Dan and Chris Pelletier were long-time staff members at Harvest. On this special 50th anniversary program, they discuss their time in ministry on Guam.
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Episode Transcript
Chris Harper: Welcome to Harvest Time. My name is Chris Harper, and our host on this program is Pastor Gary Walton, the lead pastor of Harvest Baptist Church. Every week on this program, we tell you the stories of our church by interviewing our members and other friends at the ministry. We’d like to invite you to Harvest Baptist Church this weekend. We meet twice Sunday mornings at 08:45AM and 10:45AM.
We have Japanese and Korean translation during our 10:45AM service, and that’s also when we livestream at hbcguam.org. Hbcguam.org. In the month of October, we’re looking ahead to our fiftieth anniversary for Harvest Ministries, and we have special guests to mark that occasion. Here’s Pastor Walton to introduce today’s guests.
Gary Walton: Well, as many of our listeners know, we are leading up to the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Harvest Ministries, Harvest Baptist Church. Over the weekend of October 26, we’ve invited a number of our pastors that have served at the church and in the ministry over the years. We’ve invited them to come back for the week. We’re gonna celebrate God’s faithfulness over the years, and, we can’t wait for those days to to come, and we’re glad we wanna invite you to to join us, be part of that. Leading up to that, we have been interviewing some of these, guests that are be gonna be joining us on Harvest Time.
And so I’m really glad today to be able to welcome, via phone from, San Francisco, California, be able to welcome Pastor Dan Pelletier and his wife, Chris. Thank you for joining us on Harvest Time, and we can’t wait to get you here actually on island.
Dan Pelletier: Looking forward to being with everyone.
Gary Walton: We’re talking to you from, San Francisco, Pastor Dan, where you’re the pastor at, Hamilton Square Baptist Church. You’ve been there how long. Tell us a little bit about, you know, the last few years after leaving Harvest. You were here in 1985 through ’98. Just real quick on on your story since then.
Dan Pelletier: Well, when we left there, we went to, the Midwest and went to Heart of America Seminary and finished a master’s class, master’s work, master’s in pastoral studies, and did some traveling for the American Association of Christian Schools, and then ended up being a youth pastor down in North Carolina for a little while, and associate pastor in Indiana for a bit and then the Lord called us to California to run a camp and so we came out here to run a camp and after a few years, the camp closed and then we ended up just here at Hamilton Square. Not sure what was gonna happen, and then they put us on staff, and I was associate pastor for a number of years, and then the Lord led us to Dublin. That’s where I first met you, Pastor Gary.
Gary Walton: Yeah, that’s right.
Dan Pelletier: We I pastored a church in Dublin, and then some things happened, and we ended up leaving there to and to seek God’s mind again, and he brought us here as associate pastor. Then three years ago, I became the senior pastor.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Our our paths have crossed in various ways over the years hardly without us knowing it. I’m you and I have talked about this before, but I’ve got, some historical connections in San Francisco. My dad pastored there for a while, and he was involved in the seminary, San Francisco Baptist Theological Seminary. I went up to Lucerne Camp, you know, a number of different times, which is where you were at, and then we crossed in Dublin and then back again in San Francisco.
So it’s kinda interesting how God intersects our our paths over the years.
Dan Pelletier: Yes. That is really amazing, isn’t it?
Gary Walton: Yeah. And our family has been long term friends with Doctor Innes. My dad was friends with Doctor Innes, who’s your predecessor there, and just faithful ministry. Hamilton Square Baptist Church is a significant voice, for the gospel in the heart of San Francisco, and we’re glad that you’re there praying for your ministry while you’re serving there.
Dan Pelletier: Well, thank you for that. We pray for you all too.
Gary Walton: We’re excited about having you able to come back to Guam. I know it’s been a few years, and it’s gonna be thrilling to be able to get you introduced again to the church and see a lot of places that are so familiar to you. You were here I think you came in 1985. Is that right? And then through ’98, I think, were the years that you’re here.
Tell us about coming to Guam and Harvest. How did god lead you there? What was Harvest like in those early years when you’re here?
Dan Pelletier: Well, we first heard about Micronesia with Dalton Heath, a missionary that was in Pohnpei at the time. He came through. I was a youth pastor in North Carolina then and he didn’t get to show his slides at the church. I don’t know why. I think he preached too long.
And so we we invited him to our house afterwards and he came over and showed us his pictures. And I said, wow, where is this place? I have no idea. But it intrigued me. And then Dave McCain, that name might be familiar.
He was the first youth pastor at the church.
Gary Walton: Yeah. It is. We stay in connection with Dave. Yeah.
Dan Pelletier: Yeah. And so Dave Dave was the representative for proteens at the time in North Carolina, and he and I had hit it off. And and then he went to Guam and asked me to take on some ministry responsibilities he had so he could get to Guam. And I just mentioned in passing, if you ever need me out there, let me know. Maybe it’d be something I’d be interested in.
And and then they called us, and six weeks later after we heard about the place, we were there. It was amazing. It’s just the change that took place. Funny thing is we thought we were going to The Caribbean. I didn’t know where Guam was.
Gary Walton: You two met, when did you meet? You were married when you came. Right?
Dan Pelletier: You can tell them about that.
Chris Pelletier: We met in high school. My my youth pastor’s wife at the time taught at the Christian school there. It was about thirty minutes away from well, thirty, forty five minutes away from our church. But we didn’t have a Christian school at our church or in our town, so she taught up there. And that’s how I got introduced to the idea of Christian education.
It was really a foreign concept to me and my family. But she took a few of us from the youth group up one day to visit the school in hopes of our going there. And and that’s what happened. We we went up, I think it was in eighth grade at the time, and then when I was a freshman, and that’s when I started going to school, and that’s how my husband and I met. Yeah.
Dan Pelletier: Yep. Took her to a Valentine’s banquet when we were 14, and we’ve been together ever since.
Gary Walton: Ah, that’s great. Fantastic. Yeah. Thank you for your faithful marriage, and that’s a great testimony. Chris, maybe I can ask you.
You know, what did you think when Dan starts talking about the idea of moving to Guam?
Chris Pelletier: Well, you know, I guess in you know, I was thinking that’s a long way from home. You know, my mom, when we told her what my concern was when I had left for my freshman year of college, my dad, he told me because again, Christian education was a Christian college was totally a foreign concept to him. But he said, I’m going to let you go to this Christian college, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be a missionary on a foreign field someday. And here we are going across overseas to Guam. It wasn’t a foreign mission field, but it was across the sea from him.
And my concern was how are we going to tell him this and what is he going to think? But it’s amazing how God works in hearts. And when we told him and told mom and dad, they were totally fine. You know, my mom said, I’d rather have you 10,000 miles away from home than right next door to me and out of the Lord’s will. So, they were behind us for sure and I’m thankful for that.
Dan Pelletier: Well, that was the initial response. And then they called back about an hour later and said, where is this place? We cannot find it on our Rand McNally Roadmap. Man. They didn’t know where it was.
But then they ended up visiting us two or three times, and it was amazing how the Lord expanded their world because we did what God called us to do. Yeah. We celebrated our second wedding anniversary in Guam.
Gary Walton: Wow. That’s great.
Dan Pelletier: That’s how young we were about. Yeah.
Gary Walton: It really is part of the Harvest story, I mean, that you described there that we don’t often think of. Over the years, how many parents have been willing to say, hey. We’ll allow our kids, and support them and pray, you know, for them as they leave, you know, the the closeness of home to serve, sometimes in the school, sometimes in the ministry. I mean, it’s a story that’s been told now hundreds of times over the years and never I don’t think it’s ever easy on anybody. Yeah.
Dan Pelletier: And Harvest always seemed to somehow, at least it did in our days, I’m sure it’s the same way now, you kinda draw the cream of the crop Absolutely. And just what a team we had there. It was just amazing. You know, a lot of young young people who were struggling and trying to figure out life and what was going on. Some figuring out what marriage was all about and all of that while they’re doing this ministry.
Yeah. It it was it was a family for sure to us, and, what a what a great place to be.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Pastor, I think about that often. We do get the, really, the cream of the crop. You’re thinking about students that not only, have already committed themselves in some way to Christian education or ministry, but then the it’s the ones that are willing to pull up the stakes, to leave family, to leave the whatever the comfort might be and say, hey. I’d be willing to serve.
So it’s the ones that are all in, and, we have the same. And you look back over the history of so many staff that have come that have just been, you know, just choice servants of God. And God’s used that, you know, that giftedness, to see the ministry grow in so many ways.
Dan Pelletier: Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. It was a privilege to be a part of that.
Chris Pelletier: Yes. It was. Yes. For sure.
Gary Walton: Pastor Peltier, what about for you? What what were the kinds of things that were intriguing for you, or or what did God use to draw you here originally?
Dan Pelletier: Well, some of it was I was in a situation where I said, this is not gonna be a good situation. The pastor and the deacons were at odds with with each other, and I was the youth pastor kind of caught in the middle.
Gary Walton: Ah, yeah.
Dan Pelletier: They wanted me to side with him against the deacons and the deacons were asking me if I wanted to be the next pastor. And I said, oh boy, I gotta get out of here. So we just prayed and said, Lord, what would you have us do? And so when Dave and Pastor Lewis called, they called, they woke us up, I think it was midnight, they called. And they said, Do you wanna teach school and run camps in the summer?
And I’m going, I don’t know about the teaching school business. I’ve never done that before, but running camps, that’s my thing, you know? And basically we came out, I said, I’ll give you a year. Because we we had no idea where this place was or what we got ourselves into and that was back in the pioneer days and and then, it wasn’t long after we got there. It was like, okay, This is interesting, but we’re we’re all in.
Let’s let’s go. And then we just hung on and and got to it was quite a ride. It really was.
Gary Walton: You really were here, had the privilege of being here during some of those, you know, formative years. You know, of course, the church started in ’75. Pastor Ring was here for four or five years. Pastor Lewis came. But you came in 1985.
I mean, that’s only ten years into the life of this church and ministry. And looking back, I mean, there’s a lot of things that happen in the next thirteen, fourteen years.
Dan Pelletier: Oh, man. We left a a North Carolina church that had, you know, wall walnut pews and pillars, white pillars and red carpets and graveyard out back to a very traditional setting. And then we got into Guam and and had that ugly, ugly print building that we used to have. Was it was painted chocolate brown, had yellow letters on the side. And then you went in and it was cheap beat up paneling on the walls and metal folding chairs and ugly carpet and it was just a it I think the piano was half beat up, you know, but it wasn’t the building, it wasn’t the property because everything was basically jungle or shipping containers back in those days.
but it was the was the spirit of harvest. The the love for God, the love for one another that just made it so special. Mhmm.
Gary Walton: You work closely with pastor John Lewis during those early years. We, you know, we’ve been talking about pastor Lewis coming back for for this celebration for a few years. Actually, he’s he tried to come back a couple different times and providentially wasn’t able to come in the last few years, and then, you know, God took him home just recently. We’re we’re sad that he won’t be able to be here. So glad that missus Lewis is coming, and we can’t wait to celebrate.
Yeah. Can’t wait to celebrate.
Dan Pelletier: Gonna make it or not. We’re glad.
Gary Walton: Yeah. She is. But maybe particularly because we don’t have the opportunity to have him right now, could you talk with us just a little bit about pastor Lewis and, you know, how God used him in such a unique way during those formative years?
Dan Pelletier: Well, I tell people I’ve worked with three great pastors. One was the pastor who had the golden touch. Anything that he had a desire to see built, he got it built, and that was Pastor Lewis. And there were two other pastors that just were just amazing to me. But I I don’t think I’ve ever met a stronger leader than than John Lewis.
He when he hired us, he hired Chris as his secretary. He wasn’t sure that was gonna work. And I don’t think he knew what to do with me either, we quickly bonded and Chris worked side by side with him as his secretary all that time. She also managed some side businesses that he had for the housing and stuff like that. But we very quickly became extremely close.
Now I butted heads with him several times. And and because I I tend to be a little bit of a strong leader too but he was always fair And when he was right and I finally agreed with him, then we just put all any arguments aside and just went on, you know? And every once in a while, I won, you know? That was good. I like that.
But he he he really did know how to lead and inspire people.
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Dan Pelletier: And I I really did appreciate him a lot. I learned a lot from him.
Chris Pelletier: Yes. Yes.
Gary Walton: Well, we just we’re I was just talking with Pastor Herron about, you know, the way that God has led Harvest Ministries through the leadership over the years. And there’s just no question. I I don’t know of anybody else that the things that happened that God used Pastor Lewis to to see accomplished during those years. It takes a special personality for all that stuff to happen in such a short amount of time. And
Dan Pelletier: Well, he had a he had an incredible business sense. Right. And and a heart for the Lord and and a vision. And then he knew how to he he knew when to share. He had a lot of vision.
And so he didn’t he didn’t dump it all out at one time. He just kinda dripped it off once in a while where we could catch on and then and then then he would enlist people who had skills that he did not have and but yet he knew what he wanted from them and could communicate that to them and then drew that out of us. And I mean like I said I was 24 years old when I showed up over there And very quickly, he put me in leadership positions that somebody that age would not have gone into. I don’t think it was because of me. Was because he saw something in me and could draw it out of me.
And so, yeah, I I do, to this day, really owe a great debt to him.
Gary Walton: Mhmm. Amen. Yeah. We all do for sure. Chris, tell us about adjusting to Guam, new people, new ministry.
How’d all that work for you?
Chris Pelletier: Well, I I’m one of my first memories, obviously, is when we got off the plane, and, it was, like, 04:40AM in the morning and you get off the plane and you just feel like someone has taken your breath away from the humidity. Yeah. You know, so that was definitely an adjustment. You know, and one of my husband’s fondest memories, I think, is of me. I could not remember what those little lizards were called, you know, the geckos.
I could not remember what they’re called. I called them geeks at first, and he would laugh at me. And, you know, just the adjusting to the, you know, the living conditions, they weren’t horrible, but were definitely different from what we were used to.
Dan Pelletier: Tell them about your allergies with the couch.
Chris Pelletier: I missed the first day of school because I was so sick. I I’m allergic to cats. Okay. And, you know, we found out later that the couch in our apartment was infested with cat hair. And so, you know, I am I’m not feeling well.
I’m laying on this couch, and and I was just getting sicker and sicker. And I remember Becky Lewis coming over to check on me the first day of school, and I nearly passed out. I was just that that sick. And then we figured pastor Lewis found out that I was allergic to cats and that this couch was infested with cat hair. So he had it removed that day, know, and and you know, things like that.
I just remember walking in the grocery store and when we went out there, we went out there on a wing and a prayer. We had really nothing. And, if they hadn’t put groceries in our apartment, we would have probably starved. It was that that’s how, you know little money we had when we went. And I watch in the grocery store, and of course I’m seeing things I’ve never seen before, know fruit bat, and I’m seeing whole fish and their eyes are looking at me and this type of thing.
And I we walked out. I was in tears. I said, we’re gonna starve. We can’t afford this. You know?
But God, you know, God provided. And, like my husband said, we learned so much there. And it wasn’t the, like you said, the buildings and all of that, it was the people. We fell in love with people. Lifelong friendships, people that we still keep in contact with after all these years.
And so my first impression was like, we’ve left a beautiful church in North Carolina to come to this. But it didn’t take, I mean, but one service to find people that love the Lord and your hearts are knit together, you know, right away it seemed. And so again, what a privilege, what an opportunity we had really to get in on some of the pioneer days. And a lot of, you know, we were talking with Becky at Pastor Lewis’ funeral and just reminiscing of some of those things that we went through that just drew you together. And most of us were away from family.
We weren’t gonna be able to fly home for Christmas or Thanksgiving or anything like that. And so we became a very tight family and I’m so thankful for that. Family is important and we were just, we became an instant family because you were away from your own family. So you adopted this new family that you had. So that was one of my first impressions of Guam and just the love for the Lord.
I mean, seemed like every service, someone went forward, someone got saved or whatever. There were decisions made every single service. And don’t, at that point, we didn’t see that necessarily in the state so much. And so I counted it a real privilege to be able to be there and to be a part of that where the Lord was definitely at work in the ministry.
Gary Walton: I’m really glad you shared both of those things, because they’re themes for fifty years of the family that develops so quickly here among the staff and among the church family. It’s it’s just a theme that’s I it’s unusual. I just think it’s unusual. Most people don’t get have the opportunity to experience what a Harvest staff member, has over the years. And then the work of God ongoing for fifty years.
I mean, it is just a remarkable thing that week after week continuing, people are responding to the gospel. They’re growing in their faith. It’s it’s, I mean, we this really does happen. God put Harvest here and along with, you know, some other ministries, but put us here in this front line of the gospel where hearts are open to the, you know, the work of Jesus. And it’s it’s such a privilege to to say we’ve been part of God’s work over over all these years.
Dan Pelletier: Yeah. It amazes me. You know, I travel a lot here in California and across the country and other places. And and anytime I mention Guam, all of you, were you part of that Harvest Mhmm. Ministry?
Everybody knows about it.
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Dan Pelletier: And I think part of it’s because of people who’ve been there and been changed and then gone back to serving other places.
Gary Walton: Yes.
Dan Pelletier: The testimony is is, is worldwide. It’s not it’s not just on a little dot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It’s it’s amazing what God has done through that place.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah. The impact here is, you know, it’s dynamic. I mean, across, Harvest impact across Guam and across Micronesia, you it’s it’s just very remarkable. But at this and then at the same time, it’s like this secondary thing that’s happened of so many people that have been equipped for ministry here and then spread out around the world.
The the influence really is, it’s amazing when you when you get a chance to think about it. You were and you guys were here for the front row seat to a lot of the early days of God blessing like this, and especially kind of the expansion of the of the campus. Anything that’s sort of a pivotal moment that you remember most?
Dan Pelletier: Yeah. I was thinking about that. You sent some of these questions ahead. I was thinking about that. There’s there’s there’s so many.
It’s hard to pinpoint one, but I remember particularly the property where the church building is now. We didn’t know what to do with the property. And then we got the got the blueprints for the for the building. And he and I walked through we walked through that property while it was under construction, I think every day, three times a day, just to see what God was doing and just standing in awe, praying about how God was gonna use that facility for him. We used to pray, Lord, keep this place right.
If it doesn’t get right, just suck it right back down the hole and all that bamboo. We don’t ever want to see it get away from the Lord. So it was quite a it was like watching the temple go up. Mr. Bang was the Korean foreman over the property and if anybody was caught smoking or swearing on the property while they were building the church, we’d call mister Bang and mister Bang, he’d go over and bang on him a little bit and make him quit.
It it was it was trying to keep it right from the very beginning.
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Dan Pelletier: And and then the first time we took the church choir into the auditorium, there were no pews, there was nothing in there, no carpet, nothing. It was just an empty shell. And we sang. I don’t remember what was
Chris Pelletier: You sang Amazing Grace.
Dan Pelletier: Amazing Grace. And just to hear it echo in that room, I go, wow. Praise the Lord. Something’s happening here. And it was it was quite a quite a experience.
Gary Walton: Wow. That’s amazing. Think about how many voices have been lifted up in that space now over these years. You know? Voices of praise, sometimes of confession and repentance, calling out to God.
Yeah. That’s an amazing it’s amazing.
Dan Pelletier: I’ve had my days like that.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Absolutely. Right? Yep. Any, time goes so fast, each time we’re doing this, but, lessons from Harvest that have carried with you for ministry in the, you know, years since then?
What what would you say would be some of the specific Harvest or Guam lessons?
Chris Pelletier: You know, I guess one of the lessons I have learned, through there is just to keep that close walk with the Lord. I can remember, you know, in early in ministry and just, you know, we know the Lord is with us all the time. We can’t get away from him. He’s always there. But to be cognizant of that, that God is with me.
He is right here. And he sees everything I do. He hears everything I say. And that was that was a key lesson for me that I think has helped to shape, you know, my walk with the lord and and my ministry as well.
Dan Pelletier: I think, you know, even now, I I I have a motto that the idea started coming in Guam. My my motto is I live by this, touching the future with truth from the past. And John Lewis always reminded us of brother Ring and how God had provided for this. And and then because it was such a small group of people at that time and mostly younger people, he kept drawing in any older people that he could get him in to remind them of the the the past, the history, the the solid fundamentals of scripture, and how that has got to be passed on to the next generation. And so that is still being drilled even into our church here.
And the the the responsibility of passing along the heritage to the next generation.
Gary Walton: Amen. Amen. As you reflect on, Harvest turning 50, what what encouragement or challenge would you want to share with with today’s church family as you think about, the next fifty years?
Dan Pelletier: Well, it was in ’92, I think, I took a class at the Bible Institute before it was HBBC.
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Dan Pelletier: And in that class we read a book and it challenged me to read my bible from cover to cover. I’d never done it. I mean I read around my bible but never read it from cover to cover. And in ’92 I started reading they said you could do it in fifty five hours. I said I don’t think so.
And so I took the challenge and got up and did it and over a few months I did it fifty seven hours, and I’ve never stopped doing that. That has transformed my life tremendously. Mhmm. And so my challenge would be to Harvest, if you’re gonna keep this thing right, is you stay in the word Amen. And you live in obedience to it.
Gary Walton: Definitely. Amen. Chris, anything you’d add?
Chris Pelletier: Well, yeah, that’s that’s one thing. I know that’s key is is staying in the word and, having that that daily, you know, walk with him, that daily time of reading God’s word, also praying and having that fellowship with God. You know, there have been times in my life where I have just felt so alone. And I, you know, you you I think of those verses in Psalm I think it’s Psalm 73 or maybe 76 verses 23 to 25 that talk about whom have I in heaven but thee, and there’s not upon earth that I desire beside thee. And just, you know, putting the Lord first in your life and having that desire to have that that deep and that intimate fellowship with Him so that if you do start to go off in a wrong direction, God is right there and He’s gonna to convict you, He’s going to direct you to the right way because that’s hopefully the desire of your heart.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Amen. Well, as we look back on the framework, the foundation and the framework that God put together, I don’t think there’s anything more significant than the theme of the scriptures from the beginning of Harvest Ministries till the current, and, you know, prayerfully into the future, but the Bible as the central foundation for everything that’s been done here. And and that gives us the opportunity to be able to have a, you know, a lasting legacy of of God’s plan, God’s will for the church. And so I I love the emphasis on personally, time in the word, and that encouragement is super helpful.
But then to be able to see that theme, I mean, that’s the central focus of Harvest for fifty years has been the scriptures. It’s been the word. Thankful for many faithful servants, our lead pastors along the way, but but many people that have made the the, scriptures the central theme of classes, of ministries, of our families, of our Bible studies together. You know, it’s been about the scriptures, and I’m thankful for that legacy.
Chris Pelletier: Yes. Amen.
Dan Pelletier: Yes. Amen.
Gary Walton: We’re looking forward to having you guys here. Thank you for being willing to join us, on, this little segment of of Harvest Ttime, and can’t can’t wait to have you back here and, give give you a chance to say hi to the Guam soil again.
Dan Pelletier: You very much. Hafa adai to everybody. Yes.
Chris Harper: And thank you for listening to Harvest Time. We’d like to personally invite you again to Harvest Baptist Church this week. We meet at 08:45AM and 10:45AM every Sunday morning. Japanese and Korean translation is offered during the 10:45AM service. That’s also the service we broadcast live on 88.1 FM and khmg.org.
We hope you can join us this Sunday. Thanks again for listening to Harvest Time.