Stand Up, Be Counted

There was a change of guard in GCF and Tak Ming succeeded our beloved Indiana Jones, Dr Living Lee, who has served faithfully for many moons.

So what's the vision of GCF or Impact? I'd let the President tell his powerful story:

Has GCF a role still to play in our busy marketplace given our ever demanding church ministry that most of us are involved in? Between the time competition of our professional and business life vis-à-vis that of our church and family, what more can we expect from our GCF'ers?

Well, I wish to offer you three reasons why we GCF'ers should rise up and be counted.

The Challenge of Market place and Life Transition

The statistics is surprisingly not immediately available, but my conservative guestimate is that there are easily 2,000 plus young Christian graduates joining the work market each year from the local universities. Add to that the returnees from overseas, and we could easily have 4,000 fresh Christian graduates, potential shakers and movers of society, getting into the rat race each year....

How many of these will survive the transition and become effective and meaningful witnesses for God in the workplace?

There are other transitions too – the 30 somethings who are now in the position to make a difference in their workplaces, the mid-40's who are in the search for meaning and to leave a legacy to our community and the post 50's who potentially are the role models for the rest of us. What are we doing to help each of these groups help them grapple with their own transition?

The Challenge of Marketplace Leadership

There are many Christians in positions of leadership in our country. We have business leaders who are publicly avowed Christians. We have lawyers, doctors, engineers, marketing directors, financial experts, HR directors etc, etc who are Christians. Yet today there seems to be a moral vacuum in the cut throat world of business and a need for more role models for good business practice.

In 19th century England, William Wilberforce and other members of the Clapham sect brought about the end of child labour and slavery. Benevolent Christian employers and business owners established employee welfare that raised new standards for the industry. Today, in a world that is increasingly obsessed with productivity and
output and market share, there is a need for those of us who are captains of industries to set a new benchmark in the way our organizations are run and the way our employees are taken care of.

Who will stand up to be counted to make their work and their profession a calling to be His salt and light in the world?

The Challenge of Nation Building

There is a real need today for all us to rise up and be counted in the shaping of our nation's conscience. When Pak Lah took up the mandate of leadership he called on all Malaysians to support him to make this nation a more transparent and honourable society. Today the question of integrity appears a long way from being resolved.
Each day brings more sordid details of mismanagement and abuses. But instead of casting doubt and feeling despondent, we all need to take up the challenge and as The Star's Wong Chun Wai puts it - to rise up and be counted – to say no to corruption...

Dare we say we are too busy with our church life to bother with such matters? Today if we all do not take up the challenge, there may be no tomorrow as we envisioned it in the not so distant future for our children. The Lord's second coming notwithstanding, what legacy are we leaving behind by, say 2030, when the vast majority of our children would have taken our place as leaders and drivers of the
nation? Will it be a vibrant, open, confident Malaysia or would it have gone under the dark forces of decay and corruption? Whether our children have a chance to a meaningful tomorrow depends very much on what we are willing to do today…

Mobilizing the GCF'ers

If GCF is to play its God-given role in the marketplace effectively, we cannot be satisfied with our current situation. We cannot remain a cosy old boy's association. We need to be prepared to break the bank, call for grass root mobilization, get out of the salt shaker, go out there and influence the society for God. That is the least
that can be expected of us who have been given the privilege of tertiary education and given positions of leadership in our organisations.

The work amongst the younger graduates too has growth despite our lack of a full time team and a critical stage has been reached. We need grass root leaders to step forward to be available to help mentor our next generation of graduates so that they in turn can play a key role in helping shape our country's future. There is a
group of young, energetic and passionate people who want to live out their calling in the marketplace and they are looking for support, encouragement, role models and heroes to emulate. With your years of experience- both spiritual and professional, you can help.

How can YOU help? Find out more here