Max & Annie

Family with 2 Kids

I was blessed with a steady career in the IT industry in the U.S. and a clear calling to China. Eight years ago, our family of four moved to China. After overcoming some initial challenges, the two children adjusted to the local school. Work and marketplace discipleship were going well until my company got acquired.

After trying for a year to adjust to new management, I decided to move on. My confidence in the China marketplace was shaken. I longed to work in a "clean" and more predictable environment, where I could trust my coworkers and bosses, and spend my time productively rather than playing office politics.

But my job search was going nowhere.  I began asking about meaning and my place in the marketplace. My calling to the marketplace had not changed. So what did I really want to do after 16 years in the IT sector? It was not a mid-life crisis, but a mid-career crisis.  Should I pursue some entrepreneurial opportunity or change fields and do something different? I needed clear career objectives.

But God knows how He has made me, what I am good at and what works for me. My wife and I fasted and prayed. A few brothers also prayed for me and shared how God was faithful to them in the valley. I experienced the fellowship of brothers in the marketplace. I became eager again for my next assignment with God as my senior partner and legal counsel.

Almost a year later, I went from a multinational company to a family-owned software business. Between wearing multiple hats and having to meet sales quotas, it was truly stressful. Seven challenging months passed, and my dream job finally came. Today, I work closely with the China CEO of a Fortune 100 company to create jobs for the local workforce and promote corporate social responsibility to help the country’s impoverished areas–both of which I am incredibly passionate about.

My tentmaking career has taken me and my family from the Valley of Baca to a place of springs (Ps. 84:6). The valley humbled me, taught me to pray over every opportunity and seek faith for every challenge. God has blessed our ministries in parenting, mentoring and prayer, all of them enjoying a wonderful harvest. In the throes of uncertainty, we have learned to hold fast to the One in whom all things are certain.