My journey through the Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership (MATL) degree with Bakke Graduate University (BGU) began in April 2016, about a year after I returned to Singapore after a year-long stint in China. My academic journey began in Singapore and continued when I returned to serve in China in August 2018. As I write now in 2021, I am back in Singapore to review and reflect on this learning journey.
The choice to study with BGU was based first on a desire to continue in full-time physiotherapy work. At the time, I attached much of my identity to my profession. I was also convinced that I knew and reflected God best in the context of my work. Even before taking my first BGU course on the theology of work, I rejected the idea of a spiritual-secular divide. So besides allowing me to continue with full-time work, I was looking for study that would help me integrate my faith and work. I didn’t want to merely gain more knowledge about the Bible, God, and His Church. I feared the potential disconnect between Christian academia and Christian praxis. Instead, I hoped for a programme that would help me to live more fully as a Christian professional. I wanted theology that I could apply to my work and relationships.
Finally, through reading A Theology as Big as the City (Bakke, 1997), I had come to understand the importance of cities in God’s mission around the world. The rapid urbanisation of the world meant that the Church would need to learn to navigate and flourish in this complex environment in order that the Gospel might be taken to the ends of the earth. When choosing my course of study, I had already discerned God’s call to cross-cultural missions; however, it was not yet clear to me where He would send me. Part of me hoped that I would be sent to a less urbanised setting than Singapore, as I imagined I would appreciate the relative quiet and simplicity of life. 2 However, Bakke (1997) had convinced me that change flows from urban centres out to the rural areas. I saw that the message of the Gospel would also flow in this direction. I was thus prepared to be sent to a city of God’s choosing.
I finally made my choice to study with BGU as I appreciated the school’s mission to “strengthen leaders who steward resources with and for vulnerable people and places, by means of contextual, Christian-based education innovatively delivered throughout the urban world” (BGU, 2021). My almost six years of study with the BGU community has been fruitful in more ways than one. I have been challenged and stimulated intellectually by the course content and learning activities, while at the same time being loved and supported by BGU faculty and students to grow in character and maturity in Christ. I have been helped to see myself, God, my faith and the world in new ways. New tools have been placed in my hands and I have been taught how to use them. Maybe more importantly, my being has been rooted more securely in the Rock that is Jesus Christ and the love of the Father. I am more dependent on the Holy Spirit in all of my life. Finally, I have grown to appreciate community more than ever. I realise now that everything a leader does revolves around and relies on the relationships he or she has with others.
This paper is a record of the transforming work that the Lord has done in me over the past six years through BGU. I write to share with anyone who finds themselves in a position of leadership or anticipates such a role. As my leadership experience is limited, the paper may be more suited to younger leaders. I hope that through my writing, that the reader will marvel at the hand of God Who determined the modules which I would select, and the timing in which I would process the content. May the reader come to trust God more as the Master Potter who transforms clay into vessels for use to transform others and the world!