Elaine Kung – Bringing Faith Ministry to the Workplace
Thank God It’s Monday!
Elaine Kung
Making a Difference through Faith Ministry in the Workplace
They say great things come in small packages. Meet Elaine Kung, a 5’ dynamic force that’s making her mark. Born in Hong Kong, China and raised in poverty, her family made the difficult decision to immigrate to the United States. She eventually attended Cornell and Princeton Universities, and applied her double engineering degrees as a Product Marketing Director for AT&T. One of her proudest achievements is the difference she has made through her unrelenting drive to bring faith ministry into the workplace. Here is her story.
I was born in Hong Kong. Both of my parents worked blue-collar jobs to make ends meet. When I was very young, due to political and family circumstances, my father lived in China while my mother remained in Hong Kong with my sister and me. She took us to visit our father twice a year. Things were not easy and at one point we were homeless. Looking back, those tough years taught me to be a survivor. At 14, my father was finally approved to immigrate to Hong Kong and joined us.
We lived in a cramped 200 square foot room with my family of six, which included my younger brother and my grandma. To respect my family’s privacy, I would pull the covers over my head and study by flashlight late into the night where I found hope in my books. We attended a parochial school and were required to study the Bible. I did so out of obligation in order to get good grades but to me the Bible was a fairy tale. I did not believe in any God. I only believed in myself and lived by the proverb “we reap what we sow”. When my school friends invited me to church, I thought it was a waste of time and stayed home to study instead. I was bad tempered, greedy, selfish, arrogant, and felt lonely and empty inside.
My parents, struggling to provide for our family, made the decision to immigrate to America. Arriving in Maryland at 16, I was thrust into a new world. It reminds me of the Chinese fable by Zhuang Zi about a frog who lives in a well and only sees the perspective of life from inside the darkness seeing the outside world through a sliver of light at the top. Growing up in the small city of Hong Kong, I was that frog, limited by my myopic view of the world of poverty and hopelessness. My one sliver of light was studying. Coming to America was like finally stepping out of my well.
As a foreigner who didn't speak the language, it was hard to make friends in high school. I continued to withdraw into my world of books. When I wasn’t in my room studying, I was working at a restaurant earning minimum wage along with my family. I was frustrated and angry, and continued to be somewhat of a troublemaker.
Among the books I owned was the Bible, and it sat on my shelf, unopened. Despite being introduced to and raised in the Christian faith, my scientific mindset prevented me from believing in God. “After all,” I reasoned, “I can’t see, touch or hear Him, so therefore He must not be real.” Then one day I got a letter from a friend in Hong Kong who said she was continuing to pray for me. Her words got me thinking about God and faith and the things we believe in but cannot hear, feel or see. My scientific mindset immediately went to the theory of gravity. You can’t see it, but you can feel it. I reasoned God transcends time and space, capable of listening to my friend’s prayer in Hong Kong while watching over me in the States. He’s not visible, yet we know He exists.
That actually made sense to me, so I picked up the Bible and began to read. Studying it from both a philosophical and scientific perspective, the lessons became clear. I was humbled as I questioned my long held misgivings about God’s existence. This Bible verse says it well:
I was fascinated to learn about famous scientists who were committed Christians - Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Blaise Pascal and others. Pascal wrote, in his book Pensees, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.” Reading this changed my life.
I went on to have my most relevant epiphany - accepting the belief that through Jesus, Son of God, who died on the cross and rose again in 3 days, my sins were forgiven. I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior and my best friend. My life changed from being a troublemaker to becoming a peacemaker.
In the fall of my senior year in high school, I took the SAT. To my surprise, I scored 750 points out of 800 on math, but understandably, my verbal came in at 450 out of 800. Those scores were good enough to get me into the University of Maryland.
I loved college and maintained a 4.0 average. It caught the attention of my physics professor who encouraged me to transfer to his alma mater, Cornell. That’s when I experienced God’s presence and guidance in my life. I won a scholarship to pursue a double major in Electrical and Materials Science Engineering. Cornell is also where I met Dominic, my husband, a PhD candidate in Chemical Engineering. During my junior year at Cornell, a renowned professor of semiconductors hired me to work in his research lab through my Work Study financial aid program. He introduced me to AT&T Bell Laboratories where I was hired as a summer intern.
Upon graduation, Dominic and I received great job offers in New Jersey and we got married. I went to work full time at AT&T where I would remain for 33 years. AT&T paid for my tuition to get my masters degree from Princeton, and sponsored my Executive Education training at Columbia, Cornell, and Wharton business schools.
The Lord kept working miracles in my life. AT&T values diversity and encourages employees of various cultures and beliefs to get together to develop their professional skills. In addition to serving in the Asian-American employee resource group as a speaker and leader, I formed a faith-based group whose mission was to integrate our Christian-based principles into the workplace.
We gathered at lunch to apply biblical principles to the practice of leadership. I personally put an empty chair in my office for Jesus and invited Him to become part of my work life. As a result, I became more effective because Jesus, my CEO, “showed up” to guide me with His 5P blessings: His presence, power, promises, provisions and pleasant surprises.
Years later, I decided to expand our mission and partnered with Jason Browning, a fellow Christian at Lucent Technologies. In 1996, we founded an annual Christian professional development conference, “Called To Work” to edify and expand the kingdom of God around the world by equipping and mobilizing working Christians to be spiritual ambassadors for Christ in our everyday life"
Our website, http://calledtowork.org describes this conference and shares our history and resources. Drew Crandall, our critical ministry partner, provides valuable and practical resources on faith and work, sends out weekly devotional emails to thousands in our distribution.
We invite practitioners from corporations and organizations to share their lessons in leadership and experience of faith in the workplace with conference participants. Our speakers have ranged from White House staff, to national and global fortune 500 executives sharing stories of working in excellence. They share the importance of enjoying what you do since that is where many people spend most of their waking hours. We also offer a multitude of practical workshops designed to help leaders grow and we ask God to guide us to SHINE in five areas:
- Sensitivity to care for people
- Humility to apologize and willingness to seek 360 degree feedback
- Integrity to lead and influence with servanthood and vision
- Nurture courage to speak up wisely
- Edify and equip others to be their best for the greater good.
Today, in addition to the conference and workshops, we offer webcasts, newsletters, weekly devotional emails, and connect with other workplace ministries as we expand our influence worldwide.
As I look back on my journey, I define it as evolving ”from living on the edge to living the American dream”. I hope my legacy demonstrates the value of being a servant leader of integrity. My life purpose has been and always will be to help others become better leaders through faith. God did not waste any opportunity with me. He used every adversity, talent, valley and mountaintop experience to equip me to serve Him and His children – all by God’s grace, for God’s glory.
What’s next? After working in corporate America for 33 years, Dominic and I retired. God made it very clear to us when, where and how to retire. Today we serve in full time ministry and plan to write a book about our life journey, ”Out of the Well Into the Light”. We want to take our workplace faith mission to a whole new level. Our Called To Work mission is to encourage workers, equip leaders and organizations, and expand workplace ministry partnerships and geographic networks. We want to partner with local churches and global organizations to implement faith and work initiatives aligned to their needs.
We continue to give back to the community by sharing how the Bible has equipped us with many life skills, sharing our experience from the past decades on marriage, parenting, leadership, career development, faith and work in the States and overseas. One of our favorite principles,Let Go and let God, teaches life lessons depicting how to let God guide our way. Though Dominic and I are retired, we find ourselves “ReFired” to deliver God’s message to the workplace, families and universities.
Some Lessons Learned
- Live life to the fullest; live every day like it’s your last; make every day a gift.
- Be bold and courageous.
- Don’t ever let others say you cannot do it.
- Be resilient; don’t be afraid to fail, because we learn from our mistakes.
- Self-care: take good care of yourself so you can take care of others; be selfless.
- I have defined and experienced the 5 P model in helping people find their purpose and reach goals:
Purpose/Vision:What is your purpose in life?
Principles:What are your guiding principles?
Passion:What is your passion?
People/Influence: How do you interact with people?
Performance:How do you excel in your performance?
- Rules to live by:
Golden Rule – Treat others as YOU want to be treated
Platinum Rule – Treat others as THEY want to be treated
Executive Platinum Rule – Treat others as WE want to be treated
Diamond Rule – Treat others as JESUS treats you
- I advise males in the workplace to give full support to their female counterparts as often women wear multiple hats – work, home and community.
- Be passionate about your work. Love coming to work every day and adopt the “Thank GOD it’s Monday!” mindset. Be open to receiving blessings from God; be a blessing to others at work.
- My advice to the young people on how to THRIVE in their career growth:
- T: Take smart calculated risks
- H: Humble in personal branding/people skills
- R: Reflect on lessons learned/critical thinking
- I: Integrity in servant leadership/others-centered
- V: Value culture/strength/diversity/mentorship/networking support
- E: Excellent execution/communication/AQ/EQ/IQ/time management
It has been my honor to tell Elaine’s story. She is truly a woman who is Following the Road Less Traveled as she makes her mark on the workplace in a unique way. To see her live in interviews with the Dallas Theological Seminary and Northwest Bible Church, click below.
https://voice.dts.edu/tablepodcast/ministry-in-the-workplace/
Lorraine Grubbs is an author and coach, passionate about helping companies create Happy Workplaces through hiring, leadership development, communications and recognition techniques. To learn more about her work, visit her website: http://www.lorrainegrubbs.com
