Pastor Walton spoke with Mel and Cat Ngiratumerang this week about raising a young family to follow God and feel at home in the local church.
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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 25 minutes together telling you the stories of our church by interviewing our members and other friends of the ministry. We’d like to invite you to join us at Harvest Baptist Church this week. There are 2 services every Sunday at Harvest, the first at 8:45 AM, the second at 10:45 AM.
We have Japanese and Korean translation during that 10:45 AM service, and that’s also when we live stream at hbcguam.org, hbcguam.org. This week, we’re beginning a new series called the underappreciated ministry of the Holy Spirit from John 14 through 16. Let’s begin today’s harvest time by welcoming pastor Gary Walton. Hi, pastor.
Gary Walton: Hey, Chris. Hafa adai. Glad that, we’re connecting here today. We are, starting, as you mentioned, a new series this Sunday that I’m excited about. It’s gonna be about 4 weeks, and we’re going to work through some very important teaching of Jesus in John 14 through 16 about the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes in our Bible understanding and our Bible teaching we don’t think a lot or do much study or teaching on the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and it’s incredibly important that we’d understand what the Holy Spirit is doing in the world today, what he’s doing in our lives. And so we wanna be very clear about that. So we’re just gonna dive in for a couple of weeks straight and teach through what Jesus taught, how he explained the comforter that was to come, and how he’s gonna abide in the Christian and a new believer and what he’s doing in our world. So, we’d love to invite you to come tune in for those teachings over the next 4 weeks. We’re really glad to have Melvin and Kathy Neera Toomorang.
Did I get it right, Melvin?
Mel Ngiratumerang: Yes. You
Gary Walton: did. Okay. Great. Alright. With us today, been a part of Harvest for a couple of years.
We love them, love their family. It got a cool story of God’s work in their life. So first of all, welcome to Harvest Time.
Cat Ngiratumerang: Alright. Thanks for having
Gary Walton: us. Hey. Good morning. Yeah. Glad that you guys are with us.
You you both grew up here in Guam. Tell us a little bit well, actually, let me start with this. Tell us about your family. Kat, why don’t you start with that?
Cat Ngiratumerang: So I’m born and raised in Guam. My mom is Chamorro, and then my dad, is, from Michigan. And, he came to Guam when he was 25 years old, for accounting at Triple J.
Gary Walton: Okay. Wow.
Cat Ngiratumerang: And then, he met my mom, which was his dream, to meet an island lady. And then he loves the warmth. He hates the cold, and Michigan’s really cold.
Gary Walton: It is very cold. I’ve been there.
Cat Ngiratumerang: Yep. And so he decided to just, you know, stay, and so he’s been here ever since.
Gary Walton: Okay. Mhmm. Awesome. You have a a sister?
Cat Ngiratumerang: I do. I have a one brother and one sister, both younger than me.
Gary Walton: Okay. Great. I’m gonna ask you a little bit about kinda your story. I had a little bit of time at at the academy here, couple of things growing up. K.
Melvin, what about you?
Mel Ngiratumerang: My parents are from Palau. They moved here, I wanna say, late late seventies, early eighties, for school, and, they decided to settle here. And, I was born and raised here in Guam, and I’m from, the north, Dededo.
Gary Walton: Okay. And Family? Siblings?
Mel Ngiratumerang: I have 2 sisters and one brother. One of my brothers lives here, and my other 2 sisters, they stay off island.
Gary Walton: Okay. And then you guys have 3 children. Right?
Cat Ngiratumerang: Yes. Okay. Three boys.
Gary Walton: Okay. Three boys. Yes. Ages, names?
Cat Ngiratumerang: So Isaiah is he just turned 12, and then Jeremiah is 8, and then Zechariah is 6.
Gary Walton: Okay. I love those names, by the way. I don’t know if I told you that. Yeah. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah.
If you’d had the 3rd and it was Lamentations, that would have been a little bit
Cat Ngiratumerang: We get that all the time.
Gary Walton: Do you?
Cat Ngiratumerang: Yes. When we had Isaiah and Jeremiah, so we’re gonna have the Lamentations and Ezekiel? No.
Gary Walton: I love those names. And, yeah, that’s awesome. I love having those guys around. I know they fill out your family. You’re in a busy season of life.
Cat Ngiratumerang: Yeah. For sure.
Gary Walton: So, tell me about your spiritual story. Kat, let me start again with you.
Cat Ngiratumerang: Okay. So mine is you know, I I grew up, I guess I grew up in the church. My mom was Catholic. And in my early years, I would go to the Catholic masses and stuff. My whole entire family, actually, both on my mom’s and my dad’s side are Catholic.
And then, I just remember being, 6 years old, and my mom was like, let’s try a new church. You know? And so we started going to Agana Heights General Baptist.
Mel Ngiratumerang: Mhmm.
Cat Ngiratumerang: And, my mom got saved, and then I got saved at a very young age. I remember it was during the Vacation Bible School. And just realizing, at that age what sin was and that I was a sinner, and just being, like, just burdened by it, even at 7 years old. And then, from there on out, you know, just being raised in the church, you know, helping with children’s ministries, being in the choir, and then, eventually, you know, coming to harvest in high school. You know?
And so, yeah, you know, God’s just worked in my life since a young age.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Cool. You you might not even remember this, but, you’d written a couple of things about your testimony that I had a chance to look at.
And you said, you said when you became a believer, I felt like a new person. What does that mean?
Cat Ngiratumerang: I yeah. I just remember, when I realized what sin was, you know, at 7 was like or at 6 or 7, I was like, all the bad things that you do. Right? And I would think about I was always burdened by, like, if I lied to my mom or I was mean to my brother and sister or, you know, angry, like, just just feeling down about it. And when I realized that Jesus loves me no matter what, and he’s gonna forgive me and I don’t deserve it, I just feel like I woke up and it was like, I feel like a new person.
You know? Like, it wasn’t weighing me down even as a kid.
Gary Walton: Yeah. I actually I love that. I I read that. I thought that’s really cool. All of our stories are different.
I mean, my wife is gonna talk about yours and your faith story. All of it’s different. God works in our lives at different times. We come to him at different times, but I love that because I felt the same thing. I was pretty young, but there was a new like, I woke up and things were new.
The weight of some guilt, was new for me. So I really loved how you said that. Yeah. That’s cool. Melvin, what about you?
Tell me about, kind of your background, you know, how you met Christ.
Mel Ngiratumerang: I was raised a Catholic. We would only go during, like, you know, events like Easter, Christmas. And then, at one point, my family started getting more serious with the Catholic. So he started making us go to, like, CCD and stuff like that. And it just raised up a lot of questions as far as, like, you know, who God is and, you know, what he does and and why we’re here and all these things.
And so it kinda put in a little seed of just curiosity, you know, and just experiencing my life and comparing it to what I’ve learned. But I started getting into, like, stuff with my friends and started, my my family started to not lose or I started to lose interest in, you know, practicing. And so I just eventually just got caught up with school and, you know
Gary Walton: Where’d you go to school with,
Mel Ngiratumerang: Simon Sanchez.
Gary Walton: Sanchez. Yeah. No. Yeah. K.
Mel Ngiratumerang: And so a lot of my friends were around the neighborhood, so that’s I got influenced from them, you know, more so. And then, but I still remember having those kind of those questions deep down inside, you know, and and realizing that they’re not getting answered. You know? Mhmm. So, eventually, I just started to, have trouble in school.
So I was trying to catch up in school, and eventually, it it led me to this, I guess, it’s almost like an after school program, like, ECA night school stuff, just to get caught up with my credits. And then eventually, it was a Christian influence school. So that’s where I got more of my, information of the Bible and stuff like that, and it kinda just sparked more more interest from there on. And then
Gary Walton: So you’re trying to catch up in school and connected then with this evening, but there was Christian base for that.
Mel Ngiratumerang: Right.
Gary Walton: Okay. Cool.
Mel Ngiratumerang: Yeah.
Gary Walton: I started asking questions.
Mel Ngiratumerang: Yeah. And then I remember just taking I needed to take some classes, so I tried to choose the easiest ones. Right? And so I I chose an elective where all you had to do is just watch shows and movies and then answer questions. I said, I I can do that.
And it was it was dealing with the creationist, you know, creation science and stuff like that. So that’s really started sparking up all the information and just got me more drawn to to the stuff of the Bible and and the truth. You know?
Gary Walton: Is there a time, you know, where you kinda put your faith in Jesus? How did you kinda process through that?
Mel Ngiratumerang: I think it was just like a series of, like like, steps, I believe, like, throughout years. You know? Yeah. I just remember, like, just slowly committing 1 by 1, like, certain things, you know, that that, would be raised up when I’ll get, like, teachings and stuff like that. So, like, it was just more so of like, I guess, practicing the faith, you know, Exercising what you believe and what you’ve learned.
And, I guess the more that the more I gave in to the truth, the more I I understood and, giving me bits and bits. So I thought that was that’s awesome.
Gary Walton: Yeah. You and I’ve had a couple different chances to talk, and I’ve I’ve loved how, just just God’s work in your life and really the clarity with which you’re seeing, this commitment to Jesus and the change, you know, that brought. I asked this a little bit, maybe for both of you guys, but, how has Jesus changed your life? You know, both stories are different. Kat, you’re younger, Melvin, a little bit older.
If you look back on life, how would you say how has Jesus changed your life?
Cat Ngiratumerang: Personally, he’s been, like, my guide, if that makes sense. Because even though I was raised in the church and I, was saved at a young age, I did get to a point in my life, like, especially, like, in college where I just made bad decisions, and I chose to turn away
Gary Walton: Mhmm.
Cat Ngiratumerang: From God, but he never left me. Mhmm. That spirit the Holy Spirit and his conviction in my life and my heart, it was like it wasn’t God turning. You know, people would be like, God turned away from me. I’d be like, no, I turned away from God.
And I knew that it’s like in my mind I was physically turning the other way. But he was always there.
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Cat Ngiratumerang: You know? And so he’s always there trying to guide me through these bad decisions that I would make, you know. And I made a lot of bad decisions in a very short amount of time because, you know, for whatever was going on in my life, it felt like, well, I just wanna try the world, you know. And then but Jesus was always my guide. He was always in my heart.
He would always convict me. There’d be days where because of bad choices, I’d come home and just cry. You know, I’d go into service. I never missed a service during those it’s like I I just was still drawn to things of the Lord, you know, and I was still constantly praying even though I was making these terrible decisions because Christ will never leave you nor forsake you, no matter what you do, you know. And then needless to say, he used all that to draw me even closer to him, you know.
So, yeah, definitely.
Gary Walton: Yeah. When did you guys meet?
Cat Ngiratumerang: So we met, actually, we met when I was his teacher in high school. That’s how we met.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Been together. You guys got married when and
Cat Ngiratumerang: we met we got married in 2011. We got together in 2009. So we’ve been together for 15 years now.
Gary Walton: Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome.
Awesome. Mel, what about you? How has Jesus changed your life?
Mel Ngiratumerang: I gotta agree with her. Like, as far as, like, not being alone, you know? I guess when you’re growing up, you have family. You’re you’re growing up with friends and family. And, you know, it’s you never get that that, the fulfillment of a relationship that everyone seeks for.
You know? Like
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Mel Ngiratumerang: Everyone paints the perfect picture of what a family is and all that. And so it it it tells us that there’s we have a desire of having that fulfillment, with somebody. You know? And, we look for it in our spouses, in our our our parents and stuff. So, I’ve always wondered what, that was supposed to look like.
You know? And then, just being with the Lord, he’s he’s constantly me showing me how that how that works out. You know? Little by little.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah. You guys are in a busy season of life. Right? Did you say, your Isaiah is 12.
Right?
Cat Ngiratumerang: He’s 12. Yeah.
Gary Walton: Okay. 12 down to Zechariah’s
Cat Ngiratumerang: 6. 6.
Gary Walton: Okay. So young family, a lot of things going on. I know you got career stuff happening, Melvin, and a recent change. You know?
Mel Ngiratumerang: Yeah.
Gary Walton: A really good position, church. How do how do we balance all of that stuff together, Mel? What do you think?
Mel Ngiratumerang: I’m still learning, to be honest. You know? Yeah. I have my good days, bad days. So
Cat Ngiratumerang: I feel like he just he just like, okay, babe. What’s the schedule? And I just kinda just manage everything. You know? Yeah.
Yeah.
Gary Walton: Yeah. And you got young kids. Right? In fact, you got your your kids are right in the middle of all those, you know, just your 12 year old just starting to, you know, make decisions. Yeah.
How about that? How do you put priorities together? I mean, I know this is a challenge for everybody, but how do you put priorities together? How do you allow your home to be a place where these kids can really grow? And what would you say?
Mel Ngiratumerang: I don’t Well, just spend time with them, you know, make them feel comfortable, make them feel like, that’s the worst thing that I want is for my my child to be afraid to tell me something, you know.
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Cat Ngiratumerang: Yeah. I always want let them know that, mom and dad are a safe place.
Gary Walton: Yeah. You
Cat Ngiratumerang: know? If you have questions or you heard something or you saw something or you’re feeling something, like, don’t hesitate to come to us, you know? I’d much rather they they find out things from us than elsewhere.
Gary Walton: Right.
Cat Ngiratumerang: You know? And then, you know, trying to have, like, a schedule or structure, I feel helps, especially in the midst of chaos with boys.
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Cat Ngiratumerang: Yeah.
Gary Walton: And I know I mean, we’ve watched this, but you guys have a real commitment to the church, right, for your family together. What’s that mean as kind of the center of your heart and of your family?
Cat Ngiratumerang: We want them to at least for me, it’s like we I want them to have, like, consistency with coming
Gary Walton: Mhmm.
Cat Ngiratumerang: To services, you know, and just, hearing about the Lord. And maybe it’s just because I had that growing up and it and it was nice to have that, you know. To every Sunday, I knew I was gonna be around other believers, and I was gonna hear a Bible story,
Gary Walton: you
Cat Ngiratumerang: know, and there would be fellowship. And I want them to have that because at some point in their life, they’re gonna make a decision, you know, in their hearts, whether they’re going to continue that in their lives and their families or or not. Mhmm. You know?
Gary Walton: Yeah. That’s good. Melvin, what would you add to that?
Mel Ngiratumerang: I mean, I just want them to feel like, like the church is their home. You know?
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Mel Ngiratumerang: So if they can feel comfortable enough to be like, this is where I can be open, then I think for me as a parent, I did a good job.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah. That’s great. What would you feel like, are the biggest burdens or challenges in life right now? The stage of life or, just generally spiritually, you know, anything like that?
Cat Ngiratumerang: I feel like it’s just being busy. Yeah. Like, so busy. And there’s some days where I’m like, I didn’t pray today. Like, I should have woken up and prayed today.
You know? Like but I was just, like, got up late or whatever and it’s like boom boom boom boom boom. And then I cooked dinner and I’m tired. Yep.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah.
Cat Ngiratumerang: But that’s kinda like where we’re at right now, especially with the kids, and his new job and yeah. It’s just one thing after another.
Gary Walton: I think I I talk, of course, with a lot of families and this season of life that you’re in. I mean, I started off kinda saying this. It’s great. I mean, really, you know, your kids are at such awesome ages. And Faith and I talked about this.
We loved every season of life with our kids. You know, some people are like, man, teenagers are horrible. That wasn’t that way for our kids. Not that our kids didn’t have the same challenges that everybody else does, but we really did love every season of life. But there is something about those that season when the kids are younger.
You’re dealing with some discipline stuff. Right? So you’re trying to help them, you know, learn how to be good people and good parts of the family. And and I know that’s a constant thing, But there’s also, you know, families together. They’re they really rely on you, you know, and it’s a sweet season of life, but it’s busy.
I mean, it just is. And, and I think, for a lot of families, they feel that, like, you know, you guys have been together for 15 years, so it’s not brand new. You get you know, it’s not a new marriage, but life feels super busy, you know, with the kids. Melvin, how about you? How do you how do you prioritize stuff?
How do you prioritize family time and, you know, spiritual life?
Mel Ngiratumerang: I mean, my family pretty much, they help me. Like, they hold me down. You know, they in a, like, in a good sense. You know?
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Mel Ngiratumerang: Sometimes I can get caught up with myself, and I can get caught up in doing my own thing and having my my own priorities. But, you know, my wife would always help me to find my way back, and it’s it’s challenging, like, every day, you know, especially being a man and
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Mel Ngiratumerang: Having all the responsibility. But, man, if it if it wasn’t for the Lord, I don’t know if I can continue doing this stuff. You know?
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah. That’s awesome. I love that. Strength that he gives us Yeah.
You know, through that time. Yeah. That’s great. We talk a lot about discipleship around here. I know it’s familiar to everybody about spiritual growth.
And we talk about the fact that it doesn’t mean that, you know, I do all of this stuff. That’s not what discipleship means. But what would you say spiritual growth means to you, and and how has God been changing your life?
Cat Ngiratumerang: Spiritual growth would be like I don’t know. I just feel like over the years depending on your seasons of life, right, you always struggle with something whether it’s your temperament, you know, your patience Yep. Your organization, your priorities, you know. And so I feel like depending on whatever season of life I’m in right now, like, my spiritual growth would be like like the Lord working in an area that I’m just struggling with during this time.
Gary Walton: You are right on, Kat. Now this is so transparent and so true for everybody. So I think it’s
Cat Ngiratumerang: it’s such a struggle. And it’s like I I felt like, every I feel like you need to be praying every minute, you know, or every second because it’s like, okay, Lord, you wake up and you’re like, you know, you’re you read your devotion and you have that verse, and then you pray. And I’m like, Lord, help me to be patient with my voice today.
Mel Ngiratumerang: Right. Yeah.
Cat Ngiratumerang: And then something happens and I just blow it. And it’s not even 5 minutes after I just got up and woke them up, you know, because they weren’t waking up. But I mean, things like that, like, for me as a mom, just a serial mom. Like, my biggest challenges mainly come with my ministry to my kids.
Gary Walton: Mhmm.
Cat Ngiratumerang: You know, so it’s always a constant prayer to be an example to them, you know. So, yeah, that growth, little little things.
Gary Walton: Well, I think our marriages and our kids are the biggest factors that God uses to help us to grow.
Cat Ngiratumerang: For sure.
Gary Walton: I mean, it’s that is a shaping, sharpening, you know, season of life. So, yeah, I’m right with you on that. Melvin, would you add to that? What spiritual growth mean and what how’s God doing that in your life?
Mel Ngiratumerang: I think spiritual growth is basically like intimacy. You know? Intimacy with God, walking with God, like, including him in everything. Like, he it’s kind of crazy how you have your life, and he’s there. You know?
He’s he’s always there. And then you meet all these other people, and and it’s so easy to get caught up with the people and and forget that he’s he was there the whole time. You know?
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah.
Mel Ngiratumerang: And so I think being more aware of him in every situation, I think, is is true growth. You know?
Gary Walton: I love that. In fact, Jesus says that, abide with me. Mhmm. The the branch can’t bear fruit of itself unless you abide in me. I mean, so that intimacy with God.
So not trying to practice a religion. Yeah. A lot of people see it that way. Yeah. I go to church because I’m practicing a religion.
And for the true believer, it’s not that. It is a genuine relationship with God where I am communicating with him and he’s in the process of changing my life. And, I’ve had the privilege of seeing that with you guys. And we we love you guys. I love you guys.
I am thankful for just your, transparency here, real life, walking through this season of life and, you know, really attempting to make God as the center of it, allowing the church to come along and be a help with that. And, yeah. It’s cool to be able to do that along with a community of people Mhmm.
Cat Ngiratumerang: That are
Gary Walton: that are doing that together. So thank you guys for joining us. I know you got a lot going on with your day, so thank you for coming along and being part of this today.
Mel Ngiratumerang: Thanks for having us.
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 Harvest Baptist Church for services Sunday morning, either at 8:45 AM or 10:45 AM. We do have Japanese and Korean translation during the 10:45 AM service. 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.