Dave and Chris Corneliussen describe their ministry helping churches and camps, speaking with Pastor Walton about how they eventually arrived 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, we spend these twenty five minutes together telling you the stories of our church by interviewing our members and other friends of the ministry. We have two services at Harvest Baptist Church every week, the first at 08:45AM, the second at 10:45AM on Sunday. We have Japanese and Korean translation during that 10:45AM service, That’s also when we livestream at hbcguam.org, hbcguam.org.
This week, we’re back in Mark 5:24-34 in the series encounters with Jesus. Let’s begin today’s harvest time by welcoming pastor Gary Walton. Hi, pastor.
Gary Walton: Hey, hafa adai, Chris. Encounters with Jesus is a theme that we’ve been tracking now for about a month. Just going through the gospels, of course, not looking at every story and every interaction of Jesus with the people that he ministered to, but but pulling out a few of them and, looking at how Jesus interacted, some very specific lessons from them. And just like anything, anytime we’re, looking at the scriptures, talking about the scriptures, we wanna see Jesus as the focal point. He he really is the end of the story of the of the Bible.
And very specifically in these messages, we’re we’re focusing on, what we learn about Jesus as as the son of God did. Hebrews calls him the express image of the father and then what his ministry meant to the people that he spoke to and ministered with in life and ultimately then what the impact that has on us. So we’d love to invite you to join us as we walk through this study. You’ll find a church family that is excited to be together, that’s gonna worship God, I think, with their full hearts. I think you’ll sense that.
And, just the the spirit of God working, you know, in our church. And we’d love to introduce you to, to our ministry this week if you if you, are available. Really glad to have Dave and Chris Corneliusen with us, today on Harvest Time. Dave and Chris are was going to say new to Harvest, but really not, back again, but new on staff. Dave is our Head of Maintenance, has taken over that position.
Chris works right alongside him as Admin Assistant in Maintenance, and I’m going to let them tell a little bit of their story. But we’re so thrilled, you guys, that God brought you here. So welcome to Harvest Time.
Dave Corneliussen: Thank you.
Chris Corneliussen: Thanks. It’s great to be here.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Dave and Chris, actually, I kind of mentioned this, they’ve been to Harvest two times over the last three years, perhaps, and, coming as volunteers actually came to just say, how can we help alongside the ministry, specifically in the maintenance areas? And in that course of time, God used, just their presence here, I think our mutual heart connections, to give them a burden to come back and really join us permanently. And it’s a cool story, the whole thing, you know, that got you to this point in life. And so let’s back up right to there.
Could you tell us a little bit about your story? And eventually I want to talk to you about, you know, kind of your calling. It’s a very unique calling you guys have had over the last few years. So, Dave, let me start with you. Could you tell us about your spiritual story?
Dave Corneliussen: Sure. I was, raised, primarily in Pennsylvania, Lutheran background. But after leaving home, I I I soon realized consciously that I was not saved and didn’t know the Lord. But in 1997, May 28, in Victory Baptist Church in Beaufort, South Carolina, I received the Lord as my savior. And from then on, we were involved in our local church pretty much in every way we could possible from Sunday school, teaching, bus ministry, maintenance, all kinds of things.
And we continued doing different things. At one point, we decided to go to a bible college, and I went up to Crown College for a semester. And after that, we went out west. We had a I had a desire to go out west, and we got an RV. And as soon as we told our church in Tennessee that we’re going out west, we started to get people requesting that we stop by and help.
So we helped churches all along the way on our trip. We were planning to go out for a few weeks. Ended being a year. And, we went to Nebraska at a church in Geneva, Nebraska. We went to Wyoming, Buffalo, Wyoming, visited churches in Cody, Wyoming, and, Guernsey, Wyoming.
We spent a good deal of time working at a small church, doing maintenance, helping the church, cleaning, whatever they needed. Due to a health, issue, after about a year, health issue with my son, we decided, that we needed to go back to South Carolina and regroup, which we did.
Gary Walton: I wanna explore that journey a little bit more. I got some questions for you because it’s a it’s a pretty cool whole story. Chris, what about you? How does yours tie in, your spiritual story?
Chris Corneliussen: I was raised in South Carolina. I grew up going to a small church, Trinity Baptist Church in Williamson, South Carolina. And I was saved at the age of seven. And unfortunately, after graduating high school, I joined the military and fell away from the Lord. But I’m so thankful that God’s grace, he, you know, he, there was conviction.
I never, you know, there was just never a peace there. And then me and Dave got married. He got saved. We, you know, we were going to church and
Gary Walton: How did you how did you guys meet?
Chris Corneliussen: We met in the military.
Gary Walton: Okay.
Chris Corneliussen: Yeah. We worked together at, our it was my last duty station and his I think you had two duty stations left. Anyway, we met there. And then there was always that desire in God. There was conviction that I needed to get in church.
And so I would periodically go and then once Dave, once he got saved and got into church, there was just that following and getting things right. So that’s, I’m just thankful that God never just left me hanging out there. You know, it not him, it was me. So, very thankful.
Gary Walton: Just so people get to know you a little bit, you have a family, children, grandchildren. Tell us a little bit about your family. Yes.
Chris Corneliussen: We have a son still back in The States, and he’s 26. And we have a daughter who has just come to Guam. Her and her husband are here, and her husband is on staff. And then we have two grandchildren. We have a 21 month old granddaughter and we have a three month old grandson.
And so they’re here, is fantastic.
Gary Walton: That’s great. And they’re fantastic. It’s really, really good to have them here and to kind of join in the team. Dave, I was interested in your story, you know, you talked about as an adult, so you joined the military too. Both of you are Marines, right?
Right, How long were you in this?
Dave Corneliussen: I joined 18, I did twenty one years.
Gary Walton: Okay, and then Chris, how about you?
Chris Corneliussen: I did seven years.
Gary Walton: Okay, great. So you guys met there and you talked about, I don’t remember the word you used, but trusting Christ. Just after you met Chris, really figuring things out spiritually. But then you said, and I mean, like, right away you got very involved. If you look back on that time, what changed for you?
I mean, was it dramatic? You know?
Dave Corneliussen: Yes. It was very dramatic. I would say that I was a stereotypical type marine. I was in the combat arms and all that entails. And, when I got saved and Chris tells it better.
See, I said I did about face. I changed direction. It I was all in. And, we got involved in the church and stayed involved. Even I was telling a story.
We went out to Knoxville, Tennessee to Bible College and then went out west. We came back right to church and got busy right soon as we got back taking on classes, helping at the church however we could.
Gary Walton: What would you add to that, Chris? I mean, he said you you say it better.
Chris Corneliussen: Oh, he changed. I mean, he went from just being, you know, all in for the world and you know, and he was always a really good Marine but I think even after he got saved, he changed. I mean his language changed, his attitude changed and he became even a better Marine. You know, I mean just everything about him changed. And so that for me was, you know, I saw that and I was like, wow, this is the way it should be.
This is, you know, we should be all in and living for the Lord and every day in our walk and our talk. It was phenomenal. I’d never seen anybody, because even though I grew up going to church, I won’t say that necessarily my home was like Christian home. I mean it was a good home and my parents were good, great people and they were saved and everything. It wasn’t necessarily like we didn’t live our daily lives necessarily to just glorify God all the time.
So when he changed, I was like, wow, this is real. This is the way it should be. Not just, you know, we go to church and we follow a set of rules. Was just, he gave his life to the Lord and that was the most important thing. And it was it was it was a dramatic change.
Gary Walton: Wow. That’s fantastic. It actually maybe leads a little bit to I was thinking about this. You know, how does a person go from, you know, marines, military life? I mean, you you were in the service for seven years, but then your family, I mean, you lived twenty one years, you know, together.
So military life, after that, you you owned some businesses Right. Right, in North Carolina and
Dave Corneliussen: Right. When I got out of the Marine Corps, I, actually got hired as a police officer in Charlotte, North Carolina. Did a few years there. We decided to go back to Buford, South Carolina, and I was a police officer there before I started some small businesses, which did well. And so I was self employed for fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years.
Chris Corneliussen: Yeah. Yeah.
Gary Walton: Yeah. And then that ultimately, this is the question I’m I’m getting to. How does God lead you from marine family life? I I didn’t track. I think you told me this before, but, you know, police officer, business owner to, I mean, you kinda just went like, we went out west.
I mean, how does that happen? And and I mean, for clarity for everybody else, you guys had a camper. You just decided to travel, and churches needed help, and you’re like, we can help. And that became really a few years of ministry. How does that happen?
Dave Corneliussen: Yes. It only happens through the Lord. I have no idea how it happened. We took off, and, the first time, and, we were having friends say, hey. I have a friend who’s married to a pastor here.
Hey. We went to her church before we left, the first time to go out West, and her church was collecting, a love offering for a church planter in Wyoming. And it just all those things just fell in line. And like I said, we didn’t know what we were doing. We thought we’re gonna go out for a couple weeks, and we see the West and help a couple churches, and then it became a passion.
Mhmm. And so we came back because of illness, and then, we had the five year plan, which the Lord made six years Mhmm. To go back out there. And so get every to get the the kids under through school and high school and all that. And then we left again in ’20 we got prepared in 2019 to go full time in an RV.
And we didn’t just do West. We did help at the Wilds Christian Camp in North Carolina. We we went all over. What were you gonna say, Chris?
Chris Corneliussen: I think we homeschooled for some years, and there were these series of missionary books. I can’t even think of the series right now off the top of my head. But I would read those to the kids, and the kids would read them. Just, it And was amazing to us to see these people who were just normal people going out and doing extraordinary things for the Lord. And we would have missions conferences or whatever at our church and we were working, doing the bus ministries, which we love and we still love it.
But we were doing that and we would read those books and there was like this like wow these people are doing these wonderful things and so we were like how can the Lord use us and that was kind of that was a catapult because we were like, how can the Lord use us? And we just started praying about it and what we should do and, you know, should we stay in the local church? And so that was kind of how I think that was like for both of us was how we kind of we just started praying and saying, okay, Lord, we’re willing to go. We’re willing to go. We don’t have any special skills.
I mean, even at the time, Dave had the businesses and stuff and he was learning things. But, you know, he’s learned a lot of his skills as far as maintenance and everything since we’ve been on the road. Mhmm. And so we really didn’t have any special or we thought we didn’t. And the Lord the Lord has used things even, down to, like, I’ve always been able to cook, and I’ve cooked at camps now, like, quite a bit.
And like, I never would have thought the Lord would use that. Like, cooking for camps or cooking for, you know. And so we just said we’re available and started praying and the Lord said, okay, this is what we want to do. And we love it. We love it.
Gary Walton: I love every part of that. You know, the comments, we didn’t have any special skills, but the truth is God had been preparing you your whole life, you know, for these things. The statements that we’ re available. Fantastic. You know, the the part that is, I think, just so important for all of us is that most people see their work life as I’m gonna get through this, save my money so that I can retire and stop doing, you know, whatever.
And, I mean, you guys really just and I don’t know. I don’t think you had any plan for this. I mean, you’ve kind of said that.
Chris Corneliussen: Right.
Gary Walton: But, God gave you your military career and he gave you an after, you know, career and a couple different things. And and then you’re just saying I’m available and God has used all of that to actually prepare you for a very significant ministry of helps. Actually, the Bible talks about that, a ministry of helps to the church in The States and now brought you to this place where you’re overseeing the maintenance and really the discipleship of a very specific that’s so cool to me. Dave, as see that, I mean, any key moments in there that were, like, light bulb moments or just, hey, just one step at a time?
Dave Corneliussen: Right. She brought up I just wanna put another plug in for the missionary books. Because that was huge. I mean, we read, obviously, the Bible and trying to be faithful and trying to be obedient. And then but now we are reading about other Christians and how they accepted the call to go and serve.
And I always used to say, I’m just a spiritual weakling compare you know, these guys that would go and all over the world and, especially face all kinds of, you know, several 100 years ago, diseases and and wars and all this. But so that’s that was a process, and it’s just it’s it is really is one step at a time. You know, we started in 2019 and actually got on the road in January 2020 again for after being a setback. And we had left it got back at 2014 with the illness, and it was another six years of working, to get back on the road. And, you know, we had asked, you we were willing to go.
We’re willing we’re praying and said we’re willing to go. You know, we we can go because, you know, we have god has provided us with certain things, military retirement, whatever. And so we left again in 2020 and had been on the road. And then, of course, through some contacts that you know from Faith Baptist Church and or Baptist College. And we got connected with you, and you had made a couple offers for us to to come and work here in the facilities department, and we turned you down at least twice.
Yep. And, you know, we when you we first turned you down I think it’s a neat story. The first time you invited us to come here in 2023 as a maintenance truck, I said, no. We have a ministry, a mobile ministry of helps.
Gary Walton: You loved it. You genuinely loved it. I know you did.
Dave Corneliussen: Yes. And we said, no. We’re we’re good. And we hung up the phone. Immediately after hanging up the phone and talking to Chris, we were both kinda disappointed.
And I said, well, if they call back and need something short term, we’ll go. And I think a week, week and a half later, you called up, and I didn’t even ask. Yep. We’ll come. So we came for about three months, two and a half months.
It was great. And then, got another invite for 2024, but we were already booked up on some camps. And so, we ended up coming in the winter, January 2025. And then I know you asked again, and in between the food and you asking me, I caved. No.
The lord no. I I there was something the Lord was working in me, and I mean, if something was going on, and I couldn’t stop it. And I said, yes. We’ll we’ll take the job. We wanted to be faithful.
We wanted to be obedient to his call.
Chris Corneliussen: I know we had talked about this before. It’s like he would just bring it up like randomly. Like I it was not even on my radar. I was like, oh, Guam was great. I loved it.
It was beautiful. And I love the warm weather more than the cold and the snow. But and we just be driving down the road to, like, a camp or whatever. And he’d say, you know, I just really can’t shake this Guam thing.
Gary Walton: Mhmm.
Chris Corneliussen: And I was like, what? You know? And he was like, yeah. I just I just can’t shake it. I just he goes, I just feel like there’s just a need there.
And, I was like, okay, whatever. And so, you know, not that I didn’t want to come. It just was we love what we’re doing. And he goes, just and it just kept kind of ramping up. And then when we came this past winter, he was like, I really, I mean, we even came, he was like, I really think this may be where the Lord wants us.
And I was like, okay. And with the grandbabies, you know, we’ve just got these new grandkids and I think that may be harder for the grandma than the grandpa I think it’s harder for us as women. And anyway, I was just like, okay, not on my radar. I got grandbabies now. We were still traveling, we would go home and see them, that was kind of, like, our home base.
So, yeah, he I just wanted to put that in that he just he I just can’t shake it. I just can’t shake it. So
Gary Walton: Yeah. It’s really is a great story, of God connecting a need. I mean, we clearly had this need. But the burden that he placed in you, I mean, that’s only from God. You know?
I mean, just just to think, I mean, I’m so thankful for your I’m available spirit. Right? That’s the key part there. But, you know, we kinda talked about this already, but it’s would have been much easier for you. You’re, you know, you you kinda life set and you’re and you’re actually serving.
It’s not like you’re selfishly not even selfishly. It’s not like you’re just golfing and, you know, you know, walking the beach, in North Carolina. You guys were actively serving. You were serving God, and this is a big it’s a big move. You know?
And but the spirit that just says we’re available, how do you wanna lead us? And I’m confident, I think you guys could attest to this too, that when we follow God, man, he he gives us these amazing blessings. Right?
Chris Corneliussen: Yes. Like your grandkids coming to.
Gary Walton: Which was
Chris Corneliussen: And your daughter. Yeah.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah. Which wasn’t, you know, for you guys, wasn’t part of the story. You were having to decide, are we coming? Whether I don’t know if grandkids are gonna be here or not.
And, you know, just, you know, God, how are you leading us? And all of that’s all of that’s great. Man. I got a bunch of questions. Time’s time’s going fast.
One more connection to your kinda you guys spent a few years traveling and serving at a lot of Christian camps around the country. Anything that’s sort of a lesson that you learned from that experience that you hope to bring into ministry here at Harvest?
Chris Corneliussen: I think what I’ve learned is no matter what the job is, it’s about the people. Mhmm. And it’s about relationships with people and glorifying God with your life in no matter what the situation is, whether it’s hard or just whatever you’re doing, it’s just about the people. So, I think it was in 2024, we were working at a camp in Arizona. It was a men’s retreat and I was doing the cooking.
I think you were working maintenance. I’m not sure what all you were doing. A little bit of everything. So we were working and there was a gentleman that came into the camp. It was the first night and I was like, Hi.
He was wearing like a military, he had like a, I think a navy hat and a Marine Corps shirt. I was like, So are you confused? Do you know what branch you’re in? Like joking around, like the whole military joking around. And he said, Well, I was a navy corpsman who served with the with the Marines.
I was like, that’s cool. We should talk before the weekend’s out. So I I had I had to get back in the kitchen. So I told Dave, was like, hey. There’s this guy, blah blah blah.
So he went and talked to him. And so come to find out, me and this guy had been stationed at a duty station at the same time. We had actually been in a a a unit event together. And we both remember we got talking, and then they come to find out he was stationed at the same day or he was on a ship or something with you?
Dave Corneliussen: I don’t recall that. No.
Chris Corneliussen: Okay. So anyway, the bottom line was this guy had this man had been, in a traumatic experience in the military, and it was the anniversary was that weekend.
Gary Walton: Wow.
Chris Corneliussen: And he had always remembered that, and it was a really rough day for him. And I mean it and just really really hard time. So the next day he came in and he just he told us he said I want you to know he said that God sent y’all here for me this weekend. He said this is the easiest time I’ve had on the anniversary of this traumatic experience And we just it was just such an experience that we just felt like God’s timing Yes. Had put us there.
I mean, it was really, really good experience.
Dave Corneliussen: Well, he was pretty broken. What he experienced was horrific loss of life on a ship and an explosion. And he was a corpsman, so he was but we really got a a chance to get to know him during that weekend and pray with him, and it was it was it was awesome.
Gary Walton: Yeah. God designs our steps, and there’s no coincidences in our lives. And if we’re available, I’m available. God will put us in places where people need somebody that will care and listen and provide spiritual, you know, support.
Dave Corneliussen: I would say on that question that some things we learned, though, is that everybody has needs. Yeah. And so, you know, it’s not you’re saying, well, I wonder I know some people out there may say, I wonder if they need help. I wonder if they could use this or that. And the answer is yes.
It’s always yes. Camps, a big, place like Harvest with a school and a bible college, and, there’s lots of needs here and needs for people with all kinds of different skills and people just, like you said, just to say yes. Here I am. What can I do?
Gary Walton: Yeah. Well, we’ll have a we’ll have a part two sometime. I got some more questions. Really, we just personally enjoy your friendship, your ministry hearts. We see that as such a powerful example of mentorship for you you work alongside a lot of our HBBC students, to see that, you know, just this message that, you know, Dave, you said it this way, which I didn’t know that I you know, what my skills were, military, police officer, business owner.
And if we say to God, I’m available, it is amazing what he might do with you for the kingdom, not just for adventure or life story, but for the kingdom, for eternal investment in, you know, in the right kinds of things. So thank you for saying yes, saying I’m available, and thank you for the example that you’re sharing with us. We look forward to seeing how God’s gonna use you here at Harvest and here on Guam.
Dave Corneliussen: Alright. Amen. Thank you.
Chris Harper: And thank you for listening to Harvest Time. Of course, at this point in the program, we always wanna personally invite you again to services at Harvest Baptist Church. Two services every Sunday, 08:45AM, 10:45AM. We do have Japanese and Korean translation during the 10:45AM service, and that’s also the service you can hear live here on 88.1 FM and khmg.org. We hope to see you this Sunday.
Thanks again for listening to Harvest Time.