My name is August Berita. I am from PNG and this is my 2nd year of studying for the MST degree at APNTS. My biological parents are retired pastors who spent most of their lives pastoring in remote mountainous villages in the jungles of PNG. My family was very poor and my parents could not afford to send me to school. By God’s grace, I was adopted by my aunt who took me to live with her and her husband in an island town many miles away from my village. There I lived most of my childhood life.
I think my first call to ministry began at the age of nine in a dream at night. I heard someone calling me from the top of the roof of the house we were living in, to follow him. I did not know the dream was similar to Samuel’s dream in the Bible until a few years later when I started reading the Bible.
From the beginning I had to struggle in life. I didn’t enjoy the privileges that most teenagers had. I was a victim of physical abuse for more than ten years. I learned to work hard to provide for myself and others at a very early age. I almost drowned in a flooded river, and nearly got washed away by huge waves in the open sea during a sea voyage. I was a victim of a volcanic eruption that destroyed everything including my hope of a future education. I was involved in several serious car accidents that nearly took my life. I nearly got suspended from school for stealing, and I was an alcoholic. After going through all the struggles, I had no hope so I sacrificed my life to Satan. I was heading towards becoming a sorcerer when God miraculously intervened and saved my life.
God took me out of the place I was living and a year later I found myself in the Bible College studying to become a pastor. Life after Bible College as a young pastor was also an uphill climb. I received betrayal, open rebukes, denial, and many other ill treatments from fellow pastors. But through all of these God was faithfully working in me to refine my faith and my character. Since then, God has opened many doors for ministry and education as well.
I wanted to come to APNTS in 2006; two years after I graduated from the Nazarene Bible College. I tried every way possible but my request wasn’t granted. However, after 7 years, God made it possible for my Church leaders to send me for studies. My plan after graduation is to go back to my country and help coordinate ministerial training for pastors and lay people; to turn disciples into apostles and followers into leaders. However, if the Church does not give me an opportunity for ministry, I see opportunities for ministry everywhere. I am today a living testimony of God’s love and compassion. I came from nothing so I have nothing to boast of, only the power of God’s love. The world put me in a trash bin but God used the Church to purge me out. For that reason, I have decided to serve God through the Church. To God be the glory.
