Bernita Preston

Bernita Charline (Skelton) Preston, 96, of Topeka Kansas passed away Friday, March 29, 2024 in Sarasota, FL where she was being cared for by her two daughters Candy Preston and Tosha Godbold. She was born October 2, 1927, about 12 minutes before her identical twin sister Juanita. She was born East of Hutchinson but was raised on a farm near Nickerson, Kansas, the daughter of Charles and Mary (Johnson) Skelton.

After graduating from Nickerson High School in 1945 she went 2 years to Kansas State where she put her faith in Jesus Christ as her savior and became fervent in zeal to tell others of the Gospel of Christ. She traveled with a number of fellow students to Toronto Canada to the first Inter-varsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) missions conference in North America which became the Urbana Missions Conference.

Sometime during the fall of 1947 she met the charming Charles Preston from Burdett, Kansas. They were married September 7, 1948

Charles and Bernita were missionaries in Netherlands New Guinea (today called Papua, Indonesia) to an incredible jungle tribe called the Asmat. Bernita's accomplishments included, raising 6 children, teaching years of Sunday School to the local children, and teaching women the Bible. She finally graduated from Luther Rice Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia with a Bachelor's Degree in Ministry in 1985. She also worked in the jungles of the south coast of New Guinea transposing a translation of the Bible from one dialect to another. She and her husband also served as dorm parents to many missionary kids at a boarding school on the north coast. Charles and Bernita served from 1954 to 1995 before retiring from overseas mission work. They settled in Topeka, Kansas and helped in the beginning of a church plant that now is known as Fellowship Bible Church of Topeka where they faithfully attended. She and her husband were also dedicated to weekly prison ministry in Topeka.

Survivors include her children, Craig Preston (Shirley), Candace Preston, Brent Preston (Nicole), Curtis Preston (Patty) and Tosha Godbold, 17 Grandchildren, 18 Great Grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Charles, daughter Janda Campbell, twin sister, Juanita Winsor, and Grandchild Emanuel Godbold.

Burial service will take place at West Lawn Memorial Gardens in Topeka at 9:15 AM, followed by a memorial service at 11:00 AM on Saturday, April 27, 2024 at Fellowship Bible Church, 6800 SW 10th Ave, Topeka, KS 66615. The family will greet friends thirty minutes prior to the service. A light lunch will follow.

For the memorial gifts in Lieu of flowers, we have decided upon "The Jesus film in the Asmat language".

To donate, copy and paste the below url into your web browser:

jesusfilm.org/memorials

and click on the "secure online giving" link. (Choice Number 1) Choose Other in the Designation; Write Bernita Preston's memorial project in the Comment area or

Call (800) 918-9929 to give to Bernita Preston's memorial project or

Mail to:
Jesus Film Project
MEMORIALS
27631 La Paz Rd., Suite A
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

Make check payable to JESUS Film
Put a note that this is for Bernita Preston's Memorial Project

All funds received will go toward the JESUS Film in Asmat. Total needed is $42,000.

To leave a message for her family online, please visit the guestbook below.