Singapore, Lim Zhi Jing
2021 marked my second year at Fuller Theological Seminary, the end of my 3-year service in CNL Youth Ministry and my first foray into the world of impact investment as an intern at blue7.
I saw the limitations of my thought process and understanding — that the pursuit of God and truth is not found in mere objectivity & rationality. I learnt this the hard way, often getting scolded by my bosses when conducting due diligence for start-ups that were asking for investments.
“How can you simply rehash whatever information the companies present to you?” Yes, how can I? But how else can I do it?
Through fits and starts, it dawned upon me what my bosses required of me can be summarised by “大胆推测，小心求证”。
大胆推测 — Take courage and be bold in taking a stance instead of standing on the shore. At work, this means understanding that my job is not to draw conclusions from the data presented to me. Instead, I’m called to imagine, conjecture, hypothesise on the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of the company, and to ask questions in order to go deeper.
小心求证 — Be careful and take care in finding proof. I now better understand this process as “due diligence.” For true diligence is needed to conduct proper investigation and to give justice to the companies we are investing in. Every good question will help to broaden the picture and lengthen the runway of possibilities; essentially giving everyone more pieces of the puzzle to work with. The prerequisite behind this is time, hard work and the humility to acknowledge how little I know about what is laid before me.
Yes, I lack courage in making a stance for the weak and the poor, the imagination to bring to reality what I do not yet see, and lots of time, effort and humility to persist in living in the Kingdom of God. Thankfully God has blessed me with many mentors who are prodding me forward and equipping me with the mentality I need to walk His way.
In 2022 I will be at the home stretch of my time at Fuller and I pray that by God’s grace, X-Border Missions will continue to uncover economic opportunities to better the livelihood for the under-served.
