Jordan Ong, 2015, Singapore
Before joining SOT, I had just completed my national service and was actively serving God by co-leading a youth cell group. After hearing many wonderful testimonies of those who have attended SOT, I decided to take the step of faith to enrol myself to grow deeper in God’s Word and to be an effective minister in God’s House.
Through SOT, I learned that God can indeed use anyone to do anything. Growing up, I’ve never liked Mandarin and have consistently failed my Chinese Language subject. As such, I opted to take basic Chinese in Secondary School. A few days before the SOT term began, I was told that I would be leading a team of 20 members, of which, 11 were from China, and two were from our Chinese Service congregation. I remember saying to myself and those around me that “if God was willing, may this ‘cup’ be passed from me!” I knew that communication was going to be a huge challenge.
During my first briefing session with my whole team, I decided to speak in Mandarin as most of the team members were Mandarin-speaking. Less than one minute into my speech, a team member from China exclaimed: “组长，我不明白你在说什么!” (Translation: “Team leader, I do not understand what you are saying!”) I was so embarrassed because everyone laughed, and I had to ask another team member to help me translate what I was saying. I was discouraged and felt inadequate as a leader. I even questioned God as to why He chose me to lead a team of Mandarin-speaking students when there were countless of others who were more fluent than I was in the language.
Despite my frustrations and discouragement, I decided to put in effort to quickly improve my Mandarin so that I could better communicate and serve my fellow team members. I remember how Pastor Bobby once shared his story of how God called him to missions and to China, and how his command of the Chinese language was also very poor. Yet he never gave up and persisted through by learning to give Bible study in Mandarin to improve himself; to the point where he eventually preached in the Chinese Service. I was so encouraged by this story, and knew that if God could use Pastor Bobby, he could use me as well. I made the effort to actively engage my Mandarin-speaking team members and would often have to use Google Translate when communicating with them face to face; or the translate option on WeChat. It was tiring and discouraging at times, but as I persisted on, I realised my conversations were getting longer, people were no longer giggling, and my first major step of faith was saying grace for a meal in Mandarin.
As months went by, I learned to appreciate the Chinese language, and realised that the words carried much meaning and depth. I found myself being moved and ministered to by God when we praised and worshiped Him in Mandarin at SOT. At the end of 7 months, before everyone in my team went back to their home countries, I prayed and even shared a short word to encourage them in Mandarin! I also travelled on my own to China to visit and fellowship with my overseas team members. This was nothing short of a miracle for me. I was not only able to communicate, but eventually minister to others in my weakest area. God reminded me that it was not by chance that He chose me to lead a predominantly Mandarin-speaking team but He had a purpose and plan that in my weakness and inadequacy, He could still use me!
Jordan and his team taking graduation photo at Suntec Convention Center
After SOT, as I prepared myself for university, I felt God gave me an idea to start a business selling and renting gym equipment and apparel, because fitness was a passion of mine. I wanted the business to be one that would glorify Him and bless the church. So I pledged to God that I would not only tithe 10% of my yearly revenue, but an additional 10% to offering. That meant I would be giving 20% yearly to the house of God.
As with any business, there were many ups and downs. It was especially difficult when the business went through a dry season in 2017. But as I chose to honour my faith commitment to God, even in the struggle, I kept the faith and persisted through and eventually saw how God blessed and provided for me while I was in school.
When COVID hit at the end of 2019, my first thought was that this would be another long and dry spell for the business. I had two years’ worth of unsold stock sitting in the warehouse, not knowing what else I could do. When the Circuit Breaker was implemented in May 2021, within a matter of days, my business skyrocketed as gyms were shut down and everyone had to stay home. God blessed my business so much that within the first week, I hit 5-figure sales income and was eventually able to sell two years’ worth of stock in just two months!
As a fresh graduate who did not have a full-time job at that time, I was so grateful to God for His faithfulness and providence over my life.
I’ve since moved on to start another business doing Wine Investment and at the same time helping my father in his business in the Maritime industry. All that I’ve learned from SOT—the principle of sowing and reaping, and trusting in God’s goodness and faithfulness—has made me a better and more effective business owner.