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Christian Programmer Works on Tech Projects for God

Four months ago, I had no clue that I would be in Singapore right now. I had just recently returned from Urbana, a large worldwide missions conference in St. Louis, Missouri and had quite a bit on my mind. At the conference, having participated in the #Hack4Missions hackathon there, God had started leading me to consider more intentionally the connection between my work life and my faith. I was very serious about both, but the question for me was, “How do I reconcile these two important parts of my life?”

I knew that being a Christian programmer doesn’t mean I have to drop everything and go and be a coding missionary. This is because God often calls people to be tentmakers and missional Christians wherever they are presently and in the midst of the occupation they already have. That also means we should be intentional about pursuing Christ and redeeming the talents He’s given us for His purposes, whatever they may be, in our present situation. With that in mind, I wanted to explore serving God with my talents in the ways in which He’s equipped me.

At the same time, I also had been interested in studying abroad. I really wanted to go experience and learn about a new culture, but I didn’t exactly want to spend the months away from home that studying abroad entailed. When I told the person who disciples me about this, he recommended that I just try and send out emails in an attempt to create an opportunity for something like this. The first person to jump into my mind was Simon, someone I met at the Urbana conference.

Opportunity of a lifetime

The Indigitous SERVE team

Simon had given a talk at the hackathon that I really enjoyed, so I went up to him afterwards, said hi, got his contact info, and then left. So I sent Simon an email, sort of as a shot in the dark, asking if there were any sort of internship-like opportunities with Indigitous. To my surprise, Simon and his colleague Russ responded, saying that though there were no existing programs like that, they would love to work to make something similar that I could participate in. So, a few emails and Zoom calls later, I was going to Singapore with others that Simon and Russ had reached out to about serving.

Now that I’m here, I can safely say that this is exactly the experience that I was hoping to have. Everyday I have had conversations about serving Christ and furthering the Great Commission with the talents that God has equipped each one of us here with. Each day we have had a time for both spiritual development and time with God, as well as time for professional development for our careers. I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside other like-minded believers to actively live out God’s calling for our lives. We’ve brainstormed and strategized about how to better carry the Gospel to the unreached and have contributed to real-world projects. I’ve had a really tangible experience in connecting my work life and abilities with my faith, which has been an answer to prayer.

On top of all that, it’s just been really fun! I’ve never been to Singapore before and experiencing and learning about the culture here has been a great experience. I’ve really bonded with everyone on my team here and we’ve built lifelong friendships. Everyday we’ve spent time exploring and adventuring to have a good time in community with each other. While I’ll be a little sad to leave, I’m looking forward to all the exciting things God will continue to do. Both on a global digital scale, and locally at my home too, as I’m hoping to start up an Indigitous Hub there. Overall, it’s been a wonderful and invaluable experience. God has used it powerfully in my life and the lives of my friends here, and I know He’s using it to make an impact for His Kingdom.

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Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. (Habakkuk 2:2)

  • Get information about using your talents for God at Indigitous #HACK this October

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