Hello, I’m Elaine Kung. I’m excited to continue our new series, SHINE Your Talk! I’m sharing with you based on my 33 years of professional experience and various executive training and education. And most importantly, what I learned from the Bible. So in my 33 years working, I am reminded to always take Jesus to work. So I don't just leave Jesus at home or at church. When I go to work, make sure I don't say “Oh goodbye, Jesus. See you tonight”. That'll be a mystery. I want to bring Jesus to work and He's with me.

So I keep an empty seat for Jesus so that it's a good reminder I am for co-laboring, honoring with Jesus at work. That way, I really live out this Christian influence at work and know how to communicate based on the 6M Prayer. This is a powerful and this is a big lesson.I'm gonna go into quickly to set the stage. First M is to Model godly character. So how I communicate should demonstrate Christ-like examples instead of go with the flow. I'm a sheep and yet I put on the wolf skin, pretend to be a wolf like everybody else at work. No, I want to be consistent of Christ-like example, sheep nature and sheep skin. Communicate the way Christ would.

Second M is to Make good work. When I go to work, I need to do my best and trust God with the rest, not just be a mediocre worker. So I share that salt, culture mandate impact, and then minister with grace and love. I learn to love the unlovable and forgive the unforgivable, and learn to forgive and forget instead of getting mad and get even. And then Mould the office culture that it's a positive influence or positive politics in the office instead of reacting to negative politics. So I express that love, the great commandment to love God and love others. And then Mouthpiece of truth and justice. How I communicate, I speak the truth with integrity. Doing the same right thing, whether people are watching or not, integrity and with wisdom. So that's gonna show in your communication instead of hiding my faith as a secret agent, like 007 James Bond, not to let people know I’m a Christian. Just be natural in speaking up the truth.

And finally, when I do all the 5M, I earn their respect and their trust, and people would say, why are you different? why are you so calm? How are you so wise in your communication? They will ask you for the reason, for your hope. Then you'll be a Messenger of the gospel and share your faith in action and in words, instead of missing the opportunity to tell them the reason for your hope. So how we're gonna communicate can express our Christian faith. So then our work is not just a vocation. You get a calling and respond to the call, and it's not just an occupation or a job. So in Chinese, this is a very powerful term vocation, 事业, job 工作, and together, we use the first term 事工 which is a very powerful concept, that work is a ministry. So that's why we founded Called to Work in 1996 to help people how to respond to God as we are all called to work. And thank God it’s Monday. So I pray for our communication skills and how to SHINE Your Talk! can help you to say thank God it’s Monday.

So it's been an exciting 25 years journey since 1996. In late 2021, we celebrated our 25th anniversary of Called to Work ministry. While I was working during my 33 years of career, I really want to help people to be their best at work, especially for us Christians, how do we communicate with biblical and practical principles? So when we celebrated these 25 years, we were able to invite 25 of the world’s most influential faith and work ministry leaders and seminary presidents and speakers to share and encourage us and speak on how Called to Work has made a difference to many people's lives. So you can recognize all of these worldwide leaders, both in America and in Asia, both our English-speaking world and the Chinese-speaking world.

So throughout these 25 years, we're excited to share how God has multiplied just the way that we talked about genesis chapter 1, the culture mandate that God told us to increase in number and be fruitful. So indeed, we have multiplied in the number of people that we influence every year. Throughout these 25 years, we experienced 6 seasons of growth. In the early days, 1996, we started with every year holding an English Called to Work conference back in New Jersey in the United States. That was our launch season with a only couple hundred people who would come a year. And then for 15 years, we've done that. And then we took a pause and waiting upon the lord in year 2011. And then during the time of 2012 to 2015, wherever we're invited to speak Called to Work instead of holding conference, we would speak as Called to Work ministers wherever we invited in the US and overseas, both in English, and in Chinese, so we multiply and we're preparing to grow to even larger scale.

And in 2016, when we moved to Dallas, we made a lot of wonderful connections with people who all share the same values and importance on faith and work. We built great networks with seminaries. And then we were growing our ministry to impacting more and more people and celebrate our 20 years. And then 2019 is a year of breakthrough where we see breakthrough changing from a moment into movement. So it’s no longer just an event or moment - once a year or once a talk, we’ve become a movement. So that is not just one time, but it's ongoing. And we saw the movement whether with the Lausanne or the Theology of Work, or the Christian Mission Convention, we were able to impact thousands of people.

And at that time before COVID, we had all in-person meetings. In a weekend, I gave 9 talks at different locations. In a month, I gave 26 talks, so it's really blooming, really great opportunity to share our Called to Work. And then during COVID from 2020 to 2022, this movement accelerated. And Jesus is coming back soon so we are excited to show this great power witnesses and help us to all get on this train of movement because the train’s leaving the station. And during COVID our impact multiplied even more. Our ministry became even more fruitful and increased in numbers, in partnership with other ministries, in conferences, core series that we held and trainers that we have trained through the generations. And then even devotions, we have generated English and Chinese devotions. And we have a thousands and thousands of students and audience that we can influence. So I'm very thankful, as through this course, we would help to bless you to have this life application transformation to really experience the joy of Called to Work.

So that when you learn this communication too, we encourage you to think not just head knowledge, understanding it, but also have a heart conviction that you're motivated, you are encouraged to use this knowledge. And then putting this tool into practice with your hands, and then making that change not just one time, but second and third, and time, again and again, then it becomes a healthy habit in your daily life.

So this 4H: Head, Heart, Hands and Habit is something we're gonna remind us every time how to really put the 4H into action. So even though I work for a telecommunication company, 5G is important and is powerful. I think the 4H is even more powerful, more practical and more important in our life, especially in how we communicate.

And then we also think about how you make changes. You think about making new changes, something new you're gonna start doing. That's a plus. For example, put an empty chair for Jesus at work. And looking at our website CalledToWork.org, we have prayer, 5 minute prayers, you can use before work for the 6M prayer that we talked about last time, and find a prayer partner at work to encourage each other. These are new things you can start doing, add. Or things even stop doing. We're gonna subtract, for example, you're gonna stop gossip, complain, or unbiblical attitude and action. And we'll give some examples of those. When you communicate, what are you going to stop doing? Subtract. And then we're gonna multiply, things that you're already doing. You're gonna do more. I'm already praying for my manager and co-workers. I'm gonna keep praying for them and meditate that word. So give me wisdom how to communicate, and I learn how to take care of myself, so that I am strong enough so I can take care of other people. And then learn to better manage my life, my energy, my time. So we multiply. And then we divide things that I want to do last. So I'm not gonna slack off so much. I try not to overcommit and not having boundaries and try to avoid being a workaholic. So these are four basic action that we want to think about. When you learn the communication tool what you're gonna start doing, stop doing, do more, and do less. I hope to see you next time.

Questions and Comments

1. In your sticky work situation, how can you ask yourself the 6 REASON questions to prepare your communication? What would you Start doing?  Stop doing?  Do more?  Do less?

2. How can you use the Sandwich Style to make suggestions to your boss and set boundary?   Positive affirmation and feedback.   And … suggestion, boundary.   Resulting benefits for them and the team.

3. In seeking God’s will with the 5S steps (God’s Scripture, Spirit, Support, Surrounding, Sovereignty), how can you apply these to help you make your decision?