Serving God behind the scenes

FAITH

By Rev SEIK PITOI
THERE are many churches today across PNG.
In certain provinces, one finds churches built close to one another. On every street corner, a church can be seen.
They represent many different denominations. Some churches are huge and built majestically; others just have a roof over them and the parishioners sit on the ground. It seems there is a church for every man and his dog, as they say!
In my village in Central, we have a myriad of churches with the main denominational church, which arrived on our shores in 1876, split in two!
But this article is not about churches. It is not about the many great pastors who have been used by God to spread His Word of Life, nor is it about the elaborate buildings and manicured lawns that some are known to have. Rather, this article will focus on one particular local church worker, one of the many ‘unsung heroes and heroines’ who prepare those places of worship for us to enjoy.
The Rev Sione Kami Memorial Church (RSKMC) is quite a large church by PNG standards. It used to run two services on Sundays and has recently gone back to just one service. It has a regular attendance of over 2,000 people with the overflow sitting on the embankment outside and in the foyer.
There is an army of volunteers on Sundays who set chairs outside for people to sit on, and others who hand out newsletters, meet and greet the visitors and usher them to their seats. But after the service is over and the volunteers go home, the workers of the church have a huge task to ensure the place is neat and tidy, ready again for the next programme.
One of the hardworking groundsmen with the church is Jerry Manu.
Jerry begins his day typically at around 4am by preparing his tools for the day’s work. He begins by working around the flower beds and along the parameter of the church.
Soon, the lawnmower comes to life, rupturing the dawn as he begins to mow the lawn in various sectors of the large church grounds.
When the sun comes up, Jerry takes a shower and has breakfast, and gets ready for the morning devotion from 8 to 9am, led by their administration staff. After fellowship, he and his team of workers continue throughout the day until knock off time in the afternoon. Jerry, however, finishes off his day at about 7pm when he is satisfied that all the duties planned for the day have been taken care of.
Seeing Jerry work energetically around the church yard every day may mislead some into thinking he is somewhere in his 40s, as many of his colleagues would be. But Jerry was born on Nov 24, 1960, making him 60 years old by the end of this year!

He is the eldest of six children and is a bachelor.
“All my brothers and sisters married and have children. I gave myself to serve God all my life and have chosen to remain single, adopting a missionary lifestyle,” he said.
Jerry’s father is from Gamoga Village in the Rigo area while his mother hails from Kala’apa in the Aroma area of Abau, both in Central. He is fluent in Aroma and Baravaia (Rigo) languages, apart from English, Motu and Tok Pisin.
Jerry began his education at the Kemabolo Primary School in Rigo doing grades one to three, then moved to Gavuone Primary in Marshall Lagoon where he completed his sixth grade.
But he did not make it to high school after that. “My family was involved in a serious land dispute which greatly affected my chances to move to high school. So I left the school and got involved with the youth ministry, while I did COES (College of External Studies) to attain my grades seven to 10 certificates,” he explained.
Jerry was accepted to work with the National Youth Counsel. Through the support of senior officers like the late Doga Kila, Robbie Duri, Tabu Vaira and Lydia Mulina, he was sent to University of Technology in Lae to attend a six-month youth coordinators course.
“Upon my return, I was appointed Abau District youth coordinator, a position I held for 27 years. This makes me one of the longest serving youth coordinators in the country.
“I worked with the church youth leaders, assisting them in setting programmes for sports competitions, youth camps, and leadership courses,”he said.
“I enjoyed my time in serving the young people in the churches in my mother’s area.”
However, it was time to return to his father’s village.
“I left Gamoga in 1973 and returned in 2005 – a period of 32 years. My mother died in 1989 and my dad was still living when I returned. He passed away in 2015.
“I started attending service at RSKMC in 2006 and began to help out with Sunday school teaching and religious instruction (RI) in schools. I then joined the staff of the church when I was asked to do general cleaning around the yard. After some time, I was appointed groundsman. I enjoy serving the Lord by cleaning the house of worship at RSKMC,” he said.
The highlight of his time at RSKMC was in 2007 when he was part of the exchange programme between RSKMC youth and Tongan youth in New Zealand.
They were hosted by the Manukau Parish of the Methodist Church in Auckland and were treated to a fantastic time of cultural exchange and evangelistic ministry. Jerry, who was unable to raise the total amount required on his own, was helped by the fundraising efforts of the church for the group travel.
“I am grateful to God for the help the church leaders gave to raise funds, otherwise, I would not have travelled to New Zealand,” he said.
As a former pastor at that church, I have witnessed how hardworking Jerry is. He may not have any high academic qualification but the God who calls and qualifies, regardless of our upbringing or family background, has His hand on this humble servant.
Jerry does not take part in the politics of the church. He is obedient and is quick to carry out instructions from his superiors. I also noticed that he is slightly hard of hearing and that can be misunderstood as him being discourteous. If he does not respond, it’s because he didn’t hear his name being called (maybe, by being too close to the lawnmower too often!)
I recently asked Jerry what he thought about the many young people who have dropped out of school, causing trouble all over the place. ‘
He said: “Education is good; people must do their best and get their degrees or other qualifications, but the best qualification is to know Jesus Christ. Even if you fail or haven’t done well in school, you are not a failure to God. God has a plan for your life.”
He also added, “The Bible is our university. If you want wisdom, look in the Bible. My bit of advice to young people is to put God first. When we do that, God will deal with our problems and worries. God will never let us down.
“My favourite verse that helps me keep on serving God is John 15: 13 – “Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus laid His life down for us; let us lay our lives down for each other as we serve God together!”
People know of the big powerful pastors and reverends whose names are associated with the churches they pastor. They look good and are admired by their flock. But there are some small people behind the scenes who make their leaders look good.
These are the selfless humble men and women in our great churches cutting grass, cleaning toilets and keeping the flowers beds looking beautiful.
Jerry may not be a prolific preacher thundering the gospel from the pulpit every Sunday, but he and his fellow church cleaners are just as important to God. Truly, they are a blessing to our congregations!

• Rev Seik Pitoi is a freelance writer.