On the last day of 2010, I heard a news that one of the greatest man I've ever known has passed away. He's no celebrity nor someone with special ability. He's just an old man whose love of God still amazed me even today. No one who read this entry would know of him except for those who also attend my local church; and that's only if you've been part of the congregation at least since 5 years ago. And that man's name is PAK WITO.
Pak Wito is a face that I could remember ever since I have recollection of my attending church back in Sunday School. At that time, I remembered him as an old man who lived in church and cleaned up and practically took care of the day to day operational.
Years went by, I started to get involved in Teen Ministry. And I remembered him as someone who kept yelling at us when he thought that we were too noisy. His sour face was an eyesore to us teenagers who would shut our mouth when he passed by and complained behind his back. We didn't know that for him, our noise would disrupt people who wanted to pray.
I grew up and entered the Youth Ministry. Young and full of passion in serving the Lord, we created an event from time to time. Many times, leaving the church dirty after an event with the excuse of being tired; we said that Pak Wito was just too fussy for scolding us. Until one day I came early the day after an event and saw him cleaning our big church by himself! He didn't even ask for help, he just worked silently and diligently, making sure that each centimeter of the floor was shiny. We didn't know that for him it's not just a church. It's the place where God dwells. It's HIS house. And it's our responsibility to keep it clean.
As I got older, he got weaker. He always had a frail and thin body, but it didn't stop him from attending all 3 services on Sunday and cleaning up in between. He knew each of the congregation member, he saw most of us growing up from babies to young people. He's proud when one of us became a father or a mother. And it must've hurt him too when some people left for silly reasons. Our pastor made him returned to his village when he got TBC. He had been asked to retire but he always refused. Saying that serving the Lord was his only reason to live. But one day... he really left.
After that he returned a couple of times when our church was in trouble and in need of people to take care of. He was much weaker and starting to lose his sight, but he told me that he couldn't stop thinking about the church. No matter how weak he was, he felt home when he's there.
Pak Wito had an unshakable faith. Even in his sickness he still believed that he worshiped a living God. That God had a plan for him and each of us. Whoever stayed the night in church would know this fact: every single day Pak Wito would wake everyone up at 5am to pray at the 2nd Floor. And even if he had to do it alone, he would. He didn't care if we're sleeping on the other side of the room, but once the clock strike 5, we would hear him pray by himself. Once he finished he wouldn't return to bed, instead he would start cleaning.
Pak Wito had an unconditional love for God. GOD would always comes first. No matter how tired he was, he wouldn't miss a single service on Sunday. And we had three -- 7am, 9.30am, and 6pm. I once asked him to rest when I saw that he's too exhausted in between service. He said that God would make him strong, he had no reason to miss a service just because he felt a little weak. It was his love of God that gave him strength to serve through our church for a couple of decades.
I heard that he died one day after Christmas, 26 December 2010. I knew that God love him so much, HE gave him a chance to celebrate HIS birth before HE called him home to be with HIM. One thing that I regret was that I never "really knew" him that well, despite knowing him for more that 2/3 part of my life. I didn't know at what age did he die or the exact way God had called him.
And one thing that I learned from him, that he had no regrets in his life. He had lived it to the fullest for God and God only. He never cared of what people would think of him, he only cared of how to give his best to his Lord. And I hope that that's the kind of life that I could also live. Pak Wito will always be missed and I hope that we also long to be faithful and honest in our ministry like he did.
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
PHILLIPIANS 3 :7-14, NKJV
