Called to follow Christ back home - December big change

Joseph Smith | 26 November 2007

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When Kenneth Lo came to Australia to study engineering six years he was in it for the machines. “Fiddling with machines gave me much enjoyment. I worked for three years and saved up money to further my pursuit of a career in mechanical engineering.”

However, Kenneth’s mother gave him the most valuable parting gift possible, which would forever alter his life.

“She shuffled a Bible into my luggage when I left for Australia. I started reading it out of boredom as I waited for the university term to start,” he says.

Kenneth was struck by what he read.

“If the things written of God in the Bible were true, I’d better do something about it. When university term commenced, a fellow Malaysian friend invited me to church and Campus Bible Study, which was going through the book of Genesis,” he says. “Over a few months, God opened my eyes to understand the gospel.”

Meanwhile, Vivian, who is now Kenneth’s wife, was at the time a first-year university student who had recently arrived in Sydney from Singapore via Perth. Vivian first attended church while in high school in Singapore.

“Despite that, I had limited knowledge of what being a Christian meant,” Vivian admits. “During my first year at UNSW, I joined a Christian group and signed up for a course to learn evangelism. Ironically, I heard the gospel for the first time through this course.”

Kenneth and Vivian met each other while at UNSW.

“We both joined [international student ministry] FOCUS in the same year, and first met each other on a train ride to the Easter house party,” Vivian explains.

The couple was married three years later in Singapore in 2004.

As Kenneth matured in faith, he began to rethink what to do with his life now that he knew God owned it.
“With prayerful consideration of my personal situation, I made the hard decision to stop my degree in Engineering and worked towards equipping himself for full time paid ministry,” he says.

Kenneth has now completed his first year of study at Moore College and both are serving at Campus Bible Ministry at UNSW and FOCUS Church.

“We both realized what a hidden treasure the gospel is and how lost we would have been without it,” Vivian says. “We were challenged by both the need and privilege to show people this treasure that God has prepared for his people.”

Serving at FOCUS enables the couple to cater for international students, just as they once were.
“Having benefited from this ministry six years ago, we are excited to be back for fellowship and service,” Kenneth explains. “We spend our time in a fellowship group consists of mainly Malaysians and Singaporeans.”

Kenneth and Vivian plan to South East Asia after completing theological education in Sydney.

“Having come from South East Asia where we have comparatively less Christian heritage and influence, we see the great need for Christians who understand the culture to speak the gospel in ways that will best help them understand,” Kenneth says.

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