When Plan B Is Best
Sometimes, Plan B is God’s best for our lives. Such was the case for 25-year-old Wing who graduated from our 3-Year Certificate Program last year. Among the first cohort of SALT graduates, Wing was determined to become an “unashamed worker who will be also qualified to teach others.” (2 Tim 2:2,15)
Committing to full-time ministry was no easy endeavor, even for a second-generation believer like Wing. A college grad with a bright future ahead of him, Wing could have simply stayed on in the secular world, but he finally let go of his original money-driven dreams to serve the Lord, a sacrifice that was hard for others to understand.
Growing up in the church as a pastor’s kid, Wing had looked upon his father as one who “earned too little, and led a dull and boring life.” After college, Wing pursued his Plan A to work in the city, which he did enjoy for a period, but he began to experience some setbacks and felt lost. His father invited him home and arranged for him to meet with a church leader who counseled, “Maybe working in the big city isn’t the right path for you. Take some quiet time for yourself and seek God’s will. If He moves you, consider studying some theology courses before going into ministry.”
PTL Wing was indeed moved to enroll in our 3-Year Certificate Program with the support of his father. Having graduated, he is now pursuing a Master’s degree in Theology and concurrently training with SALT in preparation for joining the team in the long run. “When Wing transferred SALT courses in the past, he was in the teacher role. He has now become a student again, learning how to teach under our guidance. He not only has to prepare lessons more seriously, but also has to undergo the strict supervision of SALT trainers. It’s a heavy workload,” explains Joseph, SALT’s Director of Training in East Asia.
Even so, Wing couldn’t be happier, while his father is surely the happiest, testifying, “Wing has grown in leaps and bounds, he can now sympathize with my struggles, and his servant-heart has been strengthened.” Yet as Joseph laments, “The world is full of temptations, so fewer and fewer young people are willing to enter the ministry.” In light of this, we are especially thankful for Wing who took the plunge to serve the Lord. Although this might have been Wing’s Plan B, we trust that this was God’s best plan for him all along.