5 Oct 2013 by Natasha Kim CM-
Thomas Joseph, 38 years old, rose up from humble beginnings. He grew up in a very small village in Bukit Mertajam called Kampung Tok Panjang. According to him, many didn’t even know the existence of this village. Moving forward from there was difficult but he worked hard. When Thomas found God and began to put his trust in Him, he experienced God’s favour over his life. He realized that he didn’t have to worry so much anymore, because God was guiding him and his decisions to success in reward for his faithfulness!
Born into a catholic family and the youngest of ten siblings, Thomas lost his father when he was ten years old. His mother raised him up single handedly with the help of his brothers and sisters. Immediately after high school, Thomas set out to make something of himself and pursued his studies in accountancy where he graduated with diploma. In 1995, he decided to further his studies in Kuala Lumpur and worked to support himself.
The Search
Three years down the road, he felt as if there was a void in his life, a kind of emptiness that came with all the problems he had been dealing with since he was little. There was a need to get closer to God. “Is there more to life than what it is?” he often wondered.
When he found Glad Tidings in Klang, it was the first time he was exposed to an evangelical church. He was in awe at the atmosphere and the people. It was very different from what he experienced before but he sat there and listened anyway. As the weeks passed by, he felt God was speaking to him through the preachers. “I realized that it was me who was being resistant to what God was trying to do in my life,” he said. Slowly but surely, he began singing and clapping as he began to feel comfortable.
A brighter future in sight
In the year 2000, he moved closer to where he was studying and working, and started attending Grace Assembly, Petaling Jaya. “I loved the church, I like what was going on” he said. He felt at home there. Just a year later, Thomas gave his life to Christ and was baptized. It was that same year that he began to look at things differently and his life began to change for the better. He felt God was saying to him “I need to clean you up. I’ve got something special to do through you.”
For the first time in his life, he could see clear path, a vision of what he wanted to accomplish. Everything was suddenly in sight! That same year, Thomas graduated and earned his degree in accounting.
“I saw my situation through Christ and felt that God was there to help me. I saw myself differently as well” he said. He didn’t see himself as being different but felt that this time he needed to give way to certain things that he liked and disliked.” At the end of 2001, Thomas married his longtime girlfriend and began to build a family together.
A Leap of Faith
Down the road he began his part time career in insurance while working full time for another company as a management accountant. In 2006, something changed in the company he was working at that changed his life and made him feel no longer comfortable working there.
Leaving would have been easy but he had a family to provide for this time, a growing family with a young daughter and a baby on the way. “I decided that I was going to take matters into my own hands and put my complete trust in God for my life,” he said. He didn’t want to continue giving his 100 percent to his bosses who would just give him their left overs. In 2006, he drafted his resignation letter and that same year in December, his son was born.
Thomas was a little skeptic but he knew he had to make a change. In 2007, he finally left the company and turned full time into insurance. This time he was self-employed. He asked God, “What’s going to happen now?” A thought came to his mind and he suddenly felt a strong impression upon his heart, “You’ve been complaining about your bosses and your CEOs. But with me as your CEO, can that go wrong?” That thought really gave him the courage to step out in faith.
While listening to the radio in the car that day, he heard a quote from Zig Ziglar that said, “You do not have to be great to start, but you must start to become great” And so, he bravely took the step to come out on his own despite being used to having a pay cheque coming in every month. Thomas told God that he would be a testimony to people if he did well in insurance.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
(1 John 4:18)
From Success to Significance
Thomas then came up with his own mission statement that he still uses until this day, “To glorify God by bringing hope and encouragement into the lives of many.” He knew at that point that it was more about bringing hope and encouragement instead of focusing on just selling insurance. He lived by his mission statement, worked hard and miraculously became one of the top agents in the whole country, number eight to be exact in the year 2007.
God opened a lot of doors for him
In 2009, he participated in RunNat (Run for the Nation) where he met Kenny Martin (Malaysian Ex-National Hurdler) who invited him to become a part of the RunNat team. The Founder of RunNat, Victor Chua took him in immediately. Now Thomas is the CEO and one of the Directors of RunNat!
He was blessed down the road from the moment he made the decision to make God his number one. Through his involvement in Insurance and RunNat, he was invited to speak at many churches, youth programs and even corporate companies where people wanted him to speak into their teams on how he became successful.
“Put God first and you’ll become second to none! For everything, give thanks because this is the will of Christ Jesus. I give thanks to Jesus for giving me this opportunity,” he said. In 2009, Thomas started AIA Christian fellowship because he feels very strongly about marketplace ministry. He discovered and developed a passion for speaking during his college years and that desire became stronger when he was involved in cell ministry in Grace.
Thomas believes that the biggest miracle he experienced is giving his life to Christ. “I even have a journal that I write so that my kids will bump into it and read it one day.” He said. In that journal he wrote his greatest achievement until today is knowing Jesus as his personal Lord and Saviour. “I feel that God turning me around is a miracle and an experience that is unique to a lot of individuals. I couldn’t see what I was doing back then but now I can see that God was trying to prepare me,” he said.
Now, he’s moving on to position himself to be a speaker, a trainer and a consultant. “I have a dream of being a world class motivational speaker as well,” shared Thomas. This very year, he spent some time with Les Brown, a renowned professional speaker who said to him, “You were born to speak. You have a golden voice which you can use to your advantage to give to the world…. The world needs to hear you speak.”
“When I hear these words from ‘THE Les Brown’, I have to take that word seriously and I’m working on it right now. I don’t think it’s a far-fetched dream but I think it’s a dream that is just waiting for the right people to be brought into my life so that I can stand a chance of doing that,” he said.
The Crossover
There is one question that Les Brown always asks and that is, “If you had to live your life over again how many of you would do better than you’ve done thus far?” Thomas and his wife wanted to move to Australia and were seeking confirmation from the Lord. These were some of the confirmations they received:
Confirmation #1
Sept 2012, Chuck Pierce, an apostle or speaker spoke about the year to cross over and possess new lands.
Confirmation #2
Early 2013, he bumped into a recording dated on March 2011 when a pastor prophesized that he would migrate in about three years’ time.
All this spoke strongly to Thomas as a confirmation. Now, Thomas and his family are at the beginning phases and getting ready to crossover to Australia. The year 2014, is when they will be fully settled in Australia. That is exactly 3 years which confirms the prophecy foretold three years ago.
At Australia he hopes to start anew, and use it as a chance to right all wrongs, to live better, to learn from his mistakes and make life better for him and his family. Through prayers, he feels that God is leading him there to do something new in his life. “Now I can see how God is going to use me, to bless the church, and to bless the community.. I feel that going there will polish me and enhance me further. I feel that God is trying to refine me further,” he said.
“The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
“I put my fear in God and I put my full assurance in God that He will guide me. If He says crossover, I know I will not be destroyed,” he said. He’s going to start over from scratch with his family! “Things that you read in the Bible are not things that happened before, it can happen in your life now. Are you willing to apply the scriptures to your own life? If you can realize your potential in God and the things that God has put inside of you, you can do great and mighty things for the kingdom of God and for the community at large” he said. Now, Thomas is excited and looking forward for the new season to come!
Thomas’ Favourite Quote:
“Man was designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.” – Zig Ziglar
Reference for Pictures:
hi Thomas , we are migrants from Malaysia, been here for close to 4 years .We have 4 kids and happily settled in a church .Do contact me when you and your family have the need to connect to people who have or are still going through this migration experience . We are currently residing in Melbourne .Welcome to Australia ! God bless !
Hi YenPin,
It's truly kind of you to leave a message and offer to connect with us . I will certainly contact you when I get to Australia. Family and I are settling down in Eastern suburb of Melbourne. Thanks and God Bless. Thomas