Pastor Larry Nagengast is our guest host for a discussion with Matthew Lehman. They spoke about ministry at Harvest and adjusting to Guam as a new staff member.
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Transcript
Chris Harper: Welcome to Harvest Time. My name is Chris Harper, and our guest host this week on Harvest Time is pastor Larry Nagengast. And 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 each week, the first at 08:45AM, the second at 10:45AM on Sunday. We have Japanese and Korean translation during the 10:45AM service, and that’s also when we livestream at hbcguam.org.
Hbcguam.org. This week, it’s the fifth message in our series, seven habits of highly effective churches with pastor Jake Schnoor this week from Revelation 3:1-6 asking the question, am I spiritually alive or just busy and respectable? Let’s begin today’s Harvest Time by welcoming Pastor Larry Nagengast.
Larry Nagengast: It’s good to be with you today. And it’s, it’s really my privilege to have a big part of our worship team with us. Mister Matthew Lehman has been to Harvest about a year and a half now, and he plays piano for all of our services and is really good at it. We’re so thankful that Matthew is a part of our worship team and a part of our school staff here at Harvest. So we’re going to meet Matthew today and let him tell us a little bit about himself.
And we’re just excited you’re joining us today. Appreciate your tuning in here at Harvest Radio. Matt, let’s just first talk about where you came from, your family, and really how you came to Christ.
Matthew Lehman: Yeah, so I grew up in North Central Indiana. I came from a Christian home. My parents are both saved and I have an older brother and a younger sister. I was saved at about six years old. One night after bedtime prayers, my dad took me aside and really explained the Gospel to me in more detail and in more depth.
And that was when I accepted Christ as my Savior from a young age. And then it was a blessing to grow up in a Christian home as well.
Larry Nagengast: Yeah, that’s awesome. Now did you go to a Christian school there in South Bend?
Matthew Lehman: I did not. I actually went to public school.
Larry Nagengast: Okay.
Matthew Lehman: It was a very I feel like a very Christianized almost public school. A lot of teachers I knew went to church and were Christians, but it was still a public school environment.
Larry Nagengast: Sure, what a privilege. Alright. And then how did you get to Bible College and how did you decide that piano would be what you would take up?
Matthew Lehman: Yeah. So I decided on piano or music in general in probably mid high school, I think. I just really had a passion for it and didn’t have too much of a passion for much else. It seemed like a pretty good place to start at least.
I went to Bob Jones University. My parents both went there. My older brother was there at the time. So I knew they had a pretty good music program. So I went and it was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
I started out in more of a general music education degree, but then I switched to a more piano focused degree about a year or so in teaching piano, playing piano, that kind of thing.
Larry Nagengast: Oh, that’s great. What’s your favorite part about being part of the worship team here at Harvest?
Matthew Lehman: I think, well since coming here I’ve learned a lot of new songs, songs that I didn’t really grow up with, but still ones that have such a rich text or really great meaning behind them. And then also getting to work with fellow Christians, musicians, and preparing for Sundays and knowing that I can be a part of the ministry and part of our worship on Sundays is really cool.
Larry Nagengast: Yeah. We are blessed. If you’ve never been to Harvest, we are so blessed to have great musicians. We have an orchestra that plays with our worship team every week. And we have a wonderful bunch of people that help and direct our worship.
So you’ll have to make sure you come and see us and see Matthew in action. But Matthew also has a role he plays in our academy. So Matthew, tell us a little bit about what you do in the academy.
Matthew Lehman: Yeah. So my primary role is teaching piano lessons. Students can start as young as second grade with me and then they can go as far up as they want. I could teach them up to their senior year if they go all the way through. So I really enjoy having kids of all different ages, students that are at different levels, and getting to see them come back year after year, even though I’ve only been here for two years, it’s been nice to see a lot of the same kids come back for a second year.
Larry Nagengast: Yeah. Now what is your goal? I mean teaching piano is obviously the point, but what is your goal in your relationship with the kids? How many students do you have?
Matthew Lehman: I have about 45 students right now.
Larry Nagengast: Okay. Wow.
Matthew Lehman: So they’re spread out throughout the week in their recess times and before and after school. But my main goal is obviously to train up the next generation of musicians, pianists. Even if they don’t continue piano for a long time, it at least helps them to have a good foundation for other music that they might do in the future or just to have a love for it and be able to continue in some kind of a hobby way in the future. But then also, and one of the main reasons I came to Harvest is just because I want to have a deeper relationship with my students and I think the one on one time is really important, with developing those relationships and then being able to speak into their lives as they are growing up into, adults, into people.
Larry Nagengast: Sometimes a piano teacher has opportunities one on one that maybe a school teacher with a class of 25 or 30 doesn’t have. And I know Matt has always asked our community group to pray for him that he’ll have spiritual opportunities with his student. I think that’s an awesome combination for a piano teacher not only to have the music but also have the desire to impact the student spiritually. But that you also do some other things. You accompany some groups.
And what else do you do in the gathering?
Matthew Lehman: So I play for a few different choirs. We have the elementary choir that’s fourth through sixth grade. And I actually have a fair amount of my private lesson students that are in that choir as well, so that’s nice. And then there’s the junior high choir that I help play for, and that’s always a blast.
That age group is well, sometimes it’s a blast. Sometimes it’s a bit of a challenge, but it’s fun. And then the high school choir, there’s kind of two choirs that I play for. They kind of meet at the same time and alternate. But I yeah.
I just really enjoy learning a bunch of different music playing. I like playing with other people accompanying them, so that’s it’s a really fun opportunity.
Larry Nagengast: Matt, you are one gifted guy to be handed so many different pieces of music and styles and groups. And he just faithfully plays for all of them. And we appreciate. He’s a very, important part of a lot of what we do, both on Sunday and during the week. Well, you’ve been here a little over a year and a half, and so what surprises you about living on Guam?
Matthew Lehman: Well, it’s very different from where I grew up, for sure. Obviously, there’s, like, the weather and the climate is is very different. But even just the people, I feel like people in the Midwest are a little bit more reserved maybe, a little bit maybe keep to themselves a little bit more, but here everybody’s a family, everybody’s sharing together. And I think that’s really cool. It’s not, I didn’t feel like I came out here with too many expectations, like I didn’t really know what to expect, but that’s been a really pleasant surprise I’ve gotten adjusted.
Larry Nagengast: Yeah, trust I feel the same way. The Chamorro friendliness is evident on our island, and Harvest has a lot of that as well. So what I guess is your favorite thing? Matt, we’ve already talked about weather. Do you know what weather is back home today?
Matthew Lehman: Probably pretty cold, I think, on the snowy side, if I had to guess.
Larry Nagengast: It has been near zero for a while in South Bend and much of the Midwest, so we’re kind of thankful we’re at Sunny Guam, to be honest with you. And it’s all we can do not to send pictures of palm trees and teal blue water and white sand back home. But what about Harvest itself? What have you enjoyed about being a part of the staff here at Harvest?
Matthew Lehman: I think that Harvest is, in some ways it’s pretty easy to get adjusted to because almost everybody on staff, on faculty has been in your shoes at some point. They came here knowing next to nobody and having to readjust to everything. So people are really generous with their time and with their resources and I’m just willing to kind of take you under their wings and help help you figure things out. So that’s that’s been really, really nice as I’ve gotten to be adjusted.
Then this year, being able to kind of see some of the new people and give them some of the same advice that somebody gave me feels kind of weird, but it’s just like everybody’s passing on what they’ve learned throughout the years.
Larry Nagengast: Well, that’s a real important part because so many people at Harvest are from The States or from someplace else. They don’t know very many people here or very many things about living on a tropical island on the other side of the world. Those are really important connections. And we love that with our staff and with our church. So tell us about church a little bit.
Matthew, what are some of the things you do other than play the piano for the worship team? What are some of the other things you’re involved in our church ministry?
Matthew Lehman: So I recently started getting involved with the fellowship team, which is like helping set up for little fellowship events like after an evening service sometimes we’ll have like cupcakes or whatever it is that we’re doing. So helping set that up, helping serve the food and then tear it down at the end. So that’s a little bit more recent, but then I’ve also been able to get involved with some one on one discipleship. The ministry here has that’s been a blessing so far as well.
Larry Nagengast: And Matthew’s in our community group, so he’s a great part of of that. Every week we have a community group, Matthew’s been part of that. So we have a lot of opportunities for service here at Harvest, and we always encourage our staff people to get involved in them and get involved with the island, know the island people, know the church people. And think I love that about our staff, that so many of them are involved in C2C and Heart for Christ and the discipleship ministry as well as the worship team and things that are a little more visible on Sunday. Matthew, what do you think the toughest thing is about your adjustment time here at Guam?
Matthew Lehman: I think just being so far away from family, you can’t just hop in a car and go see them in a couple hours. The time difference for sure is is difficult as well, having to plan out when you can even talk to people long distance. So I feel like that’s been tricky. It’s definitely the fear of missing out on things that people are doing back home has been a little tricky. But yeah, I think the community at Harvest really helps to overcome a lot of those difficulties and has really become like a second family and and then you know being in community group every every few weeks and and seeing everybody and catching up on their families and how everyone’s doing is just it’s really cool and even though there’s a big difference and a big time change it’s really cool to get to meet new people as well.
Larry Nagengast: I think Matthew got a real good taste of the community because the first semester, right, you didn’t have a car.
Matthew Lehman: Mhmm.
Larry Nagengast: And so he didn’t have a roommate, he didn’t have a car. I think some people might appreciate not having a roommate, but he didn’t have a car. So he was dependent on so many different people to get you where you needed to be. And it’s kind of humbling, right? I mean, we’ve had several staff in that boat.
They first come here, they might not have money for a car, they may not know what the situation is. Tell us about that experience, Matt.
Matthew Lehman: Yeah. I mean, I definitely had to get really comfortable just asking for help. I don’t think that’s something that I do naturally or very easily, but, that was part of, why I feel people here are very, very generous with their time, being willing to drive you halfway across the island because you have this appointment you need to get to or to let you borrow their car and go get groceries. It’s it’s a huge blessing and it’s just, really helps to build our community as well, I think.
Larry Nagengast: Matt’s real more sensitive to somebody might need a ride. He’s, you need a ride? But, I remember you live for the time when people go off island and say, would you like my car for a couple of weeks? And you go, yes. I got a car.
Finally, I’m I’m not a little boy anymore. I don’t have to answer a ride. I love that part. So tell us what some of the funniest things maybe you’ve encountered here. Maybe they weren’t funny at the time, but looking back, you feel like.
Matthew Lehman: I mean, I feel like I always chuckle. Speaking of of cars and and getting all of that situated legally, talking about the DMV and all this Oh, the stuff that you have to go through, I feel like nothing is ever ever quite as simple as it could be here. There’s always a few extra steps, always something else you gotta another hoop you gotta jump through. But, I just kinda look back on some of those things and I’m like, you know what? That’s Guam.
It’s it’s fun now. I didn’t enjoy it then, but it’s it’s it’s fun to look back on that kind of I
Larry Nagengast: think some of those things become endearing because they can be unique to this place. Nothing is as easy as it seems, but that’s life on an island in the middle of the South Pacific and we adjust and move on. And we all have I think it helps us because we all have very similar experiences along that line. Well, Matthew, what would you like to leave us with today? What is one of the things that God has just been doing in your heart since you’ve come to Harvest, come to Guam?
He brought you here. Oh, how did you get here? I was going to ask you that. How did you get to Harvest? That’s a good question.
Matthew Lehman: Yeah. So a couple of people that I knew at Bob Jones came out here to teach. And then when the previous piano teacher left, they kinda recommended me to the administration, and then they reached out to me. And it all kinda happened really fast over the course of a summer. But, yeah I just felt God was leading me here.
I had a burden for students musically like that would be without a piano teacher but also for the souls that need Jesus as well and that one on one time that I get to work with them and really hear about their lives, hear about, their day, their families, and, yeah. It’s just it’s been really cool to be here and get to know all the all the students. But that was initially why I came out here, yeah.
Larry Nagengast: Yeah, we’re certainly glad because it’s a it’s a long way to come to someplace you’ve never been and know very little about. That’s faith and trust and I think that’s awesome. So in closing, just tell us a little bit about what God’s been doing in your heart since you’ve been here and how he’s working in your life.
Matthew Lehman: I think definitely he’s forced me to get outside of myself, outside of, just what I want to do, what I think about, and forcing me to, like I said, be dependent on other people for one and also then to think about other people as I’m, you know, largely by myself teaching kids one on one or just going throughout my week being mindful of the other people around me and also the ways that I can be a ministry and be just to have an impact on the students as well, looking for ways to go a level deeper beyond just the music that we’re working on and to be thinking about why we’re doing the things we’re doing, how we can honor God in what we do as musicians. And that’s really one of my biggest goals is to be able to have that kind of influence for my students. So that’s been cool.
Larry Nagengast: Well, Matthew, it’s been great spending some time with you, and I appreciate your heart for the kids and your heart for the Lord. And I’m so glad you’re part of the Harvest team. Yeah, Thanks for being with us today. And thank you for joining us. I hope to see you Sunday as we continue our series in the seven habits of highly successful churches.
God bless you.
Chris Harper: Thank you for listening to Harvest Time. Of course, at this point in the program, we always wanna personally invite you again to Harvest Baptist Church, two services every Sunday, 08:45AM and 10:45AM. We have Japanese and Korean translation that’s available in the 10:45AM service, and that’s also when we broadcast live here on 88.1 FM and khmg.org. We hope to see you this Sunday. Thanks again for listening to Harvest Time.