Ministry in Deed

we are still ladies Club cool this is this is really uh it's always the women speaks after Jesus it's like it's like a challenge for me you know

I have uh worked with banks and [fintechs] most of my life and managed marketing and Business Development there and so really the Lord led me to uh start this new venture … I've always been um uh serving in the ministry one way or the other uh So currently uh I'm serving in the choir uh at Cornerstone

I'm actually um a trademark lawyer IP lawyer so I've been doing this for 30 years uh I'm like your doctor you know who diagnose your business

I worship at Holland Village M[ethodist] … church for quite some time I also did BSF … I'm grateful for my uh Church life group support for me uh because I have a very Rocky um career I'm always switching jobs

my company's name after my dog … when we started a company Momo was still around but Momo is a senior dog so she has passed on

I personally previously ran a marketing agency as well a boutique agency and then uh I stopped my agency due to a burnout and then I've been working freelance since

we promote TCM mental Wellness Workshop where we try to teach people step to build mental resil[ience] to not avoid burnout

I'm someone who's very passionate about the marriage of Technology business and U Finance to connect and Empower people from diverse communities to lead fulfilling lives … I opened the small business … in the Philippines … ice cream shop … it's called [Ichinichi] which means one day at a time

I got into DMVs um it's a Christian accelerator here in the Venture fund last year … there is a program called [faith-driven] entrepreneurs in the US and then nobody was really running it so I met the founder of this and then he offered me to run … our rtb is so many people came to this group and some transformed business some even become Christians

a big part of starting something new is you feel hopeless like you don't know if this is going to work out so what I do every day is I tell myself I just need to put in the effort and God will shoot his Arrow when it's the right time … I don't I don't think it's a me thing as [F022] as every day I put in the effort to do what I am supposed to do one day when the time is right something will happen

I always believe in the statement seeking first the kingdom of God and everything else will will be added unto you … I found my identity in Christ and not in the approval of men so even though when I go into um you know networking and there are other firms who probably look down on [solo] firms and I've even had people tell me we have already so many [law firms] why are you opening a small one … I am not living for man's approval I'm only living for God's approval … I felt so good I felt that God Vindicated me … six years no website … I'm just a two to three man show but I have clients luxury brand in the world comes to me … and that shows that don't limit God

even the fact that it's just ladies today also have a special purpose for this course … I'm originally mathematician and programmer so I tend to think about um world in a very probabilistic manner … but with God it's always just like doesn't make any sense in terms of [maths] right and it keep happening … my daughter was playing Monopoly with me and uh she got uh five or six times uh double six … it's me giving you opportunities … in my case he's also very obvious usually like just literally telling me because I'm a sensitive person

I was actually laid off uh from Tik Tok pretty recently so I just moved to becoming a Financial Consultant last month … the verse that I've been hold holding on to the Past 4 months has been [M024] 6[:]33 … this industry there's a lot of stigma the way that people look at you the way that people treat you … people previously would say you know oh wow you're from Tik Tok right and then now it's like … oh AIA oh you're insurance agent oh then they look at you as if you're some cockroach … sales is a service … I had a prospect where they're supposedly Christian but then they made me travel all the way for two hours to [Jurong] … all they did was just wanted to stamp on you and you know step on your dignity … if it's not good if it's not great yet then he's not done

there's so much of Miss selling right because I come from this whole Banking and wealth background … so there is a huge opportunity in that sense to to redeem that right and so we've been called to redeem … people do whatever in the name of marketing and they just want you to give like a retainer … so you know that's how we are called to be different … my husband is also in wealth management … everything that he makes he thinks will I buy that as a product how is that going to help me is that going to help my family … is the investment safe

shall we do storytelling and position ourself in a … more creative light … the flip side of it is be completely who we are and have a super strong [faith] … Tik Tok laid off you not because it's you but because they were stupid enough to hire too many people in the past

I think that we should all just be ourselves … if you look at Israelites right they were set apart … God wanted to show them that this is the way that I want you to live … God has set you apart even if the rest do not behave the way they're supposed to behave you could be the light you could be the [salt] because God has set you apart because he's called you by name … you will definitely go through hard times it's not all smooth road but that is sanctification

it's just really having that identity rooted in Christ that you can even through a difficult Valley in a season right you you can still be filled with peace filled with joy … and you need you need to surround yourself people who would edify you because the struggle is really strong and the road is sometimes lonely … even though how entrenched I am in the word of God I still go through those down Parts … it's important is to build yourself a community that would support you in that Journey

I have been a Serial um job job Los[er] … I didn't pass my probation … my subordinates just like consumed me and made me cry … I found mother care as a … like a savior job and then I worked really hard … and then my boss still think that I'm not commercially wise and he he didn't confirm my probation … I took a 20% pay [cut] to go to a catering business … 10 working days later the marketing director … she said that she's sick with full makeup on … give me like two weeks of pay and tell me to go home immediately … I kind of feel like God is trying to tell me something … I begin to like not deem her as as my enemy but like somebody who's going to help me … I cannot be in politics you know I'm going to be suffering

it really just um getting back to the root and that source of going back to God right and having um refilling your faith refilling that love and so that and we can love others because he first loved us … I think I'm Unworthy of such love … so I just want to tell you God will always provide and I believe God will provide yeah in words in ideas in anything

some of my uh colleagues were saying [FACILITATOR] don't exagerate don't need to love your customers you can just you know serve them well but I I really want to challenge myself to love them especially those that are not very nice to us … it's uh one of the most difficult Industries emotionally … you're going to be blamed for everything all the time … I choose to do right really caring … sometimes I literally see I do one good decision that is against what my [CFO] thinks then after that I going get five deals coming in like one week … then people asking [FACILITATOR] how you do it the thing is I don't do anything

I do family photos … I think being Asian sometimes they don't hug as well so I really like make them hug each other … let's just hahaa I know it's awkward I'll be awkward with you … I think like for me to do that more is also um being [un]afraid to show up more … cuz it's I think it's terrifying for me … when it comes to doing any kind of creative work if feels very vulnerable … my coping mechanism in my first year of business right I was so terrified … I didn't even like wake up like I would hide … God calls us to sow the seed and he will give the increase … I know how I survived like six years of business without actually doing any legit marketing … the work is a blessing I just need to be unafraid

there's a lot of marketing tricks urgency … so many things you can manipulate people right … what's important is the value of your product to the custom[er] … if you don't … actually you are not really doing a good job for God because through your product you could drive so much more value … God does need an R[O]I as well … you got a talent how you going to invest it … are you're going to just dig it in the ground

I'm very uncomfortable but marketing myself I feel like I just feel weird sometimes to to keep to keep going and asking clients … I only started networking actually last year before that I just had felt that God was providing then I realized that I have all this knowledge and experience that the locals can benefit because I've been doing this internationally

I learned how to celebrate people quitting my job into much higher salaries and much better positions than in my company … we could be just a step in … somebody's career in somebody's life … so many … people in the Bible never get to see what they were hardw workking so much for

when I was running my business in the past um my employ[ees] do not need to come to the office they only need to come in once a week … I wanted it to be like a statement because that was what I didn't have um when I was working for like I don't know 14 years … however I also burn out in this same way because I was also putting out too much of myself … I'm actually a very new Christian so my burnout happened before uh my journey with um God … I have very clear signs that I'm supposed to do a business and I'm supposed to help someone

after I started seeking and then U basically exploded and it was a very very bad Journey … an extremely painful journey in the last two years … I don't know who I was talking to because I don't know whether there was a God right so I was like okay you know what if now I have a business that calls me and then tell me they want to have like a project I'll take it and then I'll start my company … hey [[F008]] I got um $10,000 for this project … oh my God I made that bet to myself … I think the burnout was also intended … I couldn't even send an email I had social burnout from all levels … I cannot fail and that was kind of how it really went into a major um episode

when I was praying I I just you know uh I don't know God put this thought in my heart is that how will you bless your employees … God was like you know change your prayer don't think you know business-minded like okay how you're going to uh make X money and then you know on the Excel sheet you write how much can I pay them he's like no you decide and you write on the sheet what do you want … to pay them and the top part of the sheet you know how that looks the sales part he said I'm going to take care of that you change your prayer to that

I set aside time for prayer … holy spirit is my partner in this business you know I hope to have other partners … I told God I said God I will not start another business on [my own] … I put my stuff down and I just close my laptop and I say okay till you speak I will not do anything and then he speaks every time he speaks and I'm talking just work he he tells me do this do exactly this and then I do that … I'm not usually successful in the eyes of the world but I'm so much at [peace] it's ridiculous

the indicator that you are doing the right thing is you are happy … pick up your entrepreneur friend randomly from your phone book call the person and say how are you answer will be busy guaranteed then how can how can you function normally how can you love your family your employees and everyone if you answer to how are you is busy

there were times when I had … like 2.5 3 million bucks in a bank uh from investors and I was pushed to spend … then this war in Ukraine happened and killed whole business just in one day cuz all the markets were there … imagine last time I had 2 million in the bank and I was very unhappy … and now uh secret yes Among Us in every single months my Runway is way shorter than than two years ago but I'm absolutely happy because I know that next month there will be another jackpot coming out of nowhere not truly related to my sales efforts

in this community we we try to help each other as much as we could … we don't sell okay we don't sell but it's it's very fine and encouraged to help each other

It's a it's a global community of uh, entrepreneurs of Christian entrepreneurs. But you know doesn't necessarily need to be Christian. You realize that non-Christian friends are very welcome to especially those who are looking for purpose in life. And that's true. It's a lonely journey to be an entrepreneur but it doesn't need to be alone.

I don't know how I end up here. Uh actually [FACILITATOR] is uh and wife they were univers they were PhD student when I got to know them and then they went through the uh pre-marriage course that I conduct. Uh I'm a uh in the ministry. So that's how I got to know them and then the other day he came to visit me last week and then talk about what he's doing. So I said, "Wow, interesting." So they invite me to come and observe, but I end up to do something to earn your dinner. That's how we That's how we praise and worship. So anyway, uh just a short time of pray I'm new to this thing. I I was involved in alpha for many years.

Yes, Lord. We want to bless your name. Whatever we are doing, we want to pray. Oh God, especially for these brothers and sisters and friends who are in this profession of as entrepreneur. Yes, we know that this can be a lonely place, a lonely job. But Lord, we know that with you we can do all things. And I want to pray, oh God, that today's video will give them a fresh vision of what it mean to be a Christian in the marketplace. That they're not there just to make a profit, but they are there to be a blessing. And I ask Holy Spirit that you will open their hearts and mind to see this greatness of this opportunity to be a blessing in the marketplace. Thank you Lord as we sing the last song. Maybe I will just skip this song. I'll just skip this song so as to give you more time. So we commit the rest of this evening into your hands. Particularly those who are here. I want to pray for a special blessing upon them that even as they continue to do whatever they are doing, may the v video tonight strengthen them and give them a fresh understanding of why they are doing what they are doing in Jesus name. Amen.

I think in the Asian setting in Singapore, we we want to grow. We actually feel that this community can be beyond just another cell group of business people can be a place where you can return every single every single month. And we got group of friends who can share their struggles, their wins, encourage each other, pray together and eventually uh through his grace we all get a business and most importantly the right business.

Some of you may be wondering what am I doing? I'm actually a pastor. So I I offer services for free. All right. Yeah. That's the difference. I don't earn any profit and some of us supply my got a real pastor today first time in the last one and a half years that's yeah so it's independent pastor yeah not affiliated with any church in the spirit of our community yeah so now I'm focusing on what we call spiritual warfare seminar and so in fact this Saturday we have where we have teach the body of Christ anyone would like to come you know to learn about the spiritual dimension of warfare all right and uh of cost we we don't charge anything you know even though you say there's no such thing free lunch IG provide free lunches for two Saturdays so if you're interested you can always find out through uh [FACILITATOR]

my name is also [FACILITATOR] but it's spelled A L E X different from next. Yeah. So, I already like you. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so I'm here. Yeah. I'm dressed like that cuz uh my profession I'm in the finance field. I'm actually a financial consultant. So, I focus a lot on helping people retire worryf free and retire faster. Basically, uh, retirement planning. Um so um my friend [PERSON] um actually introduced this uh platform to me but uh she was not able to make it here today. Um yeah uh fun fact about myself um so um actually I attended Catholic schools for 12 years but I didn't receive Christ within that 12 years. It's only when I I was in university uh later on in life that I received Christ. And um but my first real taste of God was actually in uh City Harvest Church. Well, the spirit of God was so strong uh at City Harvest Church. The one at Jurong, not not the one here.

I'm [F001]. Uh I'm a marketing uh and uh technology entrepreneur. So I help transform brands and people through 360 strategies uh technology solutions and mindset coaching. Uh fun fact, I think all my life I think I see uh people uh reaching out to me to share Christ from young until yeah all my life. So I finally only got saved like 15 years ago and this is like uh I'm in City Harvest. So this is my the the place that we are at is my church city harvest.

Hi, I'm [M037] in between roles previously in project management IT implementation aspiring I'm an entrepreneur so that's why I'm here and uh I was introduced uh by a friend uh named Jimmy Park yeah so uh fun fact about myself um I I uh say fun fact I like to grow things right like plants I to build things um think of new ideas

my name is [M008] and uh I'm in the tech industry also. So I we help the nurses uh to set up their infrastructures on solutioning. What brought me here is because uh I felt that God want us entrepreneurs to be able to use his gospel in the way and his law treats. So I want to learn more from people who are working like that. … I was actually in city har uh back in grade [20]15 2016 so he asked me the first thing you left because of that issue actually no but there are a lot of things uh [F022] story

he asked me the first thing you left because of that issue actually no but there are a lot of things uh [F022] story

Hi, I'm [M013]. This is my third time here. I actually this is my last month. Work until end of this month. And so they will say this your last time. Yeah. Good that you didn't say that. I'm just actually working until end of this month for my company as a data analyst. So then after this one, next month maybe I'll start to become an entrepreneur to become what to do data intelligence because there are too many people doing AI. So the fun fact is that uh I used to meet up people for lunch and talk to strangers and then bring them to Christ.

Hi [F049]. Uh fun fact is I'm no longer an entrepreneur but I'm trying to be one again. Uh I'm going to be one again very soon. So soon soon. Um and the fun fact if you know me is that uh no one believe I work in the government but I do. Uh I have been for a while. I'm not a spy and before that we were in I which uh I I was in startups. I was the COO of Caro. Um, [F022] story had to get out of darkness, you know, fight against um, kind of Singapore government brought you to the light. Yeah. Uh, no, I was brought to the God kind of brought me into the government even though no one believes that I'll ever join the government cuz I'm too uncgovernmental. Uh, learned a lot and uh, try to follow God now to take a step out again to contribution.

Hi, I'm [M011]. So why I'm wearing like this? Because of tech week this week. Yes. Bas a lot of opportunities there. A lot of synergies and money work. So basically I'm in the hardware. I'm a hardware guy. Build a machines … energy technology or propulsion technology propulsion. So you know it's a bit more unique. It's a bit more, you know, interesting. But I think the fun fact about myself is that I used to be from City Har.

And welcome welcome to the call that is not affiliated with City Harvard, but welcome back to this place. Yeah. Good to be back.

Uh [M002] I am a solutions engineer by day and then I do uh IT consulting by night. So like the by day part is the day job and then the entrepreneur part is the the night job. Right. So uh fun fact I what's fun at something when I was sitting down. What was fun last night? Last night fun I slept at 1:00 a.m. and sold Ethereum when that's not bad. Looks a profit.

My name is [M018] and I am not an entrepreneur. I am working for the investment department of uh insurance company Singapore. We as a department we manage the portfolio of assets that will affect the liabilities or the policy holders um their premiums and take your payouts. Um so I have a degree in finance and I also left I took a sebatical after working in in in finance for 14 years. I I took a sebatical and I did masters in theological studies at Boston College School of Theology and Industry [Ministry]. Um so that is kind of a segue I have been trying to find an avenue for me uh to I guess work in the intersection of faith/ business as well as that is driven uh that is backed by our faith in Christ. So I know that there is a FD community here and that's why I'm here so I can see who's part of the community and some a fun fact about myself is that I am interested in sewing and I think I'm pretty good

My name is [U002] and I work for a crypto company, global web 3 company actually and um I got to know about this because I was part of the CW3 community. Yeah. And um [F007] was the one who actually invited me there and then um I've been receiving WhatsApp messages from Professor [FACILITATOR] every month about this. So, um, I was like, "Okay, you know, I'm in Singapore this month, so why don't I check it out?" Um, fun fact about myself. Um, so I would say that even though I'm in the crypto industry, I don't have a background in finance or tech. So, it's, you know, been a interesting journey of how God brought me to crypto. Um, I have been my I've been receiving my salary in crypto since 2017.

My name is also [M047]. I'm also serving my notice at my current job. Do you know do you know uh how I met uh I didn't know how I'm aware of uh FD is actually through [FACILITATOR]. [FACILITATOR] is one of my members. I call them bosses cuz I serve a community a tech community. Um it's a tech association. So I'm members of bosses, right? So [FACILITATOR] is one of them. Uh that's why I got yeah I'm aware of this. Uh so my last day is actually 15th October pretty soon next week. Uh the next thing I plan to do is actually mental health for men. Uh you know booted suicide men. Uh so the community is called real men co so quickly the idea is that people is a man up be a real man right uh but it's t toxic things like hey don't be sad don't be don't don't be weak be a real man um but the irony is people mask up because of that right pretend like everything is fine but they're not right so can we create a safe space for for men to be real and while it's going to be secular I mean the idea is like hey who who are you truly who to choose your true self, the the man, right, that God has created you to be, right? The brave, strong, whoever. Yeah. So, so that's real main core. And why I created that as a segue to my story, which [FACILITATOR] is trying to get me to do. uh because uh the number one regret of the dying right in the book written by Bonnie Wear as a palitative nurse uh called top five regrets of the dying the number one she's you know she's a nurse she takes care of the dying that's like you know lots of people cancer you know like old people so on and so forth … the number one regret is I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself not the life others expected of me is that True. Well, uh, that rang true for me when I woke up in SGH. Uh, 40 days later, the last thing I remember in Cambodia was riding on the road safe and s my rented scooter. So, it's a motor bike rent. Uh, riding on a road safe and sound my my scooter. My memory goes dark and I wake up in SGH 40 days later. What I don't remember is traffic I feel like turning green. I move my bike forwards. The SUV appears out of nowhere and touches my front wheel knocks me off my bike and he drives off. I don't remember this but I pick up my bike and I give chase. Then 60 80 really fast like the car breaks. Boom. Smashes into the back of the car. The bike explodes. I catch on fire. So you can see a little bit. See? Yeah, I can see here. Yeah, caught my third degree burns. Hey, very fun. Um, third degree burns about 30% of my body. Uh, dislocate my knees, crack my left elbow, left elbow, knock on my teeth. So, this is fake. Yeah, this is like $10,000, ladies and gentlemen. Six teeth. So, you have 50k in your mouth. You know, God give free $50,000 in your teeth, right? So, everyone got a false tonight, right? Uh but the most exciting part is when I was found not on the road they sent me to the hospital that night but when I was found 10 days after the accident in the Cambodian hospital my friend asked the doctor for my medical records doctor said sure president computer screen said [M047] limb death certificate so what's this is alive the doctor's like oh it's a mistake it's a mistake and then he deletes it so apparently it was a mistake although I don't know how the hospital can explain. It came out in the nonpen newspaper 2 weeks after my accident. The hospital was under investigation for organ harvesting. … So I woke up 40 days later. I'm like where am I doing? Like what what happened? So there's a lot more details this can cover in the 3 minutes. I will share with you visa later how I found out what happened even though I don't remember but uh all glory to god.

I do a fundraising. It's a uh it's based in the firm is based in South Korea. Yeah. My name is [M047]. Uh fun fact, I uh drove a motorcycle in national service.

Hi. Uh I'm a corporate lawyer. uh I want to sell crypto but uh there's some problem I specialize in crypto 5 years ago. Uh I was in house in two exchanges this past 5 years with a full service. So I'm like a junior just um and but my real vocation is actually a pastor. I plan to be a pastor more than 10 years. So so I do take on charity cases like boys. uh took some like two se two seminary master degrees for missions and and basically my real position if you ask me what I do I think I I my I real job as a master was just like a salary kind of thing um so I've been in FD for two to three years as a facilitator … I got into four to five almost got into four to five car accidents last two three years. So got save I think after it happened. That's a car accident role there in the back. You will know very soon why right and and uh yeah correct from the next story. So like I think you know there was the last movie was was crashed. I was there like few hours ago. So the gut feeling. So you know my church teachers who rely on the gut feeling rely on the Holy Spirit to tell you so before the the last I was actually there and also for a meeting uh and it was going well on this day and this we got to go. We got to go. I don't care. So I left

Hey pretty … means something else like a reverent kind of love that a parent has for their child have for your teacher that kind of thing. So and uh yeah I've been coming here often uh I'm very blessed with the fellowship of uh entrepreneurs here and encouraged by uh some of you I mean some of uh the people here I've taken opportunity to get to know better uh and just encourage us each other in our walks uh from from work perspective I run a small marketing agency uh to help companies

So, my name is [FACILITATOR]. I'm uh running this FDA in Singapore group. Um originally I attended the Christian accelerator called digital vision ventures which is following the practis framework. Ever heard about practis? Yeah. So actually praxis now in Singapore around the actual practis accelerator but two years back that was not the case. So I attended the digital ventures accelerator. I got the book. I learn about FDE and then I met uh [M043] Case who is a founder here conference in Singapore. He came right and he said okay why don't you kick off a group so I pray I think about it and we get off we make it very different like we make it uh always on and physical and really stick to it because that's that's how many people have blessed by this. The day job I'm uh running a company called [COMPANY]. It's uh marketing software company. So it's helping marketers to build strategy to uh create new content. We believe that visual marketing is really about content. But also it's a feature of redemptive marketing. The marketing that sells through the value something that you really need not using all those FOMO and other tactics just to manipulate you. So we're trying to build company along these lines.

How challenging it is to love your competitors or those naughty customers that making you sometimes so upset or so busy during the night, right? So I I personally challenged myself in the last conference. There was a couple of competitors um presenting just uh day before no yesterday. Was it yesterday? Yeah. Yeah. Conference I thought okay maybe I should be first. I just start start posting LinkedIn posts about my company and all the competitor's companies at the same time. So, hey, here we are together for responding. amazing thing. And that felt good and uh because I went for that boost one day before. So I had a chance to get more people to view the post and actually they viewing all our companies not just not just my my mind you know and I think ultimately during the conference they start refer some people to come to our booth and talk to us and so we did. I'm not sure whe is connected. I like to think it is because I know them for so [F022] but that was the first time they start refering people to you know this is this is how it works very much.

This is for you to share and for me or anyone to preach. You know this is another difference here is we are all all the same right we we we celebrate that we have ice cream shop owner and multiund million dollar company sitting in the same nation share it to each other

Sometimes we used to take it personally when clients say this is not good because we know how many hours how many iterations have gone into every design that has been finally presented right to a client or every content work right so uh but uh you know uh I think I'm seeing this session for the second time but I was really uh encouraged by this last time as well and um um encouraged by the group. I started praying for every uh client specifically because earlier my prayer is just about my work. God bless my work, my this thing, my you know my family, my everything. But now I I pray for the business of the client. I pray for um you know the people I'm in touch with in the client's company and uh uh of course for the employees as well. So I think I I see a difference in my own attitude. Their attitude maybe will change or will not change but I see the difference in my own attitude to address the queries and the you know issues that they raise and uh yeah most of the times yeah they all like you know resolved and uh we kind of move on.

Today she's not here. Uh but we actually have one dentist that is start doing a property business. And I really like her story. She was sharing last time that um every time uh she's approaching a customer which is she's treating her teeth. They uh she start praying uh for for the patients. So I'm just wondering if you come for dentist and then your dentist say let me pray for you first. How would you how would you feel about that? But I I I got I literally that that story is stuck in my mind. So you have to pray for your customers. You have to pray for those people actually making sometimes a hard time. Like I got one customer trying to sue us from US sending us mails and like all kind of bad things for no reason. Uh luckily on that time we were watching this video for the first time I repeated it again because this really the core of FD to me so I was experiencing and it really helped so much and you know ultimately you don't get all those emails anymore and nothing really happened but uh praying to solve it for your business is one thing but praying for someone who is actually making troublesh. That's even more powerful at least in my experience.

I was not really praying for crime [client] but pray for uh partners. So I was sharing gospel with him um and her. So before that I was just praying that God make sure that they can accept the word or your spirit just pull out. Mean you know after the preaching they get very upset. They were like annoyed like you know copy why you share the gospel at this time it's so big that you know told told my other partners and yeah so my partner said hey you should tone down. So months later oh something amazing happened and uh the lady actually uh had an accident and have go through something and she came back to me asking me about so that's that's something that you know we do not know about

I won't share from the ex entrepreneur perspective because it's too hard to love my customers back then. But um so in the you would think that working in the government means that our our mandate is to love our stakeholders, right? Because we are paid with your taxpayer money and then we're supposed to serve our people. I think my biggest shock when I joined the government was that that was the opposite of how the leaders behave and I won't say that's the attitude of our ministers. I mean we do have a PM who's Christian. you do a DP Christian but you can see a lot of the decisions that are made sounds like we are here to serve the people but they are very self-s serving and it takes me a lot of effort to constantly motivate my team to say guys ignore the narrative don't do things for glory do things that serve our stakeholders and that is the only way I can love our love my job and love the the mission inspire by not focusing on what makes you successful in the workplace but remembering that the work I do for the people that we were charged to serve it it is in in itself the reward that is the mission that we are in that's why we do what we do and that brings me joy even like yesterday I was with him at events um I wasn't supposed to be on television yesterday But I appeared for no reason. Um and people were saying she decided to come here. So um and that was like combination of all of us just really trying to do our best for us. Not because I hands up and say I want to I I want credit and I want glory. There's none of that. And it's hard, but I think it's about the motivation to not be praised by whoever it is at the workplace that use the typical carrots to reward you.

We as entrepreneurs also very much blessed because we could have less distraction of thinking what the boss will think because we are the ones the boss. Yes. Yes. I mean that that that's a blessing but also it's a big responsibility right what you are saying about you realize that others are Christians too and then you know they they look at you and they can do things differently but that's also how our employees are looking at us every day. So every time I know something great happened to company or even something several companies happen to company I always even try try to talk to my Christian not Christian that's can that be random no can it be by chance no I like it right so what do you think it is my personal opinion is it's what is helping us so much what is you know coaching us that we need to do better quite often I get the junior employees and We just get a you know a mic to decide whether what we are doing is actually right. They say okay so this is a P\&L this is how much more we could earn but is it right what you're doing what do you think and then many of this oh yeah yeah yeah yeah actually you know this one we shouldn't do yeah but they will never actually reveal it to you unless you are going to raise this topic because they are in fears they will be afraid they will feel that ah boss doesn't feel that I'm trying to help the business and all these things but if you're open to these things with them and you're really connected And then eventually you know they start C church or they start CD or it could be even encouraged to start their own business.

So like in terms of motivation uh of course being a father of two boys single income family so I think that is the strongest motivation uh personally uh to make sure that there is enough for the family that uh there is that right uh basic needs that your family can get. Uh so that is the personal goal that I have. I think from a work perspective and I work in technology uh I'm a delivery manager so I've been in the same company for 15 years so in a way you get the familiarity but at the same time uh growth given that you have to go through different industries different clients different stakeholders every time you deliver a project. So I think the motivation and the work that you do is always to be excellent. I think as Christians we are called to be excellent in the workplace and to love to be excellent is to love what we do to give unconditional love. I would say as Christians also I think we are called to be unconditional in terms of our love and that goes to our bosses to our peers to even the juniors under you that might not share the same values or might not share the same world view. Uh as a delivery manager you have to learn to manage up and manage down correctly and I think up to love uh your pe to love the people around you. Uh I think that is not an easy thing. Uh I think just something to share like one of right now one of my bosses I don't exactly um very I don't I don't think we work very well. I would just put it that way. So it is a challenge every day that you have to in a way fight for what is right, what you think is the right way to do. But at the same time as a Christian you have to understand that there is those values of let's say meekness or you have to learn how to show respect or to show honor to bite your tongue and you have to when you have to speak up when you know that uh there is that hierarchy also there is a purpose for the hierarchy that you are in uh working this so I think that is the uh thing that motiv that has to be a daily uh surrender to the Lord that we have to do that. Uh yes Lord it's not going to be easy today. It's going to be facing the same boss, same clients uh that are not ex exactly the easiest to deal with. But you know that the work that you do is not for people by for God. And at the end of day your excellence will be seen uh not necessarily by people. uh people, yes, you get the promotion, you get the bonus, you get all that, but you know that like you said, there are uh these things are building up treasures in heaven and with that with the way that you do things at work, you are being the light also to other people who are not necessarily Christians because they see that regardless of the hardship that you deal with at at the office or with the clients, you are acting very differently than how the world would normally act like how you would how the world might fight uh throw tantrums just walk out or do whatever. You stand firm. You know what's right. You do the right thing to do uh because you know you have a god behind you. So I think that's what I had to share.

I I think it's both. It's fear and reward, right? It's always characteristic. The fear is you not being accepted. The fear is you will not be loved by your boss. You will be passed on for promotion. You will not get that exciting you know um uh assignment or project. So that's the fear. But at the same time the system is structured to reward you for your compliance. Right? But when you're complying to men and their objectives, you forget what are you there for. And it's very easy to just comply, it's more difficult to stay true and to serve against the tides. Um, and I try to be the example to my staff, but there are times I fail to. I will go ah, you know, you you you have the you have the the the complaining spirit and you are like, ah, why is it like this? how can they behave this way? Um, and then you just got to repent and come back next day and tell tell your team, let's refocus. Let's try again. We do the right work, people will appreciate you. And the the thanksgiving here is that there are other stakeholders outside of my own agency who sees this and I realize that over time they are Christians too. and the things that I'm doing with them in partnership building up actually is bearing fruit. A year or two later, major changes are happening to policies to structures and that's because of the fellowship of others who are also missiondriven and pray about the work even though our bosses didn't endorse it thought we were thought we are crazy why are you helping others why not helping ourselves that was the first that I felt but I told my team hang on keep going and we were eventually um rewarded for doing the right

uh just so I just share like uh what if you ask me what motivates me um so instead of this uh I love and obience so every morning when I wake up I pray what should I pray because if I don't use conidence I'll be doing too much or too like just doing everything busy busy busy but are you so I I pray I always priorize I just sometimes the Holy Spirit will call me to fill my cup … when I give two words I earn less but I demonstrate the power of being a spirit that grows your trust … so essentially uh love and obedience help me prioritize that helps me use the spirit definitely even less but you have more power and you demonstrate to the world that you can solve problems on the spot.

you always call this carrots hanging in front of us Singapore you know you want to I didn't grow here but I would imagine that people want to get wealthy right nothing bad with that but somehow you feeling confused that that actually means something I was super blessed by um being able to spend um time in my extremely wealthy friends house in the UK in a you know it's a river temps as a big multi-story house is a [M045] Russell dogs running sports car and I could use all that he was really kind to me when uh our business uh failed in Russia because of the Ukraine war I was exporting UK So I went there just with empty hands and anything just to try it out. And he said, "Okay, leave in my house, do whatever you want, use everything you like." I found myself still sitting in the basement and writing emails during the night. And you know, it was not too much different from me being in HDB flat ins here and in bed. And I so blessed by this, you know, because I have one less distraction in my in my life now. It's that's it. That's all lies guys. I mean if you are there you know if you're not there yet it's lies guaranteed. You will never be happy because of that. Actually I think we are happy when we love others and through helping others is so much like more like to give gifts and to receive them. That's our nature isn't it? It's our spiritual nature and it's actually the only way to give others is the only way good really makes us feel fulfilled.

I think I tend to overdo all things and I think this reminds me that there's a sense of purpose over the indeed is a love testimony and it provides inner significance. If your client s I think you could win a soul that way or contributed we don't win before they so you know I always you know when I give extra stuff you know seniors and why overdue and why right and then like for example some people say you know meeting and stuff and then then why why extra time why should I give the extra people okay for me it's like it's not that time is not valuable is that I feel like it's good to give people your space actually feel like it's kind of … so I believe in business we have to value that and I always say don't give free stuff once people pay additional risk to always eat more stuff because I know when you over time it's much happier it's more joyful stuff you give seven things you always very happy it's really like so I I realiz iz that you although you bear more risk I I don't tell so I go for it I try to just try

just few days back customer come to me I mean I'm also in marketing so we could relate uh the customer say you know we want to continue with you but uh I want this percentage improvement of here and there and there and there and there and I'm like okay can you say that in the last whatever number of months we did less than few hundred more times percent what we supposed to no no definitely you did I said then we said can you actually say that you are fully aware that whatever you are trying to give in the KPIs analysis is actually unachievable because of one provide a lot of technicalities actually we can. Okay. So, uh then why don't you just either decide to walk with us or an alternative suggestion would be don't work with us. Take the budget you're paying to us and allocate it to ABCD EF the alternative things that they can do and you know all these things is simply truth. So nothing they can tell you and of course of course they came back and say okay okay no KPIs and just keep doing it working together as one team and make it work. But what I'm trying to say is that it's just so much easier to be genuine and not to sell and always try to overd deliver out of love so that no one can ever tell you anything about your work. The greatest thing out of it is that you will also always feel that you did yes 100%.

you may think that a pastor has it easy uh you know you know the churches are pursuing the same goals and some business because we have what I call the three Bs first is B money the bigger your budget the more You sell things as a pastor bro. Then membership parts the parts [bums] are the sit on the chair of your pe … the more parts you get the more the greater your respect you get from other pastors. Okay. And the last be the building. The bigger your building the more respect you get. I I came here for first time. Wow. Amazing. use this place again. So we we are impressed by all these three Bs. So every pastor is striving for sometime we use our members we don't love them.

regarding you around serving in har[vest] church. I notice that some Christian workers are serving upward not downward to serve the boss right they hope they get promoted

yeah thanks thanks for sharing that that's that's amazing and It's so great that you willing to share this with us because that's really the internal thing that that makes us understand that pastors are actually in the same boat in that sense. I mean running the church is like running the business in some sense, right?

next week CHC running their own uh community called SUBF city harvest business something fellowship startup. Yeah start your startup join SUBF. Yeah. So, you can join it as well at 3 p.m. on Wednesday if that's uh will be other people. Some people coming for both if you like to

as I was just telling you now my focus is running workshop we call spiritual warfare workshop because we feel that many Christian are struggling in their Christian life they are saved but they're not free all right so emotionally spiritually family wise they're not free so they are safe but not free so our workshop basically to help uh Christian to recognize that there's a warfare going on and how to be set free. All right. That's different from healing sessions, right? Not just healing is we have forgotten sometime the spiritual dimension. I think even businesses, you know, there is a spiritual warfare going on. All right. So, so we know we have to learn how to deal with that. So, that's our workshop. So, this Saturday we come uh we are Salvation Army in Chi. We use the place. Uh it's totally free, right? uh we don't charge even your lunch is paid by someone

Just another additional quick announcement. Um, there's also another FD group that's running physically. This one is on a weekly cadence. Um, it'll be held at uh DM360 at Adam Road, right? Um, if you want more details, feel free to let me know. um you'll be starting on the 30th of October, right? Yeah. So, whatever base you choose, the fellowship and the the group the framework is the same.

a pastor was saying that many of us have arrows and it's time to fire them, it's time to shoot them but it still remains there so it's time to, are we on the target? Are we even taking out the arrows? Arrows are made to be shot... So the challenge for us is that maybe some of us... [have] opportunities... but maybe without moving on it.

sometimes I want to make a major decision, I want to have someone pray with me, I want to sit quietly and seek a lot of knownness [sic]... So I went to the hotel... You can come here to be a sanctuary in the city.

we're looking for ministry partners to outreach to the market-based professionals. I used to be a career coach, and I would tell my clients... You cannot be isolated. You need to come [to] this place.

So I'm not a church, I say this... So every contribution you get goes a lot with the support program... I have a young adult that wants to start a ministry for a creative professional... if you find this place helpful, I think that you can support our work. Please support us.

a year and a half ago, I was very lost in entrepreneurship and I came across [a] testimony... And I've been, you know, let's never say it's never an easy road, it's always up and down... the initial dream was to be a pilot, right? So I took a pilot's license, that was 12 years ago, it has expired.

I used to run a business for eight years. So if you don't know, that doesn't look like it.

I would say this is one of the best networking sessions I've been doing. I've been quite a few... Nobody goes to networking, they will buy something... But here is a new group of just really very very good.

I will say thank you God. After 32 years, there's a church, there's a Christian gathering for business, so that they can use our talent to run money in the way [sic]... Because I got given that talent.

we've been meeting with the community, creating a bridge with the community.

I think I didn't have any money... I have to be vulnerable... But yes, more than 24 years, I still cannot find the real business. I had to change it up.

1 billion in revenue, right? All from trusting and doing the right thing... What made a successful business like that?... that's the core fundamentals of business.

I just want to make my residents happy. That's why I do a monthly... activity for my residents for also a year... the senior[s] used to play, they can use it for free. They just need to ask.

someone shared with me, right? Whenever you're asking, do I take this business decision... then you say, does that feel right? Does that feel right?

if someone comes and asks, hey, why does this car cost $20,000, right? When you buy it from the manufacturer at $9,000... I need to make a profit [to] pay salary staff overheads... Mainly think of it in a way like it's operating like a nonprofit with open books... some... nonprofit[s]... hold billions of dollars in cash on hand.

the way I look at it, I have nothing to hide. I tell you what it is. If you'd like to come and buy... or you'd like to do business with me, then we're the right fit. If not, thank you very much.

I know some folks who run a church, right, at the very moment, their finances is being short, they want to share what to tell people to [give?] more or more... Who's adopting the cost at the point?

It's just so easy, you know, saying yes is yes, no is no... it will all be fine. I have a master of manipulation... this time just saying no.

we walk by faith, not by [sight]. The running [joke] in the entrepreneurship community is want to be close to God, be an entrepreneur. Every day you [pray], [pray] for the next breakthrough, [pray] for the next round of funding, [pray] for something, right? And it has a lot of touch and doubts. [ASR: "bring" = pray]

he has a [vastness = abundance?] mindset... not in the light of a mindset of [black = lack?], he is not in the light of a mindset of fear... one thing... my company is, I share with my colleagues about how I do meditation, I share with them how I do my work, what do I do my cooking.

So now I'm looking at the very beginning of the video. He said, I just had to go into every single thing for myself. As an example, the Russian Tsar, he went to Europe before... [to] work as just a... [worker in a] shipyard... so you can come back and build the [fleet]... when I was hiring people... I was struggling... So I was just wondering... [your] personal experience of getting into the dirt and doing things by yourself.

when you are starting out... when you are getting from a cooperate set up to an individual... [the] CEO... had to wait for about 10 minutes... You cannot outsource, you have to do anything.

we got a donor... She was down so many times... it's been three days left and I don't have any money, but you will see why I'm providing to all this program. And she always provided me with the food.

FDE is a global movement, right? A thousand members across the world... we get some African communities... Remember, one and a half years, you've seen the community come by and shape it.