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Dear All, my name is Tan Kang Fun but I am better known as KF Tan in the market place. I am currently the CEO of a health trust company in Singapore. The testimonies I am sharing took place earlier in my career at a chemical company where I was the General Manager, at a high performance material manufacturing plant where I was the Managing Director, and at a healthcare company where I was the CFO & COO.
In our walk with God at workplace, it is important for us to seek out opportunities to minister or counsel others in need. I would like to share how in three different situations where I had the opportunity to minister or counsel others. I hope that my experiences can be an encouragement to you so that it can turn into a reality for you.
I was asked to attend an urgent meeting called by the CEO of a company I used to work for. When I arrived, I noticed all the senior executives were in the room together with our legal counsel. The CEO commenced the meeting by saying the company received a complaint from an anti-corruption agency of Country-X where there could be an irregularity in a multi-million dollars tender process. The teams in Singapore and Country-X were extremely worried of the complaint and the bosses were looking at how to handle the issues involving lawyers. After some discussions, all the bosses were in favour of a strong respond from us and that the irregularity could not have happened within our organisation in view of our strong corporate governance structure. With the way the meeting was progressing, I realised we become very defensive which in my view may not be wise. The bosses were worried that being a public listed company, we may receive a lot of negative media reports. They were of the view that the best way to handle the situation is to ask lawyers to respond to the complaint.
So, in the midst of the meeting, I prayed for God to lead and how I can help to resolve the issues. After prayer, I asked to be heard and proposed that why don’t we visit the anti-corruption agency of that foreign country and find out what the facts of the complaint were and then we can determine how to work with them to resolve the issues. I also mentioned that we should not involve the lawyers at this juncture as it may be seen to be arrogant and legalistic. After much deliberation, the bosses agreed to my suggestions and asked that I lead a team to visit the anti-corruption agency. In the following week, together with 3 colleagues from different departments, we flew to that country and visited the anti-corruption agency. We had a good meeting and the matter was resolved amicably resulting in us working closely with the agency. Thank God that bosses at work do listen to counsel from staff to turn a possible explosive situation to one that is win-win for all. I want to thank God that in my career all these years, I have been to three anti-corruption agencies in three different countries. Of course, in all these visits, I was not called up to be investigated. Instead, it was always that I was asked to assist in resolving corruption issues.
Have you ever thought of being a mentor to someone? Well, I was approached by a Pastor to mentor a young Christian at work whose marriage was on the rocks. I was more than happy to do so but I suggested that we have Bible study instead of calling it a mentoring sessions. We started meeting once a week for about 1.5 hours of studying God’s words. Gradually, my mentee started to feel comfortable with me and he began to open up. After several weeks, I realised he was extremely self-serving. Everything was centred around him ie I, me, mine and myself! With this attitude, you can imagine the problems his wife was facing at home with three young kids. After knowing the crux of the issues, in every sessions we had, I always started off by asking him what had happened in the past one week at home. He will readily list down all the issues he had at home and why his wife was unhappy. I would then go through each issue with him and suggested ways how he can tackle it differently. We will pray together and ask God to grant him wisdom to deal with the issues. I used Bible verses to open up his heart so that he may be willing to listen to counsel from others. For instance, I quoted Proverbs 19:20-21 “Listen to counsel and receive instruction,
That you may be wise in your latter days. There are many plans in a man’s heart,
Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.” I was using God’s words to speak to him rather than being perceived that the counsel was from me.
Before long, a year had gone by and we had completed 20 lessons on Biblical doctrines. This was to lay the foundation for him to understand God. We started another series of Bible study on family. Through this, I learned a lot too. I also needed to know the five love languages and to literally ask my mentee what to do and what to say to his wife. I encouraged him to call his wife every day without fail when he is at work. At times, I texted him to remind him what to do. I also encouraged him to pray with his wife and children. After almost 3 years of mentoring, I was extremely encouraged by the progress. I want to thank God for granting me wisdom how to mentor this brother in Christ. I felt most encouraged when he shared his testimony in church how his marriage was saved. He even quoted my name in his testimony and said that may God continues to use me to save many more marriages. I felt embarrassed when he said this. I want to leave Psalm 1:1-6 with you
1Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the [a]ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he [b]meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the [c]rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
The final experience was an ex-staff who came to me for advice. She was having problems at home with her husband as he was violent towards her since he lost his job. She wanted to divorce him but felt obligated to look after his old aged mother who was living with them. They have 2 children, one each in Poly and Uni, who had also encouraged her to leave their father. They had in many instances come to their mother’s aid to fend off their father’s violent actions. They could not bear their mother being ill-treated by their father. I listened to her pouring out all the grievances she had been keeping to herself over the last few months and it has come to a point that she can no longer take it anymore. She needed help before she has nervous breakdown or do something silly to herself.
My initial reaction to what had been shared was to ask her go home and have a reconciliatory talk with her husband. This is to apply biblical principles on marriage where husband and wife are joined as one. When we are joined as one then it cannot be separated. Thus, the Bible teaches us that marriage to our spouse is to last a lifetime. Genesis 2:24 says “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” However, as the talk continued, I realised she desperately needed help. I then recommended a Christian lawyer friend to her so that she can go and obtain appropriate legal advice. I called the lawyer friend and told him what had been shared with me. I asked that if he could also try to talk her out of a divorce. After that, I did not receive any update from my lawyer friend due to the principle of client confidentiality.
At the end of the meeting with my ex-staff, I told her that I’ll be praying for her so that God will grant her wisdom to make the right decision. Thereafter, I was constantly checking with her to ensure her wellbeing was fine as she was one of my staff. After a couple of months, she told me that the situation at home has improved. I was glad to hear that. Her husband has not been violent to her not because he has mellowed down but as a result of a fall leading to him being hospitalised. At the time when the husband was discharged from hospital, he has lost memory. This, in a way, was a blessing in disguise as he was no longer violent and could carry out simple tasks by himself.
I want to thank God that this family is still together today. I understand that my lawyer friend had also counselled her into not getting a divorce. Though, this ex-staff is an unbeliever but her dedication to take care of her once violent husband, her mother-in-law and her family has truly won my admiration. She still gets in touch with me after about 10 years had gone by. Occasionally, she still ask for advice on work issues. I still remember her saying Christians are good people and they help people who are in need. I pray and hope that one day she and her family can have the opportunity to come to the saving grace of Christ.
I sincerely hope that what I have shared can be a source of encouragement to you in your walk with God. Always remember, you have God with you to lead and guide you at your workplace to overcome challenges. All you need is to reach out to Him in prayer.
Counsel At Workplace