“Almost 30 years ago, I was walking into a hotel near LAX International Airport to join the Marines,” shared José Galvez, Stayton Church, Silverton Church and Molalla Church pastor.
“I had done pretty much all I needed to do; I just needed to get through the physical and sign on the dotted line. I was only a few days away, but my mom was really upset about it. She had gone through civil war in El Salvador and she did not want to see her son go to war. I didn’t want to break my mom’s heart, so I asked God for direction and ended up pulling out at the last minute,” said Galvez.
Instead of joining the military all those years ago, Galvez followed a call that had been on his heart for a long time — the call to pastoral ministry. He has served as a pastor since 2000 and has served local churches in Oregon Conference for the past 18 years.
In 2017, Galvez found himself once again grappling with the impact the war in El Salvador had had on him. “We took a trip to Israel in 2017 with the conference, and at one of the checkpoints we were passing through we were stopped and asked for our passports," Galvex remembered. "For some reason, I could not find mine. I panicked. My buddies who were with me that day still remember it. But I finally found it, everything was cool and we had a good laugh about it."
"When I went to the hotel that night, I couldn’t get my mind off of what had happened," Galvez continued. "It reminded me of the times we had been pulled over in El Salvador and asked for papers. Back then, if you didn’t have your papers your life was on the line. You might never be seen again. So it was this experience of PTSD. I struggled that night to get to sleep.”
“When I woke up the next morning, I prayed about it. I realized that I have a unique story — a unique set of skills and experiences that could be used to help empathize and work with individuals in the armed forces,” shared Galvez. “I waited about a year before I approached my wife. We prayed about it and around three years ago I made the call to contact a recruiter. It’s been a long process, but we feel that God has opened the doors the whole way.”
In June 2024, Galvez was commissioned as a Navy chaplain — a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy working with the Navy Reserves. “I’ve been blessed to have veterans in each of the churches I serve, and they’ve been so encouraging in their belief that this work would help to give me more ministry tools to apply to both the military and the local church,” he said.
“I want people to know I’m not leaving local church ministry, I’m simply expanding my ministry. I’m allowing God to use my skill set and experiences to be able to touch others who I wouldn’t normally have access to.” As for what ministry means to Galvez, that remains the same — and it doesn’t just happen during the church service.
“Ministry really happens on a one-to-one basis," said Galvez. "It’s when you show up for the birthday parties, weddings and funerals. It happens on the golf course and when you’re down helping pull weeds. Whatever it might be that you’re doing with people, it’s those connections that really lead to deeper relationships where people can feel comfortable talking about their wounds and traumas. We all have those, a lot of times we just cover them up.”
Please pray for Galvez and his family as he continues to grow his ministry here in Oregon Conference.
