Sent by Jason Leong • Jul 23, 2023
2018 brought some of the worst and darkest months into my life. An unexpected turn of events caused many things to go wrong and threw me into depths of despair and despondency so much so that I had to go into a ‘forced retreat’ for a month. But it was exactly those tough times that drew me nearer to God, to wait on Him, to pray and seek His direction.
During that time too, God showed me where my heart was even though I was already serving in the Men’s Ministry via the MenAlive Core Team, leading a Mentoring and Accountability Group (MAG) with a group of brothers and also mentoring two young men. We were all learning to be better men, better fathers and better husbands. Despite that, there was a restlessness in me which kept asking: “What about the men out there? What about those men out there who will never walk into a church to join MenAlive?”
God answered my questions when He gave me a vision to start working to help fathers in Malaysia. Together with a dear brother Joshua Hong who also saw the need, we decided to start a new NGO called Better Dads Malaysia in order to spread the critical message of responsible and effective fathering and equipping the fathers. This was in response to a deep cry from the fathers in this nation to bridge the gap with their children. We believed that it was an essential and vital movement that would bring healing to the nation. The hearts of the fathers must turn to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. But it had to start with the fathers first.
We dreamt big too as we decided to go national – hey, after all, I’m from the Dream Centre. Thus, we positioned Better Dads Malaysia to lead a national movement for fathers – it was dreaming a dream that was so big that only God could fulfil it. And we moved fast too – Dream Big, Start Small, Act Now – despite the fact that we had zero funding, and no big donors or sponsors to back us. Faith was the only currency we had. Even before our NGO was registered, we started to be trained to conduct the ICAN Fathering Workshop (which is exclusively for men only) and began holding these workshops and talks wherever and whenever there were opportunities.
Eventually Better Dads Malaysia was officially launched on November 19, 2019 by the Director-General of the Lembaga Penduduk dan Pembangunan Keluarga Negara (LPPKN) or the National Population and Family Development Board Malaysia (NPFDB). We had no money to pay our Master Trainer from Singapore or even print the handbooks for the Workshop participants and we did not even have the money to pay for the launching event venue and lunch catering but miraculously, God provided. And our needs continue to be met until this day even as our financial commitment has increased because our work has expanded.
Thereafter, we had many opportunities to speak about fathering – on national TV and cable TV, radio talk shows and print and online media, besides the invitations to speak at conferences and forums. Better Dads Malaysia was appointed to high-level task forces, committees and a national advisory council to advise on national policies and related issues and we were also often invited to brief government agencies and Ministries as well as conduct talks and workshops. It reminded me that leadership means influence in the marketplace and we were strategically engaged in advocacy.
We have been asked by LPPKN to organise and handle the National Father’s Day Celebrations each year since 2020 – a narrative and call to all fathers nationwide as Better Dads Malaysia is recognised as the thought leader on fathering and fatherhood. As at 2022, our digital reach was almost 3 million people and our direct reach was 8,200 people.
I am thankful for the encouragement and affirmation by Senior Pastor Chris and his sermons especially on Chasing the Lion, The Mission Field Is Out There, IMPACT series and the Come Alongside initiative. He often tells me that we can go to places where many cannot go.
Year after year, God continues to open doors and bless us with favour. It humbles and blesses me every time that I am given an opportunity to give a talk or conduct a workshop on fathering – whether to pastors, ordinary fathers in the marketplace, the B40 fathers or Orang Asli fathers because the need is so great and I am also reminded that when our faith intersects with the faithfulness of God, miracles happen.