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It’s amazing how the Lord works time and again in unexpected ways!
When the Kangs first came to Southern VN to serve the Lord, they were seamlessly plugged into fruitful ministries and opportunities with the local body of believers. As they served together with other m-workers, pastors, VN believers, they all shared the common dream of expanding His kingdom in southern VN. However, upon joining our ISV fellowship sometime later, big changes awaited them as they were shuffled to Northern VN: a seemingly simple relocation, but one that came with numerous challenges and even cultural differences!
The adjustment for them was surprisingly jarring; not only did they lose their ministry comrades, they were starting from scratch both as servants of the Lord and as a family. As they lived in the north, the Kangs felt the pressure of being m-workers, while having no contacts and resources outside of our ISV fellowship. As lay servants and “BAMers” the Kangs calling has always been whole-life ministry; with this in mind they started their accounting business hoping to navigate their VN colleagues towards Christ.
As with how life sometimes takes us, overtime the Kangs found themselves in a work relationship with their staff that was more “employer/employee” than “mentor/mentee”. Despite this, they continued their work, depending on the Lord to navigate the business towards His purposes.
As the Kangs started adjusting to life in Northern VN, they began seeking opportunities to minister and disciple young Vietnamese. Having been inspired by our international churches Spotlight English Club outreach, the Kangs and other Korean members of our church founded the “Sarangbang Korean Club” which is an outreach to young Vietnamese who want to improve their conversational Korean language skills. As they served the Lord through this ministry, they found themselves openly sharing their hearts with their guests, forming significant bonds and relationships. This element, which was missing in their lives in Northern VN, emboldened to venture into other relational ministries such as the Alpha Course.
Back at the company, the Kangs employees would ask them “Where are you going? Why are you so busy these days?” With a few deep breaths and uncomfortable hearts, they would reply, “Oh… we’re going to our Korean Language Club” knowing that their staff could very well be amongst the numerous participants.
However, it was this awkward exchange that really caught the Kangs’ attention and started them on a path of looking at their staff completely different. They started delving deeper into their relationships: getting to know them better, asking about their lives and their viewpoints on different topics, all the while keeping a professional and respectful disposition. Standard workplace guards were down and more jokes were had by all! But most importantly, the Kangs’ original goal to nurture whole-life ministry had now become reality!
So yes, God works in unexpected ways; He may take us on a journey that we may not understand at first. As for the Kangs, they have come full circle in their journey in VN. Praise God that His ways are better than our own!
Partner – South East Asia