Undeniably at Work
17 Mar 2021
The hand of God touching and working through our neighbours in SE Asia is far beyond what we ever imagined.
I often talk about how living the Christian life is like being at a football game as both a player and spectator. We are players under the coaching prowess of the Holy Spirit but so often it feels like we are simply standing on the sidelines watching and cheering as God does His thing. It is a privilege to watch the Kingdom of God break through the darkness and restore the broken. And in the middle of it all, God is using people who simply did not fit into my strategy, even people who are yet to call Him Lord.
My business partner (*Mr Dan) has grown so much in his faith over the last 5 years as we have worked together integrating business and faith in very tangible, confronting and uncomfortable ways. Earlier, the thought of talking about his faith in the workplace, especially with clients or the public, was not thought possible. Now, he takes opportunities to share about his faith in client business meetings and with those we interact with in the community. His heart for his neighbours continues to grow and his love for them deepens through Christ. His wife is becoming even bolder as we live “life on life” with them in this difficult area.
We believe part of this world being reconciled to the Father includes what we do day in and day out. For us, this is a business that allows interaction from village leaders through to federal government influencers. Early on, Mr Dan and I decided we would take a stand on corruption because of our faith and the intrinsic damage it does to government and communities. I was told at this time that there had never been a contract awarded without a 20% bribe. It took four years of relationship building. Last year, we were invited to enter an official tender process (still corrupt in our area). After some very confrontational conversations with high-level government officials, we were awarded the contract and never paid a bribe. The entire time our spoken reason was because we are made in God’s image and Jesus loves us all, regardless of position and if we redirect project funds for personal gain over community benefit, we see that as stealing before God and Christ. This is having a huge impact in our broader community. We are beginning to find others who want to operate this way but have never been able to. We are giving a voice and hope to government officials who want to do the right thing but are fighting the system. The blessings also flow to the communities that will have an additional 20% of funding going into projects now. This has all been founded on our outspoken faith in Christ.
We have also seen the impact of the gospel as we build our business and non-profit on clear biblical principles. Most of our staff are Christians and twice a month, we lead a Bible study with all our staff as part of our weekly business meeting. It is framed around character development and we are currently studying the parables of Christ. It is amazing to be able to come back to Scripture, read it aloud together in the workplace, talk about our journeys with the Lord and how we can apply these learnings both personally and corporately. This is not only impacting our wider community in the work we are doing as we share Christ-centred truths in our public training seminars – taught mostly by our Christian staff – but we are seeing staff members walking closer and closer to Christ while they wrestle with their own doubts.
The dynamic here is unlike anything I have experienced before. Each morning we wake up wondering what we will see today as the spiritual battle for souls carries on in our land. While we live, work and minister in a country that can be described as dark and closed to the gospel, we can clearly see God at work in people’s lives.
– A & B, Pioneers workers serving in SE Asia.
*Name changed for privacy
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