Et cetera : Ministry follows career as cop for Rev. Gaston of Harvest Christian Fellowship

For the new pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship, the ministry is a second career.

Bob Gaston retired from the Waverly Police Department as assistant chief in 2003. He had long been involved in the Salvation Army and as an assistant pastor. After finishing his law enforcement career he returned to school for his master’s degree. He then started a church in the Waverly area before dedicating a few years of his life to Africa mission work.

Rev. Gaston became the interim pastor about a year ago, after the retirement of Rev. Loel Fink. He has since taken that position on a full-time basis.

Along with his wife of 40 years, Carol, Rev. Gaston has two daughters and five grandchildren.

He was a volunteer coordinator for the Salvation Army in Bremer County for approximately 20 years, and is reviving that organizations once-dormant presence in Benton County.

“It’s our job to represent Jesus,” said Rev. Gaston. “We are his hand extended.

A devotion that he read this week about the Biblical character Joseph represents Rev. Gaston’s approach.

“We need to focus on the solutions, not the problems,” he says.

Rev. Gaston agreed to share some information about himself by answering our “Had to Ask” questions. Below are his responses.

Q. Does it matter in your house which way the toilet paper roll goes? A. No. We are blessed to have toilet paper; in Africa it's a luxury.
Q. Tell us about your favorite chair:
A. My wife surprised me with a recliner.
Q. Funniest memory as a parent:
A. Reading the Berenstain Bears books to my young daughters in various bear voices.
Q. Funniest thing a teacher ever told you?
A. You'll never be an artist.
Q. Funniest thing a student ever told you?
A. Agreeing with the teacher.
Q. Best fast food sandwich ever?
A. Best and fast-food do not go together.
Q. What was your first job?
A. Dishwasher for Rooney's Motor Lodge in Wenatchee, Washington.
Q. If you were to get a traffic citation it would most likely be for….
A. Driving at 56 m.p.h. on a Cedar Rapids freeway. Q. One place in the world you really, really wish you could visit?
A. Israel
Q. First pet you remember?
A. Spot
Q. Who was your favorite teacher, and why?
A. Mr. Novono; he challenged me to think.
Q. Tell us about a favorite Christmas present you have received:
A. Anything my wife bought me.
Q. Strangest thing you did at work that was not part of your official job description?
A. Rescuing a squirrel from a toilet.
Q. What is your favorite big word?
A. Exemplary Q. Tell us about one of your pet peeves?
A. Indifference
Q. What book or author you have not read, but should?
A. What wives wish their husbands knew about women.
Q. What happens to the missing socks in the laundry?
A. The other one becomes a polishing rag.
Q. Iowa or Iowa State (or other)?
A. Iowa
Q. Was there something your parents said to you, over and over, that you, would growing up, said to yourself, "I will never say that to my kids?"
A. I love you but right now I don't like you very much.
Q. Was there something you ever heard a preacher say in a sermon that made you say to yourself, "I will never say that?"
A. I am a preacher and I probably have said that more than once.
Q. Worst TV show ever?
A. The Gong Show
Q. Best TV show ever?
A. Gunsmoke
Q. What is your dream car?
A. One that carries a lot of stuff, goes fast and gets 80 miles per gallon.
Q. Who should run for President, but hasn't?
A. Billy Graham
Q. Tell us your favorite joke
A. Did you hear about the lady who said, "I've never seen my pastor's eyes; when he prays he closes his eyes and when he preaches I close mine."
Q. Fill in the blank: In a perfect winter, it would snow…..
A. Seldom Q. Name your favorite:
Comic strip: Beatle Bailey
Candy bar: Milky Way
Ice cream: Licorice
Color: Blue
Sports team: Yankees
Actor/actress: Robert Redford/Meryl Streep
Song: How Great Thou Art
Poem: The Charge of the Light Brigade
Planet: Earth

And finally :
Q. Is there anything you wish we would have asked you?
A: Who is your favorite person of all time? Answer: Jesus Christ.