Man told he would die in minute ordained as Wesleyan pastor in Auckland

A Tongan man whose doctors told him to summon his family to North Shore hospital  because he was going to die was recently ordained as a pastor for the Wesleyan Church in Auckland.

Rev Sione Tuʻungafasi was ordained as a Minister during the Connexian015 programme at East City Wesleyan Church in Auckland on November 7.

He serves at the Wesleyan Community in West Auckland.

He told the congregation at his ordination that he grew up in Tonga in a family in which church attendance was compulsory.

When he arrived in New Zealand in the late 1980s he began to stop going to church until he lost interest in religion and quit going to church completely.

Sione Tuungafasi

In 2001, after returning from work he felt extremely ill. His wife ʻOfa helped him, but he felt he could not withstand the pain.

After his wife called an ambulance, Tuʻungafasi was taken to North Shore hospital.

The next morning his doctors told him he had suffered a stroke.

The doctors said they did not know why Tuʻungafasi was still alive as patients who had suffered such a severe stroke normally did not survive.

He said despite his doctors’ best efforts his condition deteriorated and his circulation began to fail, so he was put on a ventilator.

Sione Tuungafais 1

Rev. Tuʻungafasi said he continued begging God to give him another chance.

His late brother Sefilī stood crying in front of the bed and he uttered what he thought were his last words to him, asking him to strike his head.

“Sefilī did it and I had some sort of comfort,” Rev. Tuʻungafasi said.

He said the ventilator kept working until he recovered.

Rev. Tuʻungafasi told the congregation he survived and recovered. To much applause he told his congregation that on the way home from hospital he promised God he would work for him until he died.

“But how could I work for him?” he asked.

Sione Tu'ungafasi 4

Not long afterwards, while listening to his car radio, he heard an advertisement for the  New Zealand’s Christian Bible College, which trains ministers.

He completed his studies with a qualification in Bible studies and theology.

Rev. Tu’ungafasi lives in Glen Eden with his wife ‘Ofa and daughter Amelia and son Paula.

He comes from Kanokupolu in Tongatapu, Tonga.

The main points

  • A Tongan man whose doctors told him to summon his family to North Shore hospital because he was going to die was recently ordained as a pastor for the Wesleyan Church in Auckland.
  • Rev Sione Tuʻungafasi was ordained as a Minister during the Connexian015 programme at East City Wesleyan Church in Auckland on November 7.
  • He serves at the Wesleyan Community in West Auckland and lives in Mt Eden with his family.
  • Tuʻungafasi originally comes from Kanokupolu in Tongatapu.

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