harvest Baptist Church this weekend. We meet at 08:45AM and 10:45AM every Sunday morning. We have Japanese and Korean translation during our 10:45AM service, and that’s also the service we bring you live on 88.1 FM and khmg.org. We hope to see you this Sunday.
Thanks again for listening to Harvest Time.