HeartCry is deeply appreciative to Paul Snider for the spiritual and physical care they provide to the people of Papua, Indonesia.
This is Wetinus, one of our most faithful evangelists. His gift seems to be helping people. And liking it!
He always makes sure he is there in the midst of the work, so that he can be of assistance. He does this so well and so often that several others (including several unfaithful men who have come as evangelists in the name of the church, but who are truly a shame to the name of Christ) have actually mocked him!
What do these evil men call Wetinus?
They call him “Gerobak” (Wheelbarrow). Wetinus…the human wheelbarrow.
One day as he labored under the hot sun carrying supplies for the school, several men (whose kids also attend that school that Wetinus was helping) called out to him in a mocking way, “Hey…Wheelbarrow!”
“Hey wheelbarrow!” they sneered, and then they laughed as Wetinus sweated and labored by them under his heavy load.
I was furious when I heard this news. But Wetinus came and calmed me. He reported to me that, of all the names that he could be called, it does not bother him at all to be called by that name, “wheelbarrow.” He is honored always to be of help to others. Instead of a mocking teasing name, he took this mocking title, instead, as an honorific. “I am happy that they see me and think of me as a wheelbarrow! Because I want to help!” and again he said, “I’ll be God’s wheelbarrow if God wants me to be!”And finally he stated, “Jesus came to earth to be a servant…we should also be servants! We are not better than Him!”
And with that, Wetinus labored on!
In this picture Wetinus is helping haul supplies hours and hours through thick jungle to finish our region-wide immunizations. He is carrying these supplies so that the female government nurses do not have to do so. EVERY Northern Korowai village was reached in this immunization effort and Wetinus was key to the completion.
Many thanks to the Human Wheelbarrow for his tireless service in the name of Christ. God sees it, and smiles at a heart such as his.
“God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.”
Hebrews 6:10
was written for folks like you, brother!
Still grieving the loss of another “Wheelbarrow” of God: One other man in the past who was also just like Wetinus was Melenus Kogoya, and I must mention his name at least briefly here and even writing it nearly brings tears to my eyes. Melenus could not read or write, and had no formal education. But he came to Danowage and told me that he could hike and work, and insisted on carrying my supplies on EVERY medical trek we did, once for 7 days with me to 4 distant villages. He even protested and yanked my heavy backpack away from me one time when I tried to carry it even once. “God has given me an opportunity to bless the people here by carrying your bag…don’t take that opportunity away from me! You need to have energy for treating the sick once we arrive in the villages…it is better that I am the tired one!”Melenus has since died and nobody may remember his name, for he had no education and held no formal position even within the church. But I will do my best not to let his name be forgotten.
And on the Day of Judgment I believe many of these men such as Wetinus and Melenus – these Human Wheelbarrows – will enter into glory ahead of many of the most famous and well-paid preachers in the West. Then they shall finally receive the reward they so richly deserve. They carried backpacks and medicine, and even sick-people on their shoulders for hours here on earth. In heaven they shall carry crowns!
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”
“…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…”
Timothy began working for HeartCry in 2015 and assists with the work in Asia. He is married, has eight children, two sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren.
More By Timothy Jotham
