One of City Harvest Church's members and a previous church staff, John Ng, was recently promoted to be the Deputy Director at his workplace. Read the amazing testimony of his journey into the marketplace and how God is using him as an instrument of blessing to many around him.

How many years have you been a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)?

I have been in this line for 17 years.

Where do you work now and what is your position there?

I am working at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS) as the Head of the Practice Monitoring Division. The Practice Monitoring Program is legislated in Part V of the Accountant's Act Cap.2, 2005 Revised Ed. The Act requires public accountants to undergo the program and successfully pass the practice reviews. I am appointed as a reviewer under the Act to carry out such a review on the public accountants to ascertain whether the public accountant has complied with the prescribed standards, methods, procedures and other requirements when providing public accountancy services.

What was the transition like after you left full-time ministry in CHC to step into this new job? Can you share how you were offered this position?

After working in CHC for several years, I had to adapt to another environment. Initially it was tough as there were many changes in the Accounting and Auditing Standards to catch up. By God's grace, I was able to do so in a shorter time.

Getting this position was really a work of God. I remembered one Saturday night, after Pastor Kong preached about influencing the marketplace, my heart stirred. So my wife [Esther] and I prayed about it and asked God to show us if it was really His plan for me to work outside. If it were so, we specifically prayed for ICPAS (which was my former employer five and a half years ago) to call me up without me having to call them or apply for any position.

Three days after we prayed, something happened. Out of the blue, I received a call from ICPAS even though I had not been in contact with them for more than five years. They offered me a position and asked me if I was interested to start a new division. I prayed about it for a few days and approached Pastor Kong and Pastor Tan about this. They rejoiced with me at this amazing opportunity and gave me their blessings. Within days, ICPAS sent me the appointment letter.

Congratulations! We heard that you received a promotion recently.

Yes. I was promoted to be the Deputy Director in October 2006. I had only joined ICPAS slightly more than a year ago in July 2005.

As the Deputy Director, how have your responsibilities increased?

In addition to conducting practice reviews, I am also the Secretariat to the Financial Statements Review Committee of ICPAS. This Committee reviews financial statements of both public listed and private limited companies for compliance with Singapore Financial Reporting Standards. I am also the Chairman of the Joint Continuous Development Program (CPD) Committee between ICPAS and CPA Australia. I also attend the monthly management meeting of ICPAS.

While you were working in CHC, what season was the church going through? In what ways has working in CHC helped you in your current vocation?

When I first came in to CHC, our church was in the midst of our building fund program and we had just moved into our Jurong West building. My first appointment in CHC was as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) where I served for two years. After that, I was a Zone Supervisor for three and a half years. Prior to this, I had been serving in church as a lay Cell Group Leader since 1998.

My years of training, leading cell groups and teaching Bible classes provided a very good foundation for me to re-launch into the marketplace. For example, in March 2006, I had the opportunity to speak at a public seminar attended by about 500 public accountants. I turned out to be the best speaker. In another instance, I was at a management meeting, and I drew upon my past experiences while working in CHC, particularly the level of excellence we adhered to. Based on this, I was able to contribute positive and helpful suggestions to improve certain practices in the accountancy industry.

How is the work environment different between CHC and in your current vocation?

While at CHC, my work revolved around leading cell groups, growing a zone, counseling of married couples and families, hospital visitations, conducting funerals, giving personal Bible studies and teaching Bible classes. At the office now, it is a total change of environment. However, the people and communication skills I have learned from my pastoral work have proven to come in veiy useful in relating to people in my day-to-day communication.

Now that we are into our 2nd Arise & Build campaign in CHC, what are your own thoughts and feelings as you get involved once again?

As we mature and grow bigger as a church, we need to depend even more on the wisdom of God. I believe that God will continue to use CHC as a beacon of light and impact this nation. We are called to be the salt and light of the world and to be relevant to our society. So to have a building in the marketplace will make a strong statement of who we are and for what we stand. That will really change the perception of the community toward us. HT