What do you have in your hand?

In 1989, a young lady at my home church in the Philippines asked me if I would be willing to volunteer with Operation Mobilization’s ship called Logos II, the replacement vessel for the Logos that ran aground on a rock off the coast of Chile the year before. I happily said, “Yes!” The decision was very easy, as the thought of free travel to Africa and South America with fellow Christians was a no-brainer.

I was one of thirteen Filipinos who were recruited that summer to join the largest of OM’s summer evangelistic outreaches called “Love Europe.” For my first full-month campaign in Tampere, Finland, I worked as the team bookkeeper—budgeting and allocating the meager team money for the month-long evangelism campaign and ensuring that there would be enough for the duration of the outreach program.

After that, I joined the OM Global Orientation Conference for new recruits in De Bron, Netherlands. While at the ten-day conference, I was asked by an OM senior finance officer if I would be willing to work in the OM central accounting office while the Logos II was being readied for service. The former accountant had retired and the officer had learned that I was a CPA.

The offer was very tempting, as the job called for financial accounting and auditing, which I had been doing before I joined OM. Watching fellow OM female missionaries do carpentry jobs on board scared me half to death, as I had never done any carpentry or hard labor in the past. So it was easy to answer—I was very willing to work in the OM Central Accounting Office.

When the Logos II was ready to sail from Amsterdam in February, 1990, there was a call to board the ship. I felt, however, that God was asking me to “use what I had in my hand” to serve him. So I decided not to board, and remained in Belgium, where I served for two years. When the accounting office was transferred to the United Kingdom, I worked an additional year there. Though I initially only joined for two years, this year marks my 31st year of service with OMF working in accounting, auditing, and finance!

Three roles but one gift

I currently have three primary roles in OM. My first main ministry is with OM Japan as its Field Financial Officer. This ministry involves all the accounting functions of an OM office such as data entry, financial accounting, and budgeting. OM Japan currently has about 40 local and foreign missionaries plus 30 children based in the least-reached and mostly rural areas of Miyagi, Toyama, Hyogo, Aichi, Kanagawa, and Ishikawa Prefectures. The foreign missionaries come from South Africa, the Faroe Islands, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and the Philippines. Their foreign support needs to be processed and paid out on a monthly basis, and I make sure it happens on time.

My second ministry role is the Area Finance Officer of Latin America. Overseeing each of the thirteen countries that comprise the Latin America area for OM, I supervise the finance officers and train them, since most of them are not accountants, to ensure that the accounting reports produced are accurate.

My third ministry is working with the International Audit Office. Currently, there are only three auditors in OM, but there are over 130 OM entities in over 120 countries that need to be audited at least once every five years. The OM International Audit Office aims to perform one internal auditing for one country each month, meaning we audit at least twelve countries per year.

Four reasons I enjoy what I do

In spite of the busyness and workload, there are several reasons why I enjoy what I do. The first is seeing over and over again that God abundantly provides for the needs of his people, and I am a living testimony of that! OM, just like many mission organizations, does not pay salaries. We work and live by faith. We depend on God to meet our daily needs. And I can testify to God’s faithfulness in providing for the needs of his people. I have seen it in the lives of others and have experienced it for myself.

After three years as the accounting manager of the OM International Finance Office, I was led to a decision to go into missions work long-term. The first step for me was to get a theological education. God led me to enroll in Prairie Graduate School in Canada. While I was studying for my Master of Arts degree in Theological Studies, there were several occasions when God provided for my tuition from people I didn’t know. Each time the gifts came at the exact moment I needed them.

Just before I graduated, God gave the added blessing of leading me to marry my Japanese friend and schoolmate. God not only provided for my material needs but he also provided a lifelong partner. Throughout my time working for OM, I have seen the faithfulness of God to people who stepped out in faith to serve him either here in Japan or abroad. God hears our prayers, listens to our pleas, and provides for the needs of his people.

The second reason I love working for OM is the feeling of “heaven” that I experienced with my first OM Team in Belgium. We were a multinational team. There was unity, love, and respect shown among all the team members in spite of our diversity. This feeling of “heaven on earth” led me to continue being a missionary.

Although I wanted to be a Bible translator, God impressed upon me this challenge: “What do you have in your hand?” Thus I continued serving God by using the skills that he had already blessed me with as an accountant. And actually, accountants are in great demand in OM as well as in other mission organizations, although they work out of the spotlight.

The third reason I love serving with OM is the feeling of freedom through living a simple lifestyle and having limited money. We were a big team of about thirty people in OM in Belgium. Our resources were pooled and we had community meals, pretty much like the early New Testament church. All our support money was put in a common purse from which all the team expenses were taken. As a single person, I had monthly pocket money of 300 Belgian francs, which was about 1,200 yen (US$10). All I could buy besides our community meals was a can of Coke and an order of French fries topped with samurai (chili hot) sauce each weekend. What a feeling of freedom it was not to worry about what to wear, what to buy, or what to shop for.

The last reason I love my job is that I am able to travel to Africa, South America, Europe, and the rest of the world for free! Two friends commented on my recent Facebook posting of a camel ride in the pyramids in Egypt. One friend asked, “Where do you get all the money to travel?” I simply replied, “I travel for free! I set aside two days before an audit assignment for sightseeing and exploring.” A second friend said, “I love your job! Please tell me how I can apply.” The most rewarding thing about my travels is the opportunity to experience other cultures and start friendships with people from different nations.

These are some of the most beautiful things that keep me going in my ministry as an accountant. Seeing God providing for his people, experiencing the love and unity in my team, reaping the benefits of a simple lifestyle, and having the opportunity of free travel overseas are just a few of the rewards of obeying God and putting to work the skills and giftings I have in my hand. I want to end with a challenge to you to endure and keep on going for the Lord. May we have a greater hunger and desire to be used of God. He has called us to endure even when our work is not obvious, appreciated, or seen. The desire to be used of God, by offering him what I have in my hands is the secret to why I keep busy and am able to continue in my responsibilities. In addition, I am a pastor’s wife, an adult Sunday School teacher, and a Bible teacher for Filipinos living in Takaoka, Toyama. To God be all the glory!