Welcome to Harvest Time. My name is Chris Harper, and our host on this program is pastor Gary Walton, the pastor of Harvest Baptist Church. We often spend these twenty five minutes together telling you the stories of our church by interviewing our members and other friends of the ministry. We wanna start by personally inviting you to church this Sunday. We have two services, one at 9AM and the other at 11AM Sunday morning.

We'd love to see you at either. We also have a livestream available during that 11AM service. You can find that at hbcguam.org. Hbcguam.org. And if you come during that 11AM service, we also have Korean and Japanese translation available.

We hope to see you there. This week, continuing in Christianity one zero one, part three, and the second part of what in the world went wrong. Let's begin the program today by welcoming pastor Gary Walton. Hi, pastor.

Hafa adai, Chris. Wanted to just mention, you said we have the translation for the 11:00 service. It's an interesting system that we have. So we'll have live translators speaking both Korean and Japanese, and then that will they're speaking into a mic and it goes to a listening device. And so anybody that comes, you're able to sit in the service with the whole congregation and just a little device in your ear that you'd be able to hear both, you know, the English that's coming from the pulpit and then also either Korean or Japanese.

So it's a pretty cool opportunity and we want to invite anybody. Maybe you know, have a friend that is a Japanese speaker or Korean speaker that you'd like to invite to come with you. Yeah, and you mentioned that we're in this series called Christianity 101: Discovering the Real Meaning of Life. Genesis one thirty one says, it's at the end of the account of the creation of the world, And the Bible says, and God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And that's how we leave the end of chapter one of creation.

And, the question that we're asking really out of Genesis three is, well, what in the world went wrong? Because, you know, there's so many things now in our world that we know are are not great. They're not good. And so what happened? And and then what is the solution that the Bible gives us?

So I'd invite you to come as we're having this conversation and teaching on, just the foundations of Christianity. It'll be going on over the next four or five weeks still to come. Well, I'm really pleased to have with us in the studio, Ms. Sylvia Flores. Sylvia has been a member of Harvest for, think since, Pam told me, since 2010, I think, right, Correct.

Yes. Welcome to Harvest Time.

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Yeah, well, we're so glad that you took some time to be able to come and talk with us. You know, in this program, Harvest Time, we just have some conversations with different people from the Harvest family about life and about their relationships with God, and I think it's interesting for people. We learn, a lot of different things. So, that's what we'd like to do with you. Maybe we could start off just having you tell us about your background, your family growing up here on island.

Yes, I was born and raised in a large family, eight children. But my siblings, my father's brothers and sisters, there's about 16 of them filtering out to more children. So, we are a big family.

The Flores family.

The Flores family, yes. Growing up, I was born and raised a Seventh day Adventist, and I would say that I was taught how to live a life to the fullest, but yet you need to respect and understand other people's lives too. So, over the years, life was good, and you know, you're out there in the world, the worldly things, and you kind of forget about God. You just forget about everything, and then your life starts crumbling, crumbling where it's like, Help me, where do I go from here? You know?

And, of course, I was still living in Guam, and I've been looking through the newspaper, and I see an ad of different churches, and I see Pastor Louis's picture, Harvest Baptist Church, and he's like, Oh, you know, it's Harvest and all that. But one day I was just driving on the road and I keep telling myself, I have to find a church, a church that I feel connected to. And I was listening to the radio, and sure enough, the radio was Harvest Baptist Church. The music, the preaching, everything was so connected to the Word of God. And I said, This is the church that I really want to go to.

And then all the time I've looked at Harvest and checked out Harvest, but Pastor Lewis, I'm going to lead into this. Pastor Louis has been my butcher at Payless supermarket for years and years. And then all of a sudden, butcher turns pastor, and that I have a hard time understanding. I was young and I didn't really connect. I felt like, Well, I don't think I want to go to that church.

But then, you know, after really connecting with the Lord and thinking that you can be changed, the Lord God can change you from anything. I have told Pastor Lewis and Pastor Herron Marty and Tammy Herron about it, and they would laugh about it. But it's just one of those things that, you know, you never judge anything that way. And I am so grateful and so happy. It was through the radio ministry that I decided to turn to the Lord and surrender myself.

So, you know, that's

That's such an amazing story, Sylvia. So, you listening to the radio station, KHMG, for a long time, for a number For

of a time. Wow. Yeah. And, you know, KHMG, I don't think they really put emphasis on Harvest Baptist Church, so I never really connected everything. But I was driving, and that's when I heard the radio, the music, and the Biblical messages.

Well, it took a while then because Pastor Lewis was the butcher, right? He was your butcher, and how can a butcher become a pastor, right? I love that story, though, of how God changes us

and

takes different seasons of our lives and puts them in His order.

So, remember that you have your calling, you know, and don't ever forget. So, to this date, my overall mentor in everything that I do, my radio is only, I have no television, I have no radio station, only I click on KHMG. Wow. Every day. It's my breakfast, lunch, dinner if I'm home for lunch, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, so I find it really lifting, uplifting, and thanks to Chris, yeah, I thoroughly enjoy it, everything. I don't want to miss every single beep, you know?

That's really great. I knew we were going to hear about your spiritual story, but I didn't know the connection with the radio station. That's really awesome and encouraging, I'm sure, for Chris, but for a lot of people, it's love. It's awesome to hear how God's used that ministry. So, you know, you grew up here on Guam, raised a family here.

You have children, right?

I have children. Okay. Yeah. But majority of my families have relocated to The US. I can say that maybe I'm the only one here with my father's siblings, but then with a few nieces and nephews.

Okay.

Yeah.

And then what did you do for a career? What was, you know, you're retired now,

right? Uh-huh. Well, kind of semi retired. Okay. I don't think I'll ever retire.

Right.

Because I love what I do. I do interior design, and this is about four years ago, I packed up and I moved to The States. I live now in Palm Springs, but I would say I live there, but I've been here most of the time. I was brought back for three different projects, and I'm doing my last one supposedly, my last project now in Barragada Heights, so hopefully we'll see what happens. But I've basically relocated out of Guam, but, you know, Guam is home.

Yeah. I pray for Harvest all the time. The place where I live, we don't really have a good, solid church like we do here at Harvest, and I think maybe that's why the Lord keeps bringing me back here.

Maybe. Yeah, you said remodeling. In fact, as you leave here, you're heading to the construction site, right? That's what you're telling me.

Yes. Uh-huh. Yeah.

Then you spent some time working in the governor's office, is that right?

Yeah, I was a political appointee. The governor appointed me as the head of the, first of all, it was Guam Consul in the Arts and Humanities, and then Department of Chemours Affairs. I was in charge of the cultural part, as well as I was in charge of the Chemours Village at that time.

Oh, really? Wow, that's interesting.

Yeah. You know, I have

What years was that, Sylvia?

2014, 2015, I think, somewhere around there.

Okay, great.

I can't remember. It seems like so far away, because we've gone through two administrations already.

Right, yeah.

And that's '16, when you add it up, it's, know,

A long a time. So, Chamorro Village, and you're responsible for all of that?

Mhmm.

Okay.

Yes, and I was responsible for, I went to American Samoa when we signed up for the Festival of Pacific Arts.

Oh, yeah.

I was responsible in bringing the Festival of Pacific Arts to Guam, but we were not in the administration then when it happened.

When it happened? You put a lot of the legwork into making Yes. Wow, that's really cool.

Yeah.

Started coming to Harvest, so you listened to the radio station for a long time, but you weren't sure you wanted to go, you know, where your grocer was, right? You started coming in do you remember what year, or in the early 2000s?

When I was twenty ten.

Twenty ten.

Yeah, okay. Well,

why did you decide at that time that you were gonna come to church?

Because, you know, I needed God. I knew that I had to have a good church base. And it's just a matter of finding the right church at the right time, and I felt like it was really the right time. Nobody invited me to Harvest, to the church, I just went straight in, went in and sat in the middle of the aisle. Yeah, and that's the way, that's how I got started with Harvest.

But to find out that I knew a lot of people that were also here at Harvest.

You said you'd known about Harvest for a long time, not just radio station, but in other ways. You knew other people that had attended here?

I'm trying to remember now.

No, don't need names, but you just known of it because of the school.

Yeah, Margaret and Bob Jones.

Oh, sure.

Yeah, I even went to just another church that I went to, and I always wondered, Where are the people here? You know, the millers I I knew them also. So, it was interesting.

Yeah, so when you came to Harvest, I think you were baptized at that time. When would you say that your relationship with God began?

I was baptized as a young child. Okay. Yeah, I grew up in the church that I was raised. But then I was baptized again when I joined Harvest

Okay.

In 2010.

In 2010.

Yeah.

Okay, great. Said, if it's okay if I could ask, you said, you know, life can be hard sometimes, we just know that we need God. Tell me a little bit more about that.

I went through a really bad divorce. Nine lawyers, almost worldwide, when you think about it. I even hired a palimony lawyer, Marvin Mitchelson, if you know of, you know, it's just one of those things that, you ask yourself, Why in heavens did I do this? But it was, I would say, a necessary evil, because, you know, anyone can just drop everything and say forget it, you know, just move on, right? But in those days when you're not really connected with God, just say, you just wanna go for the gusto.

Yeah, yeah. So, I went through that, and things did not really turn out well. At that time, my children were already in The US, you know, and I just decided that I just need to straighten out my life. And so far, it's just unbelievable how the Lord has just directed me and guided me, and in everything that I do, I always want to be a Christ like character. Representing God.

I feel like I'm representing God, whatever. I try my very best. I'm not perfect, but I try my very best.

You're talking about, you know, just for a number of years, just sort of walking away from God. During that time, I was always interested in this and even, you know, the story of a lot of people. Did you think about God a lot during that time, or did it almost feel like you got put on the back burner?

Oh, I always did.

Oh, you did?

As a matter of fact, a lot of my friends that I associate myself with, they're not really Christians, And I always tell them, Remember, God is in control. Have a friend who has a real bad dementia right now, but over the years, before I started going to church, I always tell him, Always remember God, be God in your prayer. And he would turn around and say, God? Who is God? You know, kind of make fun about it.

And he said, You know, you can't be like that. You've got to put Christ in your life. And now he's suffering from a really bad dementia. When I'm around them, and I talk to the wife and all, you know, she seems to be responsive when I talk about God. As a matter of fact, she even tells me churches to check out in the Palm Springs area, because I keep telling her I'm not really connected with these churches, you know, so she would tell me, Oh, this might be a good church for you.

So, you know, I just know that the Lord is working on her, although the husband really can't understand anything anymore.

Yeah, yeah. Spiritual growth can be challenging. You've already talked about the way that the radio station has been helpful. I love hearing that. It's a constant teaching drawing us to be like Christ.

What are some other things that you feel have been helpful in your spiritual growth?

I think focusing on doing my daily prayer, focusing on reading the Bible, it's just like a wake up call. Over the years, I find like, Oh, the lighting is not very good, I can't read my Bible. So I make it a point now, make it a point to try to focus and start reading my Bible and concentrating on that, and being helpful to others too. The other day, when I tell myself, I was walking out of McDonald's just to buy an Egg McMuffin, and a homeless lady was outdoor. And it's like, Oh God, can I go into my vehicle and walk out and try to eat this muffin when I know this woman?

So I reached out of my pocket and gave her money to go buy her food. But things like that, a lot of things I try to just grow and tell myself, Help others, reach out to others who are in need.

Yeah, you know, our life can become very self centered if we're not careful, and God is constantly reminding us of the fact that He has us here for a purpose and that He wants us to care about other people and to share the Gospel with them. And yeah, I love that. So over the years, you know, ten, eleven years now that you've been a member at Harvest and involved, what would you say would be some of the biggest things that God has taught you during these years?

I think caring for others is the main thing. Because, like you said, you know, we can be so self centered, thinking of yourself all the time, and I think I try to tell myself, it's time to start looking out, and I try to hire the Harvest Boys, the Harvest I think it's the Harvest Bible.

Yeah, HPBC Kids, right.

I try as much as possible, but then I always check-in whether it's something that's required. I always want to try to find a way, how can I reach and help out Harvest? Because I know that the whole mission is to reach out to Asia and the Pacific Region, and I'm always asking myself, if I can't be there, how can I find a way to reach out and contribute, make donations all the time?

You've been connected with Guam your whole life. How have you seen Guam change over the last thirty years, and even this whole kind of region? What is different here than when you were growing up?

I think one of the things that I see is like a wake up call to a lot of my friends, a lot of people, how they've been just so embodied with a certain religion. And, you know, no matter where I go, I try to tell people, you know, look at yourself and ask yourself, do you really know God? Do you really feel that you're in the right place? So, you know, I would converse with my friends. I think that's one of the biggest things that I've seen.

I think a lot of people are waking up, because, especially now, in the pandemic time, where people come to me and they share things with me. And they know me because no matter where I go, I have nieces and nephews who send their children here, and I tell them, The Harvest Christian Academy is a character building school. You need to look at that and focus on that, because if you don't have much time with your children, that's the place where you can really build strong foundation for them. And I have gone back and I've seen my relatives whose children have gone here, and they've all excelled. They've all really moved up.

And I'm so happy for them, you know, just by sending their children here. So, basically, I'm like a site ministry.

You are, yeah.

I mean, by advocating and talking about Harvest Christian Academy, why you should send your children, and, you know, sometimes they say the cost, and it's like, that's nothing to consider. You have to think the life of your children, you know,

Sylvia, So it's really incredible. I agree with you. I think God is bringing a spiritual awakening to our island. God has used churches like Harvest, not just Harvest, other Bible teaching churches on our island over the years. But it feels to me like there's just a fresh openness to the truth of the Bible and the Bible's claims on our lives.

And I, if I remember this right, it's early in our conversation here, but I think you talked about just the surrender of your life to him, you know, at this season of life. And that's what I'm experiencing as I'm talking with people of all different ages. But an openness and maybe the pandemic has has challenged us to rethink things. I don't I don't know all of the factors, but I agree with you. There's an awakening of the spiritual life on our Island.

And so we're praying that as a church, we'd be faithful to that, and as Christians, we'd be faithful to that. And I'm thankful for your, you know, years that God has been using you to be a witness and a light for him. Thanks for being willing to tell me a little bit more about tell us a little bit more about your story. Thanks for serving God faithfully, and thanks for your love for Harvest. It's it's really sweet to see that.

Thank you. It's been a pleasure. Thank you.

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 this Sunday at Harvest Baptist Church. We'll be back in Christianity 01/2001. This week, we meet at 9AM and 11AM Sunday morning. Of course, we'd love to see you at either service.

We also have a livestream at 11AM. At 11AM service, we also have the Japanese and Korean translation that pastor spoke about earlier in the program. You can find the livestream at hbcguam.org. Hbcguam.org. And it's part three of Christianity one zero one this week.

What in the world went wrong? The second part of that lesson and question. Thanks again for listening to Harvest Time.