With his fingers in the air showing 2 and 0 on graduation day, Rev. Jun Suyat received his Master of Divinity degree in 2003; 20 years after he first started taking classes at the seminary. It was a proud moment for Rev. Jun, who from his college years sensed the Lord’s call to ministry. Though he pursued a career in engineering and had set aside the call to be a pastor, the Lord had continually placed this call in Jun’s heart. In the year 2000, he left his job and began studying full-time at APNTS with a goal to prepare for pastoral ministry. His friends would tease him that it took 20 years to finish his degree by taking a subject or two each semester; but to Rev. Jun, it is a testimony of God’s faithfulness in his life.

Rev. Jun Suyat is from the Philippines. He previously served in the Philippine Field Office as well as Luzon Nazarene Bible College (currently known as Philippine Nazarene College), and was an elder on the Metro Manila District before he moved to serve on the Northern California District in the U.S. He is currently the Senior Pastor at the Poulsbo Connection Point (Ugnayan) Church of the Nazarene in Washington State. Poulsbo Connection Point is an interesting multi-cultural congregation in the Kitsap area (60% Filipino; 39% Anglo-American; 2% other Asian) that started in May 2016. It is an established church with 75 active members and an average attendance of 45 adults every Sunday.

Rev. Jun believes that APNTS is an educational hub that produces leaders for the church. He states, “I came from APNTS and their courses are relevant to the different world areas that are helping me now in the context I am in. What I wish to see for the future is that the seminary would offer more courses regarding multi-cultural congregations. APNTS can also help people like us by providing opportunities for continuous studies and research in serving at a ‘multi-cultural church’. Any studies pertaining to this subject is a tremendous help for us to lead in church growth.”

Rev. Jun requests prayer from the APNTS community for the following challenges:
1. The need to integrate well – since we are of different cultures, we need to break cultural barriers.
2. The need for strong leaders – we need to embark on a discipleship course to produce new leaders to start small groups.
3. Finances – this area is a challenge but God has been faithful in supporting the church.:
According to Rev. Jun, their mission is to connect different cultures for Christ, believing that this is the movement of the Lord.

Contributor: Janary Suyat-Godoy