SOUTHEAST ASIA: Bringing a Redemptive Edge to Business – Part 1

I work for a Kingdom-minded talent acquisition company in Southeast Asia. I have a great job in a beautiful country with great people. 

At times, my journey (back) to this country was anything but great. But God, being rich in mercy, has put me in a place that is full of people open to the gospel of Jesus — but also teeming with professional possibilities for people who want to shine for Him in their everyday work life.

Let me start at the beginning.

Returning Home the Hard Way

I was born in Southeast Asia, abandoned as an infant and adopted shortly after that by my parents, who are from Belgium and raised me there. In 2018, as a young adult, I decided to return here to my birth country — not to find a job, but to find my biological parents. 

My original quest didn’t work out, but in the process, I found two things that did: a relationship with God and a career that’s proven to be more than I thought possible (as you’ll see, for me, those things are deeply intertwined).

Moving back here was anything but easy. Even though I looked the part, I didn’t know the local language, the culture or where on earth I would work if I stayed. But here’s the thing: I’ve learned that in making yourself available to God and trusting Him to make it work, even when multiple factors are working against you, He always works it out for good. 

In fact, even before I had decided to live and work here full-time, God had already put the pieces in place for me to end up where I am. At each stop, He took care of me in a way that I hope would inspire everyone to trust Him fully with their career journey. 

God Connected Me 

After living here for a while, I decided to stay a bit longer and look for a job. 

I was living at a hotel, and I asked the receptionist if she knew of anyone who could help me find an apartment. She put me in touch with a friend of hers who found me an apartment right away. I then asked that woman if she could connect me with any local job leads.

Connect me she did.

The woman she introduced me to was a recruiter for a Belgian company. She got me an interview for a job (which I did not expect), and I got hired pretty quickly (which I really didn’t expect). Then, right after I got the job, the Holy Spirit told me in no uncertain terms to ask that recruiter out to lunch and share my faith with her.

Now, understand, I believed in Jesus, but I was not walking the walk or talking the talk at that point. I was going through a rough time. So, I was more than a little surprised to hear from Him like that.

But I did what He said.

I took her out to lunch, shared my faith and found out that she was (and is) a committed Christ-follower who had been living out her faith in the marketplace for the previous couple of years. But that was just the beginning.

She then connected me with a male friend of hers who was involved in a local church. He gave me a Bible and then introduced me to an Australian architect who I would say was literally using his hands to build the kingdom of Christ in this country. He became my mentor, helped me through the struggles I was dealing with and connected me to a whole new group of believing friends here. 

At that same time, God clearly spoke to me again and said, “You will do Christian recruitment. And I just fell on my knees, right there. I knew that God wanted me here for that purpose. He filled in a blank that I didn't know was the last and final solution I needed to stay here full-time.

At the company I work for, we recruit for a number of industries — primarily health care and high-tech, but others as well. We are bringing a redemptive edge to business: hiring people with a love for Jesus and a real talent for what they do vocationally.

It’s a joy, and it has helped to infuse my and my wife’s life here with godly purpose.

More on that in Part 2.

Curious about what it would look like to take your job to places like Southeast Asia? Explore our global jobs board or connect with a coach on a 10-minute Discovery Call!