No man is freed from sorrow, distress, and anguish, but God is stronger than our sorrows.
This is part of the message that Rev. Marius Kramer Tuesday at the funeral service of his colleague, Rev. Henk Calitz, 40, delivered at the Dutch Reformed Church in Carletonville.
Calitz hung himself on June 19 in a building next to the church. This building joins the church building.
His five children, including the twin boys, Drikus and Benja, 9, were crying out loud as they walked out of the church after the service while the organist played the song Amazing Grace .
The memorial service was broadcast on the church’s Facebook page and displayed on large screens in five locations in Carletonville, as only 50 people were allowed for burial in the church building, according to Covid-19 regulations.
Kramer says Calitz was a remarkable man with a bubbly disposition who cared deeply for his fellow man.
A large photo of Calitz was standing in the front of the church building between protea scrubs and red flamingos.
Kramer read from 2 Kings in the Bible and compared Calitz to the prophet Elijah.
“Like Elijah, Henk was a powerful leader, but he also had a fragile side. He sometimes felt tired and defenseless. Henk was an Elijah for many of us. ”
Kramer says Calitz was his teacher and mentor and that his relationship with the Lord was at the heart of his existence.
Photo: Facebook / Henk Calitz
He says Calitz made a difference in the state of national restriction when he was pulled over by police on April 24 at a roadblock on his way to Paris in the Free State and asked to pray.
“I don’t know if the dear Lord understood my English well, but the captain called his team together and I prayed for them,” Calitz told Netwerk24 at the time.
“He also raised money for the needy in the restriction for the needy,” says Kramer.
“He picked up a lot of people when life knocked them down.”
Tributes from as far away as Amanzimtoti on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast poured into Facebook as the church service was broadcast.
David Nel, a close friend of Calitz, told Arisa Janse van Rensburg that Calitz had to carry a lot on his shoulders.
“If a congregation has 500 people, a quarter of them come to complain every week and he couldn’t share it with others,” Nel says.
He declined to comment on whether Calitz suffered from depression.
“We all have our highs and lows.”
Hennie Calitz, Henk’s father, wiped his tears with a handkerchief when he thanked everyone who attended the church service after the funeral.
“It’s a bitter day for me. We believe he is with the Father today. ”
A tribute from Calitz’s daughters reads: “Your footsteps are quiet in the house, we long for Dad’s voice. You have taught us that life can often be cruel and that the best way to deal with it is to laugh and cherish precious moments. Daddy inspired us to make the world a better place. ”
His wife, Martie, wrote in her tribute: “We will miss you very much, Boka. (sic) ”The couple has five children.
Kramer concluded the service with the words: “May we all be double the person that Henk Calitz was.”
He read the words of the song “I have” from the singers Laurika Rauch and Bok van Blerk. “And one day when it gets quiet and I can’t feel anything anymore, I will say without a doubt, I have. I can say without a doubt Henk HAS. ”
Pupils from several schools in Carletonville formed an honor guard in the street outside the church, while motorcyclists roared the engines while driving in front of the white hearse.
Check out the memorial service here.
