Contributed by Wendy ML Tan • Aug 11, 2026
As I made the decision to further my studies, I decided to work as a part-timer at my seminary to earn some pocket money. The first two months were spent helping out the librarians with their manual stock check. Somewhat menial to me compared to my years in MPH where stock checks were finished within a night, electronically.
After that, there really wasn’t much to do – simple filing, and data entry stuff. I began to ask God, as I once did when I started serving in church at the registration counter, “If you want me here, what else is there to do?” Back then, God answered my query when I was given extra tasks at the counter the following Saturday. I stayed on and served in the ministry for about five years. Here at work, God responded initially with the idea of designing and editing the faculty’s biannual newsletter. Instead of outsourcing a designer, I told my administrator to hand the task over to me. To date, I have completed three newsletters.
In the following months, I was given various things to do, including the coordination of a short seminar, the upkeep and design of the faculty’s website, and the handling of the online learning system. I am also serving on the committee for the fourth installment of the Intentional Disciple-Making Conference (IDMC IV). These job responsibilities interest me because they are the stuff that I have always wanted to try my hands on but never having the opportunities to do so. Even so, admittedly, I wasn’t immediately good at them and I did have a few blunders along the way. I could have been nagged and scolded, but I wasn’t. Instead, I experienced grace. All the more when that happened, I realised why God has closed the doors of the book industry, or the regular marketplace, for me.
As I am still a student, my priority no doubt is my studies. As such, I am even more thankful for this part-time job as I am able to work flexible hours as long as I am able to get things done well. And, I really hope to maintain a fairly above average CGPA.
When I look back on my years of work, whether at the gift shop, or shoe shop, or bookstores and now at the seminary; as well as my volunteerism in serving at various church ministries, I see how God has prepared me from one thing to another. Along the way, I discovered how much I love to make things look ‘pretty’ – from store displays to website pages; or to receive many comments on how detail-oriented I am to the last cents and explicit choices of fonts and wordings; or even the ability to negotiate with suppliers and to liaise with different personalities. Again, not everything is rosy, but it certainly makes life vibrant and purposeful.
I wonder what’s next after I complete my studies. I have two subjects to take on next year. Regardless, I trust in God to lead me as He knows best what would be a great fit for me. In all that I have done and experienced, and continue to do, I hope that it would reflect who God is to me, and that my work will be a testament to His love and faithfulness to me.
