Justin Daniel would not have predicted fellow Marine James Ramseyer would become a pastor.

Daniel was stationed with Ramseyer in Okinawa, Japan and discipled him.

But when he found out this spring Ramseyer became pastor of New Beginnings Baptist Church in Streator, he also wasn’t surprised. While Ramseyer is not an outspoken person, he has a solid foundation.

“He has the temperament for it,” said Daniel, who is now a chaplain in the Army. “Being a pastor can be lonely. It can be hard. It can be frustrating, but he has a love for his people and he won’t lose focus. He’s not power hungry. He’s a person of character.”

Ramseyer grew up in Pontiac, located about 35 minutes southeast of Streator, and graduated from Pontiac High School. Following his musical roots, Ramseyer enlisted in the Marine Corps band program, playing the euphonium. Ramseyer’s grandfather Richard Alderman headed the Pontiac Municipal Band for several years and Ramseyer’s band director at the high school played in the service band.

“I think there was a desire to serve my country and I didn’t really fully know what I wanted to do with my life,” Ramseyer said. “I didn’t want to spend a lot of time and money on college.”

The decision allowed him to see other parts of the world and become more confident in his religious faith. The Marine Corp. band served as a public relations arm for the military, meaning he was able to perform all over the Asian Pacific region, including all over mainland Japan, South Korea, Guam and the Solomon Islands.

After spending two years in Okinawa, Ramseyer was stationed in Quantico, Virginia, about 25 miles south of Washington. Through the church there, he and his wife, Lydia, went overseas as missionaries in Macedonia. They returned when Ramseyer accepted a position at a church in Dumfries, Virginia, where the church’s main goal was to reach Marines with the gospel.

“I’m really thankful that I did that,” Ramseyer said of enlisting in the Marine Corp. band. “It set me up well. It was a great, great job and I met a lot of cool people and got to do a lot of cool things.”

A visit to perform at Iwo Jima was particular powerful for Ramseyer. The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major turning point in World War II, in which the U.S. Marines and Navy captured the island from the Japanese army.

To commemorate the event, the Marine band performed at an annual ceremony held between Japanese and American military representatives.

“It’s a closed-off island, you can’t go there as a tourist or anything like that,” Ramseyer said. “Of all that happened there, to be able to stand on the beach of Iwo Jima and to be able to stand on Mt. Suribachi and look out at what Americans were facing when they approached the beach and they still have some pillboxes up there. To see what they had to face to fight for our freedom, that was incredibly powerful, but also to be able to participate in the ceremony that is celebrating the peace that our two countries have now, celebrating we are no longer at conflict, that was another level.”

Ramseyer’s time in Okinawa was also when he grew his faith in Christianity.

He and his wife were high school sweethearts. They were still dating when Ramseyer was serving in Japan. They would talk to each other on Skype despite a 14-hour difference. It would be about 5 a.m. her time and 7 p.m. his time. They would read the Bible together or separately and discuss the passages.

“It was the first time I intentionally, purposefully read the Bible,” Ramseyer said. “We started in the gospel of Matthew and I was just really struck by the Jesus that I read about there.

“In my mind growing up, Jesus was a nice teacher, but I didn’t feel like he had any say over my life. As I started reading who he was and the claims that he was making and the seriousness which he took sin, I started to realize, I’m a sinner and I’ll need to be saved.”

Daniel played a role in helping Ramseyer interpret the gospel.

“He had this thirst for knowledge, this curiosity, like I did,” Daniel said. “I need to know who this savior is, I need to know who God’s called me to be. (He) wanted to be a good leader for his girlfriend and future family.”

Justin Holroyd was Ramseyer’s platoon sergeant in Quantico, and he credits Ramseyer for guiding him through a challenging time in his military career, calling Ramseyer one of the people he called upon for advice.

When Holroyd said he was feeling jaded by his military service, Ramseyer talked him through, also opening the door for him to grow closer to his faith. Ramseyer also offered Holroyd a first job out of the Marine service.

Holroyd described Ramseyer as the type of person who is not going to be a social butterfly, but instead someone who is going to connect on a more individual basis.

“He is who he says he is,” Holroyd said. “He instantly invests in you. As his congregation gets to interact with him, they will see he just wants to give a helpful hand. He’s genuine.”

Ramseyer said he’s excited to be in Streator, closer to he and Lydia’s family in Pontiac as they raise their three boys Philip (9), Ezra (7) and Simeon (4).

He has been touched by the warmth he’s received from the congregation since moving to town in May.

“They are a family,” Ramseyer said. “We’re living in the parsonage right next door and we weren’t sure what that was going to be like, but it has been really great. My wife was sick so she didn’t get to come to church and we had two people drop off soup and another dropped off something to make her feel better. We’ve just felt really, really cared for.”

Ramseyer said the congregation, which has about 55 to 75 people attending regular Sunday services, will be focused on the future of the fellowship hall, which burned last fall and was recently restored.

“We’re looking forward to how God might use that space, in the past it’s been used as a food pantry, and I know since it burnt down a lot of other churches have stepped up,” Ramseyer said. “We’re seeking the Lord right now to see how he would have us use that space. We want to use it to serve the community and ultimately to reach people with the gospel of Christ.”

Ramseyer said it’s funny to remember a decade ago when he first started learning about the Bible and his reluctance to want to be a public speaker. If he were asked then, he would not have wanted to be the center of attention and would have shied away from being a pastor.

But now, he’s found his calling.

“I wanted to teach the Bible but I never really thought of myself as a pastor, because of (public speaking), I didn’t feel equipped or comfortable,” Ramseyer said. “It took a few years for the Lord to work on me and get me into a place where I felt like, OK, maybe he is calling me to be a pastor. Once that happened, once I really felt calmness and confidence in that, it was the turning point of it not being about me, but being about him, and what he’s calling me to do and how I can help him shepherd his people.”