Pastor Walton spoke with Sonny and Lihna Padock from Pohnpei this week. They discussed coming to know Christ and committing to serve Him on their island.
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Episode Transript
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’d invite you to join us at Harvest Baptist Church this week. There are two services on Sunday, 08:45AM and 10:45AM.
We offer Japanese and Korean translation at the 10:45AM service. That’s also when we livestream at hbcguam.org. Hbcguam.org. This week, we continue our series, 10 foolish things people do to mess up their lives, this time in Exodus 20:13. Commandment number six, cheapening the value of life.
Let’s begin today’s Harvest Time by welcoming Pastor Gary Walton. Hi, Pastor.
Gary Walton: Hey, hafa adai, Chris. We’re coming to a transition in our study of the 10 Commandments. You might, and that’s what we’ve been doing for a few months now through the fall months, this series on Exodus chapter 20. You might, have noticed that the first four commandments deal with people’s relationship with God, and then we’re making this transition now to our relationship with other people. So we started out with our relationship with our parents, honor our father and mother, and now this sixth commandment is really how do we treat other people and very specifically God’s value for life.
And so we’ve got some interesting things that we’re going to look at as we walk through this very short verse, Exodus 20:13, but it’s full of important information for us and teaching for us. And we’d invite you to come and join us as we continue on in this series. Well, we have a very special privilege to have some special people to us here at Harvest here on island for a few weeks, well maybe a couple months now, and we invited Pastor Sonny and Lihna Padock from Pohnpei if they would come and be with us on Harvest Time. So first of all, let me give you a very warm Harvest welcome to both of you.
Sonny Padock: Thank you. Yeah, thank you very much.
Gary Walton: Pastor Sonny and Mrs. Padock have been serving the Lord as pastor and wife at Capitol City Baptist Church in Pompeii. How long have you been there now, Pastor?
Sonny Padock: I was ordained in 2001 by the churchmen. And then in 2006, I was ordained by the Worldwide New Testament Baptist Mission as a missionary. So I’ve been ministering for almost thirty years.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Before I was ordained, I was already working, serving the Lord, you know. So I’ve been there for quite a while. Yeah. I think, I checked, Harvest has been supporting you as a missionary out of Harvest Baptist Church for a little bit over twenty years.
Think we started right around 2003.
Sonny Padock: That’s correct, yeah.
Gary Walton: Of course, our relationship of Harvest with you has been longer than that. Right. We’re so thankful for the long term friendship and partnership in the ministry and thankful for what God’s done through you there in Pohnpei and other locations. Mrs. Padock, you are a teacher at Calvary Christian Academy, is that right?
Lihna Padock: Yes, sir.
Gary Walton: Okay. How long have you been there, teaching there?
Lihna Padock: I’ve been teaching there since 1980.
Gary Walton: Wow! That is a few years. Yes. Yeah, wow. Well, thank you for your faithfulness.
I know I’ve, of course, we have lots of contacts with young people that then come to Harvest Baptist Bible College from the school there I know your influence and others has been very dramatic in their lives, so we’re really grateful for that. You’re actually here for some medical concerns, right, Would you be willing to share a little bit about that with us?
Sonny Padock: Well, we were in Pohnpei, they amputated my foot, one toe, the My fourth foot, they recommended me that I should come here and seek more, some help here.
Gary Walton: Yeah, you started having some trouble in summer, right?
Sonny Padock: Right, so that’s why we came. Yeah. So they admitted us at the Guam Memorial Hospital.
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Sonny Padock: And then Doctor. Prinz, because when we were in Ponopay, they just cut half of the toe. So we came here and then Dr. Prins thought that it’s better for him to cut the rest of the toe off. So that’s what he did.
Toe is healing right now, but slow because I have some other problems like diabetes and things like that. So
Gary Walton: So the doctors here are getting you all fixed up and helping out with some medicines. And I know you said they’re trying to make you change your diet and all kinds of stuff. So but our prayer is that Okay. You’d be able to have full healing.
I know you’re eager to get back to Pohnpei and your church there, and I know they miss you and ready for you to come home.
Sonny Padock: Yeah.
Gary Walton: But we’ve been, honestly, we’ve been very thrilled to have you here It’s with just such a blessing. A lot of the time, you know, early on you were sick and in the hospital, but more recently now that you’ve been home, you’ve been able to be with us at church. And every time you are here, you are a blessing to our Harvest family. So we’re thankful for that. Let me back up a little bit.
We’d love to hear some of your story. I know many people at Harvest, of course, know you and have known of you. We know your kids. Your boys have been here at Harvest Baptist Bible College and love your family. But there will be others that are newer to Harvest or maybe just listen on the radio.
Tell us a little bit about growing up. You both grew up on Pohnpei, actually, in in Pingelap Island. Right? Right. Okay.
Tell us tell us about what it was like growing up in Pingelap.
Sonny Padock: Well, I can’t tell you my part, you know.
Gary Walton: Okay.
Sonny Padock: I was born on Pingelap July 1957. So I spent most of my time in Pohnpei. You know, we left Pingelap when I was very young. So we came to Pohnpei and then I attended Piksa High School, graduated from there. And in June of 1986 ’76, I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
Yeah.
Gary Walton: How old were you at that time?
Sonny Padock: At that time, I was 19 years old. Okay. Yeah. So after I got saved, the Lord was really speaking to my heart about going to school, you know.
Gary Walton: Can you tell me how did you hear about Jesus? What happened?
Sonny Padock: There was a group that come to the school every Thursday from Calvary, the pastor Welles Church. They came and they, you know, they do Bible study at the school, they invited me to go there and listen. So that’s how I, you know, come to know the Lord I Jesus was sitting, I was invited one night.
So, I was sitting in the back and I was listening to this tall, bald man, you know, and he was really on it. He was really preaching very, I mean, he was preaching the gospel, you know. He was telling us that there is no way for you to go to heaven without Christ. Christ is the only way, the truth, and the life.
So that really I’ve never heard about the gospel before that, you know. I went to church and I attend, you know, services at the other church, but nobody would, know, told me about, you know, Christ being your savior.
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Sonny Padock: Yeah. You know, they taught us to be nice and be good, but no one ever told me about receiving Christ as my savior so that’s what happened that night. I was so convicted of my sins. And when he gave the invitation, I went forward, and I asked the Lord to, you know, save me. I told the Lord that I I know I’m a sinner and I cannot save myself, And I need you and I need your forgiveness.
So that’s what happened that night. Yeah.
Gary Walton: And that started a whole new path for you. Whole new path. A path in your direction. Yeah.
Sonny Padock: I started going to church, you know, with the other boys, and I began to grow, the Lord, and then the Lord was telling me that, you know, it’s better that you go to school and, you know, get more Bible training. Mhmm. So, I surrendered my life in, you know, before I went to school in The States. The Lord has been good. He’s been leading us, you know.
We see him in many, many ways.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s fantastic.
I wanna pick up that story at that spot here in just a minute. But, Mrs. Padock, could I ask you the same, you’re the same, are you? You were born on Pingelap? Yeah.
Did you grow up there or you moved to Pohnpei?
Lihna Padock: Grew up and stayed on Pingelap until I went to high school, public high school on Pohnpei.
Gary Walton: Okay.
Lihna Padock: On Pingelap it’s really religious. The folks there are religious.
Gary Walton: How many people were living on Pingelap when you were young?
Lihna Padock: Oh, maybe a thousand.
Gary Walton: Okay.
Lihna Padock: Thousand people. Yeah. Or a little bit more than 1,000.
Gary Walton: Okay. Very religious.
Lihna Padock: Very religious. I mean, on Sundays, we cannot even cook. We will cook our food on Saturday. And on Sunday, you’re not allowed to go around the island, just having pleasure entertainment. And I was taught that, you know When I was 12 years old, my dad told me, You can become a Christian.
So my cousin and others my age, during service on Sunday, they asked us to go forward, so we went forward. And then he baptized us, sprinkle. And so they told us, Now you’re a Christian. But I didn’t feel anything. I mean, I don’t have any peace or anything.
So, every time I would see a fire or something, I would be scared. And like they said, the hell. And you have to They said, You’re a Christian, but you need to do good.
Gary Walton: Oh, yeah.
Lihna Padock: You need to do good to be able to go to heaven. So I was trying to be good, but
Gary Walton: That’s a very pressured way to live, feeling like if I don’t do good enough,
Lihna Padock: then
Gary Walton: I won’t be able to make it.
Lihna Padock: I went to Piksa and I live in dorms, in the dorms. So, missionary under Worldwide New Baptist Mission. He went and have a Bible study every Tuesday and Thursday evening. Mrs. John, at that time she was saved, and she let him use her classroom.
Gary Walton: Oh, wow.
Lihna Padock: And that’s where we meet.
Gary Walton: So she was a teacher in the public school?
Lihna Padock: Yeah, was a teacher.
Gary Walton: I didn’t know that story.
Lihna Padock: Yeah, public school.
Gary Walton: This is Virginia John, who’s been in Pohnpei for many years now?
Lihna Padock: Many years. Okay. So, I went and then, I don’t remember, it was in April, March, April, spring of 1974. So, on the third time I went, he was preaching on John 3:16 So, I realized that I was a sinner, but God loved me.
Gary Walton: Amen.
Lihna Padock: So, I remember praying and asking the Lord to save me, forgive my sins, when he gave an invitation at the end of the of like the service or something. It’s a Bible study. And then that night, first time, I felt such peace and joy of having my sins forgiven. I was just lying there, singing. That’s what I remember at that time.
Gary Walton: It’s really powerful. Mrs. Padock, I I can’t help but think as you’re telling that story of fifty years, you know, almost fifty years ago.
Lihna Padock: Yeah.
Gary Walton: That as you tell it right now, it brings, I mean, you’re you feel it so much, you’re brings tears to your eyes and joy to your soul. I can read it in every word that you say. That’s that’s very powerful. Thank you for sharing that.
Lihna Padock: Praise the Lord.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Amen. Pastor Sonny, how did you and mrs. Padock meet then? Did you know each other at that time or is it later?
Sonny Padock: Well, we we knew each other when we were kids. Okay. Yeah, because we were born on the same island. Yeah. But, we start, you know, getting to know each other by, you know, after we were saved.
Gary Walton: Okay.
Sonny Padock: Yeah. We start, when we were in college, we start writing to each other. Uh-huh. Yeah. Talking about what God is doing in our lives now.
You know, so, you know, I was looking for a good mate. And I, and I also thought that I was looking for another good mate. We were talking right in each other. And when we were in school, I was in Oregon and she was in South Carolina. So we, after we graduated, she came home in ‘ninety seven, ‘seventy nine?
Lihna Padock: ‘seventy nine.
Sonny Padock: ‘seventy nine. So he came on home in 1980.
Gary Walton: Okay.
Sonny Padock: So we were not strangers. Yeah. We know each other. So we went to the same church and, you know, we part of that church, we were working in that church, pastor Woodes’ church. And then, you know, something happened.
Gary Walton: Well, it’s it’s clear that God put you guys together. And, yeah, he really made you a team and partners together, and you’ve been serving together faithfully Yeah. Yeah, all these years. Miss Padock, you have how many children?
Lihna Padock: We have five children.
Gary Walton: Okay. And where are your kids now?
Lihna Padock: One year, the oldest one, Sonny Junior. Yeah. Has, know, him and his wife, they have four precious grandkids. And then two are in South Carolina, the youngest Roland and his wife, and our youngest daughter, Sonnya. And on Pohnpei we have two also.
Our oldest daughter and middle brother.
Gary Walton: Okay. Pastor Padock, you’ve been serving at the same time a job in Pohnpei with the government or with the college? I don’t remember
Sonny Padock: which one. With the college, yeah.
Gary Walton: Okay. How long have you
Sonny Padock: Well, I started in 1992.
Gary Walton: Okay. And just recently retired from there. Right?
Sonny Padock: From there. Yeah.
Gary Walton: Yeah. In the accounting department. Is that right?
Sonny Padock: Yeah. Yeah.
Gary Walton: Yeah. So a lot of years there serving the island and the young people of the island there as well. Yeah. Tell me how’s Pohnpei doing? How’s the island doing?
I recovered from COVID. Has that impacted things still?
Sonny Padock: People are not worried about COVID. Not not not right now because it’s it’s gone, you know? Yeah. Yeah. You know, our challenge right now is to spread the gospel, you know, because, you know, some people don’t really care about the gospel.
You know? I don’t know why, but some people just don’t care when you go and tell them about the gospel. They, they try to ignore you, And you that’s one of our challenges, yeah. But we have to stick with with that. We know that our challenges is to preach the gospel and to, you know, build the church and divide the believers, you know, regardless of what, you know, the people are saying.
Yeah. Yeah. Saying to us.
Gary Walton: Well, that’s our prayers that you be faithful and fruitful that God would open up people’s hearts in Pohnpei and they would respond to the Gospel and respond to Him. We’re praying for you for sure. You’ve also been involved for a number of years now with the Pingelapese Bible translation. And tell us about that.
Sonny Padock: Yeah, okay. We started with the translation. I was the vice chairman of that committee. So, like every year or two years, we change membership.
But I’m still part of that committee. We have translated the entire Bible. Yeah. And we’re in stage one and two review.
We’re reviewing all them because the project requires six stages, you know. First, we translate the entire Bible, and then we going to review, review the language, you know, with the people, and then, you know, make sure, you know, we’re we’re the Pingelapese were using the Pingelapese language grammar. Mhmm. Yeah.
Gary Walton: Was there Pingelapese translation before?
Sonny Padock: There’s none.
Gary Walton: none
Sonny Padock: will be the first one.
Gary Walton: That’s fantastic.
Sonny Padock: Yeah, this is first one. So, yeah.
Gary Walton: Is there any estimate on the completion date and when that will be ready?
Sonny Padock: Yeah. It’s very hard to estimate. Yeah. Because, you know, they estimate the other Bibles, like Chuukese’s Bible, Chuukese about thirty years.
Gary Walton: Yep. That’s very normal.
Sonny Padock: Yeah, thirty years. So, we’re expecting that, you know, it will take us that long.
Gary Walton: How many years are you into it now?
Sonny Padock: We’ve been doing it for, what, for close to ten years.
Gary Walton: Okay. Yeah, well I know it’s a very important project and of course I have some background in my burden for Bible translation. I’m excited that you’re part of it and we’ll look forward to when that is completed. And we’d have the Bible in the heart language of the Pingelapese people.
Sonny Padock: I have it in my cell phone to complete the first stage, I complete the So we’re reviewing, trying to make sure the grammar is correct, The language, you know, the spellings are, you know,
Gary Walton: Well, that’s fantastic. You for being willing. I know it I know how much how much work is involved with that, so thank you for that. Well, we wanted to let you know that we’ve been praying for you. Of course, I think you know that.
And praying for your health and for both of you together. Praying that your church would remain strong and healthy while you’re away. And that God will continue to bless your ministry. We genuinely are so thankful for the partnership that we have together, with the Harvest family and the Capitol Hill Baptist Church family, and praying that God will bless you in the years to come.
Sonny Padock: Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Now.
Lihna Padock: For praying for us also.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Amen.
Sonny Padock: Thank you very much for your prayers and your support. You made things very easy for us. We believe in prayers. So we know God has been using you, your church, and your people.
Gary Walton: We’re thankful for that. Yeah.
Chris Harper: Well, and thank you for listening to Harvest Time today. Of course, at this point in the program, we always wanna just invite you again to services at Harvest Baptist Church. Two services every Sunday, 08:45AM, 10:45AM. There’s Japanese and Korean translation available during the 10:45AM service. We also livestream that service at hbcguam.org. Hbcguam.org. Hope to see you this Sunday. Thanks again for listening to Harvest Time.