Dear Folks,
Victor Ku, as you know, has been our new Director of Administration and Finance this past year. He has
worked so well, in collaboration with David Holten, in facilitating a smooth and worthwhile transition
to his new position at the CBWC. Victor became a believer in his early teens and has been involved
with the Methodists and the Fellowship Baptist Churches. Victor and his family moved from Vancouver
to Calgary and have joined Westview Baptist Church. Victor is originally from Malaysia and can speak
both Cantonese and Mandarin. He is an engineer who was trained in Ontario after which he worked in
a variety of engineering jobs. Victor took a Masters in Christian Studies at Regent College. One of the
primary reasons we felt led to hire Victor is his experience in the local church, particularly in the area
of church planting, in which he has a great deal of interest. Victor is a warm person with a wonderful
sense of hard work and fiscal responsibility; he is someone who also has a great sense of humour. I have
thoroughly enjoyed working with him and I look forward to a wider introduction of Victor to the CBWC
as you read through this newsletter.
Warmly,
In Christ,
Jeremy
1. Many folk have different personal, vocational, and faith journeys…could you share with us
those journeys?
To start my story, I will combine telling my personal and faith journeys together. I came
to know the Lord at the age of fourteen while I was a member of the Boys’ Brigade, an interdenominational Christian youth organization founded by Sir William Alexander Smith in Glasgow, Scotland in 1883. I was introduced to Christ during one of the youth retreats and since then, I have been walking faithfully with the Lord. My early years of walking with God were tough and challenging as there were only two Christians in my family back then, the other person being my third sister. I can still remembered those days when my parents would punish us by caning just because we went to church and attended Christian youth meetings. Though both of us faced persecution at home, our faith became stronger, knowing that the Lord knew
what was happening to us and trusting that he would strengthen us along the way. Eventually,
after ten years of praying for my parent’s salvation, both my mother and father came to receive
the Lord before their passing away in 1994. So, my faith journey was a difficult one at the
beginning but through it all I have seen God’s faithfulness in delivering those who are faithful to
him.
My vocational calling has been an interesting one as well as God has had his ways in my life.
I was trained as an agricultural mechanical engineer at the School of Engineering, Ontario
Agricultural College, which is part of the University of Guelph. Since then, I worked twenty-four
years in various engineering positions including agricultural, mechanical, chemical, biological,
electrical, manufacturing and automotive electronics engineering fields. I thank the Lord for
leading me into these areas of engineering where I gained substantial work experiences that
have been a great help to me personally in developing my skill set and enabling me to gain
a wide range of understanding of various technological and business issues surrounding the
business environment of today’s world. But as the Lord planned it, I eventually enrolled at
Regent College to further my interest in pursuing a theological education, responding to the call
of God as well as in preparation for a time of entering into service for his glory. So, here I am
now, counting it a privilege to serve alongside my beloved colleagues at the CBWC.
2. How long have you been in this position? Please let us know about where you are living and
maybe one eccentric detail of life?
I came on board with the CBWC as the Director of Finance and Administration in November
2011. However, as I went through three months of orientation, which was essential and a
very good process of learning for me personally, since I am new to the denomination, I only
started officially on February 15, 2012. Being five months officially into the job, I enjoy the new
challenges and the Lord has been good to my family, as we have adjusted to a new life since
making the big move from Vancouver to Calgary nine months ago. My one obsession since
moving to Calgary was to make sure I shovelled the driveway and pedestrian paths every time it
snowed during the wintry days – not an opportunity I had while in Vancouver!
3. What is the basic makeup and description of what you do?
Basically, the job description entails managing the entire financial needs of the CBWC based
on a yearly budget approved by the Board. These financial operations would include the
receipts of church contributions from the constituencies, the investment incomes from the
Foundation and the allocation and disbursement of funds to support the kingdom objectives
of Kingdom Growth, Leadership Development, Alleviating Suffering and Poverty, Resourcing
Local Churches, and the Operations and Management for the denomination. The other part
of the job has to do with administration of the Pensions and Insurance programs to serve the
Pastors and the non-pastoral staff of the constituencies, ensuring that the data management
system of the denomination is kept up to date and managing occasional publications such as
the CBWC Yearbook and the Church Directory. Other job functions include assisting in events
organization, administering the Opportunity Grants, fund raising and managing the IT system
and infrastructure within the CBWC.
4. Who are the people that you primarily serve and how do you connect with them?
My “clients” consist of the pastors and church staff within the constituencies who have a need
for support from the Calgary office. As well, the Executive Staff and my other colleagues whom I
work with on a daily basis are my other important “clients”. Usually my mode of communication
with them is through emails and phone calls, since we serve a wide area geographically. But the
weekly stand-up meetings are very helpful indeed and are very encouraging to me personally,
knowing there are others who shared your concerns and are praying for the daily workload we
have here.
5. What have been the challenging parts of this last twelve months?
For me, it has been officially five months and I must say that it has been a roller coaster ride so
far with steep learning curves along the way! But I am thankful to the Lord for his sustaining
power in settling me into my job responsibilities, not forgetting to mention Jeremy Bell, who
together with all the Executive Staff has been very supportive of the changes that have been
happening in the last months. I want to also mention that the office staff and the table officers,
who I am very grateful to for their suggestions, encouragements and prayers, have given the
same support to me. They have walked me through the difficult times when there seemed to
be so much more to do and improve on within such a short amount of time available. Last but
not the least, Dave Holten has been a strong support throughout my transitioning. I am very
grateful for his dedicated service to the denomination, even though he has officially retired.
6. What have been some of the times of celebration over these last twelve months?
I would say that over the last five months, we have celebrated the start of a new beginning for
many of us in the office. With some changes in place we have the possibility to evolve into a
more efficient team, working together in harmony and assisting one another to ensure that
collectively, the primary goals of the work at the office is fulfilled in the end. I am thankful to
the staff for their openness in embracing change and for the leadership of the Executive team
headed by Jeremy Bell, in supporting these changes as well, for the betterment of the entire organization. Praise be to God!
7. What are some of the things you have felt were accomplishments this year and what are some
of the on-going challenges that you will face as you go into the fall?
Within the first months, we were able to streamline some of the office procedures around the
accounting process, reviewing and developing processes for data and financial management,
all at the same time. Some of the results of these changes are visible already, giving the staff
a positive outlook so that we can be a lean and efficient team working together in the office.
Changes will continue on throughout this year and prayerfully by this time next year, we will
have completely evolved into a better work team with the new processes in place, to be better
and more efficient in serving our constituencies and frontline staff.
8. Apart from Executive Staff, who are some of the people that you work most closely with
month over month?
I am beginning to be in touch with church treasurers more and more as the weeks go by.
This has helped me to get to know them better and in turn they can ask me the difficult
questions and I am glad to help them to navigate through the maze where necessary. Church
administrators are my second line of contacts, especially for the Pension and Insurance Plans
that we administer here at the office on behalf of the insurance companies.
9. What kind of Sabbath and renewal and break are you going to experience over the
summer….for how long?
I am looking forward to taking three weeks off in August to spend time with my family, as we
take a road trip to Vancouver to visit some dear friends of ours. Moving to Calgary has been
quite an adjustment for us as a family in the last 9 months, and we do miss the folks out there
in Vancouver. So, this trip, will enable us to catch up with old times, so to speak. We appreciate
your prayers for us as this happens in August.
10. How might we pray for you?
I would say please pray for wisdom and the Lord’s guidance and leading as we continue to make
certain changes in the office, work-wise and in processes. It is sometimes hard to have to adjust
to new ways of working for the betterment of the organization. But these changes have to
happen within a certain time frame in order to ensure that the measurable goals we have set
out from the beginning are achieved over the stipulated time frame. Please also pray for unity
in the Spirit of Christ as we share this burden of wanting to see his Kingdom advance in Western
Canada through the work that all the staff puts in every day.
11. Is there some kind of blessing or encouragement that you would like to share with us?
So far in my work, I have seen God’s provision and I am really thankful to the contributions that
we have received from the churches within the denomination to support the work and calling of
the CBWC in enhancing the Kingdom of God in Western Canada and beyond. I truly believed that
the work that each church and the staff have put in has not gone in vain as we begin to see new
communities of believers being formed in different locations across the land. It is a wonderful
experience for me personally to be part of this work in fulfilling the Lord’s vision in such a time
like this.
12. Are there any questions that we have not covered that you would like to comment on?
Lastly, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Board of the CBWC for their
continuous support given to me through the various committees such as the Finance and Audit
Committee, the Opportunity Grant Committee and the Budget Committee.
I just have one last comment to make and that is, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and
peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” Luke 2:14 (NLT)