To my brother, Romin

Greetings to you through this letter. I am doing fine here. My friends and I has a simple Easter celebration this year with Mr. Martin’s family.

Remember Romin; You too need to learn to live frugally. You must be thankful that you can enjoy this life as all the people on earth including those living in Jakarta find it hard to make a living. Romin, your life in the seminary has only been for 4 years, so do not always enjoy your life in seminary where everything is provided to you. You have to think of your future.

Dream of your ambition and then do something about it. Do not say that your ambition is to be a pastor. This is because if your ambition is just like that, you will definitely not be able to help a lot of people; You will only be tasked to be at parishes and you will make a living out of the donation/ goodwill received from the church. Also, your salary will be determined and measured hence you will not be able to help a lot of people.

It is okay if you become a pastor, but do not be a normal pastor. You have to be a pastor that has his own school, a hostel. You also have to learn how to be a leader. That is the challenge I am giving you.

A leader is not afraid to face challenges. Just take the challenge as a great opportunity to be successful. Do not wait until you graduate. Starting from now, you have to learn how to be a leader in seminary from the simple methods such as learning how to have a team discussion, leading flag raising ceremony, leading activities etc. Do not waste your time by having fun because time is money. You may not feel it, but being in Jakarta makes me feel that every activity is dictated by time.

Romin, from the first time I arrived here, I met friends from several cities such as Maumere, Ende, Manggarai, Sumba, Bajawa, Malang, Jogja, Purwokerto, Pontianak, Jakarta, Palembang, Nias and Papua.

We studied in the hostel which we lived in. We started school at 2pm. Early in the morning, we did our own tasks/ business which are: working part-time in companies, washing cars, selling fertiliser and flowers, making recycled handicraft, selling phone credit, selling air tickets, hotel tickets and making cakes and then going around the neighbourhood to sell them.

Through a very difficult battle, I was the only person who did not take any of the gardening money and I never smoked. The challenge to resist the temptation was successful. Since then, the chairman of the orphanage believed in me.

My struggle thus far is not in vain. I am very thankful to God. I was entrusted tasks such as selling fertiliser and flowers, making handicraft from trash and using the motorbike to go grocery shopping in the market.

At the start of January, I painted the hostel that we lived in. I was the leader because my friends did not know how to paint and I taught them until all of them could paint.

My message to you: When you do something, do it with all your heart, honesty, hardwork, help people who are in need, do good things and always try to attempt new activities and do not be lazy and take naps.

That is the necessary characteristics of a successful person who not only learn through theory but through field practice.

“Life is determined by yourself, not other people. So move forward and never give up even though there are many challenges that you must face. Everything takes time and God will definitely help you but you have to try first. God will only give you strength and the best path to take.”

I wish you all the best!

Roman