Urban Report

Testimony

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), Honorable Ben Micah

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Series Code: UBR

Program Code: UBR000137A


00:01 Stay tuned to meet a man who is letting his light shine
00:03 for his people and his Government.
00:05 My name is Yvonne Lewis
00:07 and you're watching Urban Report.
00:31 Hello and welcome to Urban Report
00:34 my guest today is the Honorable Ben Micah
00:37 Minister for State Enterprises and Public Investments
00:41 in Papua New Guinea.
00:42 I met him at the 60th Annual General Conference
00:46 in San Antonio, Texas,
00:47 let's take a listen to his story.
00:49 It is my privilege to be sitting here
00:56 with the Honorable Ben Micah,
00:58 he is the Minister for Public Enterprise
01:01 and State Investments for Papua New Guinea
01:03 did I get that right? Yeah...
01:06 Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you.
01:09 May I call you Brother Ben?
01:11 May I just call you Brother Ben?
01:13 Yes, yes... yes... yes... yes... Okay, great, great...
01:14 Brother Ben, you have such an intriguing story
01:19 I just have heard just a little bit of it
01:22 but I know that our Urban Report Viewers
01:25 want to know... they're very curious people
01:28 and they love these testimonies
01:31 of people that have had strong journeys
01:34 I just want to hear about your testimony
01:37 we want to hear your testimony.
01:39 So, where were you born?
01:41 Definitely I was not born in Chicago,
01:44 or New York, I was not born in the city
01:47 yeah, I was born in a small town called Kavieng.
01:52 Where is that?
01:53 In the Province of New Island in Papua New Guinea.
01:56 So you are a native from New Guinea.
02:00 Yes, I am an indigenous Papua New Guinean
02:06 from a village called Tasitel in an island
02:12 much, much closer to
02:15 the territory of Guam... US Territory
02:18 than to the capital of
02:20 Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby,
02:21 my island is further north of Port Moresby.
02:25 I was born on the 22nd of December, 1959,
02:30 to a God-fearing Seventh-day Adventist mother
02:34 called, Moni, and my father was Micah,
02:40 Moni and Micah, and they were missionaries
02:46 for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
02:48 So, Adventism has been in New Guinea for many years
02:54 the message has been brought there
02:56 many, many years ago?
02:57 For more than a 100 years, yes.
02:59 Are there many Adventists in New Guinea?
03:01 Papua New Guinea has got more Seventh-day Adventists
03:06 than any other Country
03:07 within the South Pacific Division.
03:09 Really?
03:11 Of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
03:12 roughly about 300,000 to 400,000 members
03:18 Praise the Lord.
03:19 and another 200,000 backsliders.
03:21 Wow! praise the Lord that the message has gotten there
03:25 and that there are a lot of Adventists there
03:27 that's a blessing. Yes.
03:30 Tell us about yourself,
03:31 you grew up in a God-fearing home
03:33 I was an Adventist in my mother's womb.
03:38 okay, all right, all right, and so,
03:42 did you go to Adventist Schools?
03:45 Of course, I started from Kindergarten
03:50 and Primary and Sabbath School and I went from Grade one
03:59 in Seventh-day Adventist Primary Schools
04:03 to High School and to College at Fulton College in Fiji.
04:09 Wow! and so you went from Adventist Elementary Schools
04:14 to High School to College... Yes.
04:16 did you ever go to a Secular Institution?
04:19 Did you go to a State School or...
04:23 Yes... I taught for one year
04:26 because I went to train as a teacher
04:29 at Fulton College, and then after that
04:31 I decided to change career,
04:36 so I went to the University of Technology,
04:40 a State University in Papua New Guinea
04:43 and took up a degree in Accountancy
04:48 but unfortunately or fortunately
04:52 whichever way...
04:54 I look at the way I have traveled
04:56 unfortunately, because I never really practiced accounting,
05:03 because while I was still at the University,
05:06 I became involved in Student Politics
05:11 and I became General Secretary
05:15 of the National Union of Students in 1985,
05:19 in 1986, I became President of the National Union of Students
05:24 which is a National Student Organization
05:27 for the whole Country,
05:29 and then in 1987, I became a member of the
05:33 International Union of Students Executive
05:37 representing Asia and the Pacific.
05:39 So that was the beginning of your political journey
05:42 in College. Yes.
05:44 Yes, so, I've been in politics now for most of my life
05:48 without a Political degree.
05:50 Wow! wow...
05:53 I went to University to study to be an Accountant,
05:56 I did not work as an Accountant only for two years
05:59 the rest of my life has been in politics.
06:01 Isn't that amazing,
06:02 so, what did you find was the difference
06:06 between Adventist Schools and the State School,
06:09 did you find that there was a big difference
06:13 in the education, in the educational experience
06:16 between the two?
06:18 I learned a lot from the Adventist Education System
06:21 for which I give credit
06:22 because I started Boarding in an Adventist Primary School
06:32 when I was ten years old, can you believe?
06:35 You started doing what?
06:36 When I was ten years old, I went into Boarding
06:39 in an Adventist Primary School away from my village.
06:42 Boarding?
06:44 Boarding School, where we live in the School,
06:46 Oh, Boarding School, yes, yes...
06:50 so I learned a lot of things how to take care of my clothes,
06:57 At ten, you were in Boarding School?
07:00 correct... yes... Wow!
07:02 and all the way up to College, and I think, you know,
07:06 we had Work Parades at the school
07:09 where we worked, when I went to High School,
07:11 for four years, at Kambubu High School
07:13 we had a farm and so, for the four years I was there,
07:19 I worked on the farm, I worked in the poultry,
07:22 I worked as a janitor, I also worked in the gardens
07:31 cleaning up flowers and
07:35 doing beautification and things like that,
07:38 and then when I went on to College in Fulton,
07:41 I also worked on the farm, I learned how to milk cows,
07:46 I learned how to ride a horse,
07:47 and I worked in the Fruit Department,
07:52 on pineapples and oranges and so I learned a lot of things
07:58 hands on... once I was learning things economically
08:02 in the classroom. Yes.
08:03 So I credit the Seventh-day Adventist System
08:06 because I think that education system
08:08 still continues in a lot of our schools,
08:10 Yes. and it teaches holistic
08:13 approach to training to a lot of kids
08:18 much more than State Schools,
08:20 where the Government pays for everything
08:23 and they only sit in a classroom to learn
08:25 so, I...
08:27 I must credit the
08:29 Adventist Education System for, let's say,
08:34 preparing me for a lot of the things
08:37 in my leadership to this day.
08:38 Yes, while we were talking, I was thinking
08:42 about what you were saying
08:46 because one of the things that we know about education,
08:50 is it's not just about academics
08:52 it's about developing character,
08:55 it's about developing a work ethic
08:57 and so what was happening with you was
09:00 in addition to the academics, you were learning a work ethic
09:05 you were working in the garden with the cows
09:08 and, I mean, as a janitor and all of these different things
09:11 developing character. Yes.
09:13 One of the things that...
09:15 there's an author that I interviewed once,
09:17 and he wrote a book about how children succeed,
09:21 and the most successful children
09:24 are the children who have developed their characters
09:28 in addition to the academics
09:31 and that is what it seems that happened to you.
09:35 You developed character and your academics.
09:39 Yes, you know, the Minister for Finance
09:42 of Papua New Guinea,
09:44 the man responsible for looking out for the money of our Country
09:48 also went to Adventist School, he's from a missionary family
09:53 The Honorable James Marape,
09:55 I believe he will be here next weekend,
09:57 he will be interviewed also,
09:58 the Minister for Communication, The Honorable Jim Miringtoro,
10:02 we went to the same High School,
10:04 he's a Minister for Communication
10:06 of the Government of Papua New Guinea,
10:09 we have the Minister for Environment,
10:11 the Minister for Lands, the Minister for Education,
10:15 all Seventh-day Adventists.
10:16 They're all Adventists, They're all Adventists...
10:18 and they all went through the same System
10:20 the Director for Customs, Mr. Kowuropa
10:22 who is also here at the session,
10:24 the Deputy Chief Justice whom you met
10:26 is Seventh-day Adventist,
10:28 the Director of the Internal Revenue Commission
10:30 Ms. Betty Palaso also went through the
10:33 Seventh-day Adventist School System
10:35 so there you are,
10:36 the Country of Papua New Guinea
10:38 is benefitting a lot
10:41 from people
10:42 who have gone through the
10:45 Seventh-day Adventist Education System...
10:46 Yes, yes, amen, amen, so, you went through this System
10:51 you were an Adventist, you went to the State School,
10:56 what happened when you went there
10:57 in terms of spirituality?
10:59 The State University was completely different.
11:02 How so?
11:03 There's really no control,
11:05 here, I was coming from a managed, controlled,
11:08 coordinated environment from education school
11:11 and then I was just like... thrown into the deep end
11:14 where so many things were thrown at me
11:17 especially, I learned to associate with people
11:20 my roommate smoked,
11:23 he drank alcohol,
11:25 my roommate at Fulton College was just like me
11:28 we got up in the morning and had devotion
11:31 and it's a different environment.
11:34 Fulton College was an Adventist School?
11:36 Yeah, but in the State University it's different,
11:37 they put you in a room with somebody completely different.
11:40 Right...
11:42 You see, then, you've got access to everything there
11:47 so, you just now...
11:49 have to swim,
11:52 spiritually you've got to survive
11:55 in the kind of environment with so many new things
11:59 being thrown into your face,
12:02 and so, we begin to also learn about new things
12:09 and associate with professors who are telling us new ideas
12:13 you know, political, philosophical,
12:15 and all kinds of new concepts
12:19 are beginning to come into my head
12:22 and then also the power,
12:23 of standing in front of a microphone
12:25 and speaking so that students can go on strike
12:28 or they can go on a protest,
12:30 and then you see the impact of the power of your speech
12:35 influencing people, telling them to do things,
12:39 you know, face the police and then...
12:44 and so power gets a bit into your head
12:48 and then my time is now divided between
12:52 the things that I learned from my parents,
12:56 from the Adventist School, I hardly prayed anymore,
12:59 I hardly studied the Bible, I was now more into politics
13:06 I was more into discussions on...
13:09 and then I started traveling around the world
13:12 when I became involved with
13:14 the International Union of Students,
13:15 I traveled to... mostly to Eastern Europe,
13:18 the International Union of Students during the '80s
13:21 was mostly financed by the Soviet Union
13:26 and so, I mostly did my travels to Russia
13:31 and the Headquarters of the Organization was in Prague,
13:35 22nd November Street, I can't forget,
13:38 in the former Czechoslovakia which is now the Czech Republic
13:45 so I spent a lot of time there
13:47 and then I began to be introduced to the ideas
13:50 of thinkers and writers like Karl Marx and Engels and Lenin
13:56 and you know what they call the Dialectic Materialism
14:00 and they then told me that,
14:03 "You're wasting your time on this religion,
14:05 God is just an old man in the sky
14:08 how can you believe in such a God
14:11 that allows so much suffering to happen in the world
14:14 so many unemployed people, the hungry people... "
14:17 and so they took me to
14:19 some of the big places in the world.
14:21 I went to Mumbai,
14:23 I went to places like Jakarta,
14:27 I went to some of the big cities in Asia, Manila,
14:30 and to go deeper into those kinds of places
14:35 where you see human beings living below the poverty line
14:37 and then you see ten people sleeping in a little room
14:41 that in America... a baby sleeps in
14:46 Yes, yes, and...
14:47 and I began to see,
14:49 "Oh, you know, this could be the reality of life"
14:54 you know...
14:55 Isn't it interesting that during the first part of your life
15:00 right, you were settled into the missionary mindset
15:06 a Biblical mindset,
15:09 but when you went into the Secular Schools,
15:13 you lost the connection
15:16 and by losing the connection,
15:18 you were able to drift into something else
15:21 because you weren't reading your Bible,
15:24 anymore, Yes.
15:25 you weren't praying... praying anymore...
15:27 so you lost your connection to God...
15:30 But I was reading the Communist Manifesto
15:33 yes, Karl Marx, you were reading Karl Marx,
15:36 you were reading all these other Lenin and Stalin and whatever...
15:39 you were reading all of this
15:41 and not reading the Bible.
15:43 In 1987, I went to Cuba and I met Fidel Castro.
15:45 How was that?
15:48 What was that like?
15:50 Well, you know, see... I idolized Fidel in my mind
15:54 and as a student, I was wearing Fidel Castro wear
15:57 and all these things at the University,
16:00 it was a mark of respect in the Student Movement
16:02 in the '80s... if Fidel was your hero.
16:07 You shake his hand...
16:08 I didn't wash my hand for one week.
16:10 Wow!
16:14 Isn't that amazing how... when you're... again...
16:17 when you're in the world,
16:18 the people of the world become your heroes.
16:21 I met Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985
16:24 in Moscow when I attended a huge
16:26 International Student Festival
16:28 and I also met
16:32 the late Kim Il Sung of North Korea when I went there
16:35 I went to places that no people from the free world used to go,
16:40 Vienna and Kiev.
16:41 And they welcomed you there. And they welcomed me there.
16:43 So now how did... wait, wait, wait
16:45 like... I can't believe how time is...
16:47 It's almost scary, because all these Heads...
16:48 these are people in the Student Movement
16:51 these are people we idolized, they were gods to us,
16:54 and I was touching them in the flesh,
16:57 and there you are... Isn't it amazing...
17:00 Yes, so, how did you come back to the Lord?
17:06 We were having this function
17:08 I was just telling you
17:09 and I was at the Travel Lodge at that time
17:17 now it's the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Papua New Guinea
17:20 it used to be the premier hotel
17:22 we organized a fundraiser,
17:25 to raise funds for somebody
17:28 and I was sort of... in charge of this Fundraiser
17:32 and I invited the Prime Minister of the Country
17:36 some leading business people, and diplomats and there we were
17:41 and in that cocktail sort of a standup cocktail party
17:47 Like a Cocktail party...
17:48 I was holding a glass of whiskey with coke
17:51 and I was drinking the thing
17:54 and then talking to the Prime Minister,
17:57 Sir Mekere Marauta at that time with some other people
18:00 and a Filipino-looking guy walks up
18:04 and excused me from the Prime Minister
18:06 and we walk over to the side and he said,
18:09 "Hey, you don't know me but I know about you
18:11 you are the most influential person
18:14 to that guy there... "
18:16 he was saying... that guy... to the Prime Minister,
18:17 "listen, the Lord has a work for you
18:21 I know that you're a Seventh-day Adventist"
18:23 Wow!
18:25 "I know that you're a Seventh-day Adventist
18:27 and God has a work for you"
18:29 It was on a Sunday afternoon and then he says,
18:30 on Monday evening,
18:33 I am inviting you for dinner to my house at the Embassy"
18:36 "Oh, you are the Philippines Ambassador,
18:40 Excellency, okay, okay, I'll be there"
18:45 and when I went to see him,
18:47 amongst other things we discussed
18:49 he was telling me, "You know, Brother Ben,
18:51 we have been having problems now for two years
18:54 trying to get a license so we can introduce
18:57 a Christian Broadcasting Television Network... "
18:59 and so, that was it, that was my introduction
19:05 to 3ABN, to Ambassador Tejano who has
19:08 become a lifelong friend and brother to me,
19:11 and he's been my mentor in my spiritual life
19:15 and also to 3ABN that I continue to support
19:18 with all my heart and with all my soul
19:21 and with all my strength, Amen...
19:23 in Papua New Guinea Amen.
19:24 and my road to come back to the Lord.
19:28 It's was just an accident, unplanned, unprepared,
19:34 but you know what?
19:35 When God decides to give you a work,
19:38 Come on now Brother... you have no...
19:40 That's right...
19:41 you can't stop it, He will get you
19:44 and you have no excuse to run away.
19:47 That's right, well you know, it's funny because
19:50 I always say on this Program
19:53 that we talk about Jeremiah 29:11,
19:56 God has a plan for every life,
19:59 every life has a very important work to do for God
20:04 and so, you didn't realize it but all of your experiences
20:09 were getting you ready to do what you're doing now,
20:12 Yes. God was getting you ready
20:14 and you didn't even realize it,
20:16 you thought you had put God aside,
20:18 you had thrown Him aside but He never threw you.
20:23 So, this is the first invitation by God
20:29 through Ambassador Tejano and then later... Danny Shelton
20:34 Yes... yes...
20:35 and Moses Primo and all these lovely people
20:37 that have become my lifelong friends
20:39 Amen... and then, that was not the end,
20:42 I helped them... in one of the ways...
20:45 in my position to get the license for 3ABN
20:48 next, another invitation...
20:50 So, wait, wait, wait, now, you just went past it,
20:54 so you helped to get the license for 3ABN for New Guinea?
20:58 Yes. Praise God... and that's... wow!
21:01 you see how God... God is so good
21:04 He used you to get the word out to the millions of people
21:09 there in New Guinea.
21:10 It was very difficult, Really?
21:13 it was very difficult to get a license
21:14 Why? because, at that time, you know,
21:16 there was only one channel in Papua New Guinea
21:22 a telecommunication regimentary... what you call...
21:27 spectrum... this is the pipe that transmits
21:33 the signals... right? Yes... yes...
21:35 it's the terminology for licenses.
21:37 Spectrum, it's the space that they allow
21:40 for broadcasting channels. Okay.
21:42 Only three... one is reserved for the Government,
21:45 one is private, which a private company
21:49 called MTV already... was issued,
21:51 there was only one for churches that was left and
21:54 ten... twenty different churches had been vying for it
21:58 Wow! and the former Prime Minster,
22:01 Bill Skate, had already committed it to Benny Hinn
22:05 Benny Hinn, you know, the Evangelist who visited
22:08 Papua New Guinea... Yeah... yeah...
22:10 he had committed it to him,
22:11 but... so... it was very difficult.
22:14 Only when the Government changed,
22:17 and Sir Mekere Marauta became the Prime Minister,
22:21 he appointed me as his Chief of Staff
22:24 Oh... you see...
22:26 see, now I feel like you're "Joseph"
22:28 I feel like you are a "Joseph," in the Government,
22:32 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
22:34 Except now you're a "number one. "
22:36 Yes, I became a Civil Staff,
22:37 and later he appointed me to become Executive Chairman
22:41 of the Privatization Commission
22:43 the Commission that the Prime Minister set up,
22:46 to privatize State investments, so all the State Companies
22:49 that I am now Minister for I actually privatized them
22:53 and Corporatized them ten years ago
22:55 so I've just come back to take them to a higher level
22:58 but when I was in the position all these things happened
23:04 and it's a long story but 3ABN got the license
23:07 That's tremendous...
23:08 and has been broadcasting for how many years now
23:11 impacting the lives of many people
23:13 Amen. creating positive change
23:16 Amen. in the spiritual message,
23:19 in the health message, the exercise programs,
23:23 kids' programs, your program
23:24 Praise God...
23:26 amazing how so many people are touched
23:28 and so many people are
23:30 now being encouraged to live positive lives
23:32 because of these Programs Amen.
23:34 and I played a small part.
23:35 Well, I think you're being modest though
23:38 we praise the Lord for you Thank you.
23:40 and for people like you who have the vision
23:44 to do something great for God
23:47 because God is great.
23:49 Where do you see...
23:51 we only have about a minute or so left,
23:54 where do you see God taking your ministry...
23:57 you're doing so many different ministries,
24:00 tell us about some of the other ministries you're doing.
24:02 These days... that's why I was...
24:04 because that is the climate zone Yes.
24:06 this transformation
24:07 where they invited me again to attend a prayer breakfast
24:12 by an Evangelist called, Pastor Mark Finley.
24:16 Yes. Now, I hardly knew for 20 years
24:19 who was the President of the General Conference,
24:21 who was this... who was that...
24:23 I was completely in the dark,
24:25 I knew more about Fidel Castro and Mikhail Gorbachev
24:29 and all these other people, right?
24:30 Hmmm... hmmm...
24:32 So, they invited me to this Prayer Breakfast
24:35 and Mark Finley opened to me the Word of God
24:38 especially the story of Daniel, that story touched my life
24:42 I'm now living the kind of life that Daniel lived.
24:47 I read Daniel's story, especially of his diet, you see,
24:50 Yes... yes. the diet, water and vegetables
24:52 okay, that's the health message Yes... yes...
24:55 plus uncompromising values and principles
24:58 Godly principles in Government,
25:00 that story about Daniel from Pastor Mark Finley in 2000
25:05 transformed my life and put me on the road
25:09 to where I am today and that is the life that I live.
25:12 Praise God, we praise God for you.
25:15 Thank you so much, thank you for taking the time
25:18 to be on this Program and to share your story.
25:21 So, I got re-baptized in 2002, yes, I got re-baptized again.
25:24 Praise God, we are so thankful,
25:28 we're thankful for you, your ministry,
25:30 your service to the people of God
25:33 and for your time, coming here,
25:36 thank you so much, may God continue to bless you.
25:40 Viewers, make sure that you support...
25:43 if you hear about Brother Ben Micah anywhere
25:47 doing any kind of missionary work,
25:50 please support him.
25:51 God bless, thank you.
25:53 Oh! it's so great to see people
25:59 that are letting their light shine
26:01 in the work place in their personal lives,
26:04 we have to do that too.
26:06 You know, Matthew 5:16 says,
26:08 "Let your light so shine before men,
26:10 that they may see your good works
26:12 and glorify your father which is in heaven. "
26:15 We can all let our light shine and we all have to do that.
26:19 We want to thank you so much for coming up to us
26:25 during the General Conference Session
26:27 and letting us know how Dare to Dream
26:29 is impacting your lives.
26:31 I heard great stories about people
26:33 who are coming to Jesus through Dare to Dream,
26:36 people who are going to their local church,
26:39 and saying, "We want to get baptized
26:41 because we're watching Dare to Dream"
26:43 and those of you who are supporting us
26:45 through prayer and financial support,
26:47 we couldn't do it without you,
26:50 so you are an intrinsic part of this whole thing.
26:53 Thank you so very much for helping us
26:56 and for standing in the gap with us
26:59 and for those of you who haven't given yet,
27:01 please ask the Holy Spirit how you can help Dare to Dream,
27:05 what He would have you to do to assist us
27:08 to get the gospel out to the whole world.
27:10 Our address here if you want to send us a donation is
27:16 Dare to Dream, PO Box 220, West Frankfort, IL 62896
27:21 or you can call, 618-627-4651
27:28 that's 618-627-4651 or 3abn. org
27:34 or D2Dnetwork. TV
27:38 There are a whole bunch of ways to reach us
27:42 but pick one and again, pray about it and ask the Lord
27:46 how He would have you to help us.
27:48 Thank you so much for tuning in
27:51 and we so appreciate you, we love you,
27:54 and we ask that you just continue to watch.
27:56 Join us next time because you know what?
28:00 It just wouldn't be the same without you.


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Revised 2015-11-23