6 Aug 2013 by Adeline Lum CM-
Eliz Grace Tan, director of Glorious Turkuaz Sdn Bhd, was a former air stewardess and hotel operations officer of MAS, and personal assistant to the Head of Engineering School at Monash University.
A form-six school leaver, she did not expect herself from holding such a prominent position. But The Lord impressed upon her heart, “Men see a shepherd boy, but I see a king! I will be the Lifter of your head and guide you through.”
The Days of Flying
After four years of enjoyable work in MAS, she developed a severe back problem – two of her spinal discs bulged out and pressed on her nerves.
A devout believer of another faith then, she tested Jesus Christ during her hospitalization and He showed her His miracles. That changed her life; she accepted the Lord as her personal Lord and Savior.
However, she was still carrying the pain for a few months until the Lord unexpectedly healed her. Returning from her flight one day, she had no choice but to lug two of her suitcases up the stairs to her apartment. While she expected tremendous pain after this grievous stunt, her back did not hurt at all until today.
“I felt that the Lord was telling me, ‘I have healed you without you even know it,’” chuckled Eliz.
She also recalled a day when her church elder shared about his daily prayer which was to share the gospel to a soul. Touched by his passion for the lost, she prayed for the same prayer and the Lord have since opened doors and sent people to her.
In 2006, MAS offered its staffs a mutual separations program, which the Lord impressed on her to apply. She left the company after a specific clear sign from The Lord.
So, how did she come to know about Turkey? In 2004, she joined a tour to Turkey via the staff travel benefit in MAS. She realised that the seven churches tour of Apostle Paul was not offered in the market. So upon returning, she started to organize her own seven-church tour. Since then, The Lord started to place a burden and passion in her for the nation of Turkey. The Lord opened one door after another and within six years, she had more than 15 groups.
From Flying to Filing
After leaving MAS, she continued to do the Turkey Tours for five months, until one day her sister asked her to apply for a job in Monash University as a personal assistant to the Head of Engineering School.
"It was different from my entire past work experience,” said Eliz, who never had the job experience as a personal assistant; she requested to be a temporary staff at the beginning.
Nevertheless, the Lord encouraged her since the beginning of her job. Having no clue of how an education institution works, the Lord answered her prayer to file in the exact same way with the school’s system.
“This small thing showed me that God was with me!” beamed Eliz with gratitude.
On the day of permanent job confirmation, Eliz asked for a clear sign from the Lord. She desired to share her testimony in her workplace. Shortly after that prayer, she received a call that a boy has fainted in the toilet. The boy was rushed to the hospital and he turned out to be a backslidden Christian who fell off from drugs.
“I still remember him saying that even Jesus didn’t want him and he is not worthy to be a Christian. I shared my testimony and he rededicated his life to Christ,"
Knowing this was the sign, Eliz accepted the permanent job in Monash but with one condition that she would be allowed to take vacation leave whenever the Turkey Tour is on.
The passion for Turkey grew stronger each day, to the extend that she would discuss with her husband about finding a job in Turkey. Her husband even expressed that he did not mind migrating to Turkey!
One day she received a phone call from the few guides whom she had been working with in Turkey. One of them told her that the CEO of the Company Dorak Tours wanted to open a branch office in Malaysia, and asked those few tour guides for a suitable person.
The CEO flew in to Kuala Lumpur with his interpreter because he did not speak English. Over the dinner table, he asked if she would help to start a Branch Office in Malaysia that would eventually cover markets in Malaysia and Singapore.
“I was shocked, and I took it as a sign from God as I have been having this burden for Turkey. It was akin to blessings falling from the sky. He offered to buy me out from my company at that time, so that I can start working for him immediately,” said Eliz.
But she had already committed herself to an unfinished project in Monash University.
“I requested for a month to complete the project because I am responsible for it. It is not about the money. I told him if he could not wait, then he should look for someone else,” said Eliz who wanted to honor her Head of School in Monash.
When the CEO agreed to the one-month waiting period, Eliz took it as a confirmation from The Lord.
During one of the church services, Eliz went out for prayers. The Speaker confirmed again by giving her a word of prophecy that The Lord is sending her like ‘Joseph to Egypt.’
Now… Put Everything You Learned to Test
Hence, she started her new season in this new job. She was given the task to start the branch office for Dorak Tours and was asked to choose a Name for the Office. Thus, Glorious Turkuaz Sdn Bhd was birthed. She was given only two months to find the office’s location, to renovate the office and also to register the office.
“My husband was a great supporter. He would drive me around even at night to look for shop lots for the office,” said Eliz who prayed that the Lord would not give them peace until it was the right place.
The Lord answered their prayers by sending them the right contractor who charged them at an unbelievable affordable price. Within two months, the office was ready.
“You see, the Lord even helped me to meet my deadline,” said Eliz.
For the first six months, Eliz was all by herself in finding for businesses amongst the local tourism centers. Her job was to supply ground tourism packages of Turkey to them.
The Lord truly showed her favor from people. She was able to achieve her target of 2000 pax for the first year, followed by close to 4000 pax the second year, with only two staffs under her, for first and second year respectively.
“The Lord constantly reminds me through Scripture. My husband also prays for me everyday that His glory will shine forth in me. My husband always tells me to always do the right thing, be of integrity, and practice righteousness and justice,” said Eliz.
Do the Right Thing No Matter What
A particular incident she recalled was coming face-to-face with an unrighteous way in dealing with money.
One of the directors of her clientele company asked her to issue an extra invoice with a huge amount, so that he could use the money to entertain the company’s client, which inexorably would benefit the company itself.
He justified to Eliz that, "It is okay; I am not asking you for under-table money from your company. It is just issuing an extra invoice, that's all".
“But it’s not the right thing to do,” said Eliz, whose refusal resulted in a complaint to her director in Istanbul. But because Eliz’s director trusted her very much, she forwarded the the email to Eliz.
“Although it did not involve any money from us, it is not right for that person to cheat his own company,” Eliz told her Turkish director.
In a nutshell, the board of directors discovered the personal agenda of this shrewd director, and they called Eliz to help in their internal investigation. All the necessary black and white documents were provided to uncover the truth. As a result, the unrighteous director was asked to leave.
“The other director who was called to investigate apologized to us for having put us through this,” said Eliz.
“It is displeasing to the Lord to do the wrong thing. Although this (unrighteous) director sent me a threatening text message, the board of directors of my clientele company was willing to lodge a police report and promised to secure my safety,” said Eliz.
At the end, not only the Lord exposed the whole conspiracy, the Lord also blessed Eliz by exceeding her target pax for this particular trip. Also, since then, Eliz steadily gained a trustworthy reputation in her company and also her clientele company.
“The director who investigated said that he (unrighteous director) was just foolish because he dealt with the wrong person, someone who’s a strong Christian and goes to church,” said Eliz. “That’s all I want, I want to show Your Glory!”
Since then, her Turkish director would discuss with Eliz whenever there is any problem.
“Let your light shine. Let me be the salt and light. The Lord gets rid of evil. He sets the wrong to right,” proclaimed Eliz.
Honouring God in Our Workplace
“He is a faithful God. If Jesus can use me, a form-six school leaver, by equipping me, He can use anyone.”
"In my ten years of flying, I learned about public relations and to build relationship. In my six years of hotel management in MAS owned hotel, I learned about the full operations of hotel management. Lastly, in my three years in Monash, I learned to prepare documents and write properly. Now, I can use my skills in my current position,” she added.
Dorak Tours has since established branches in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, São Paulo, Paris, and Milan.
Although many accusations and false rumors were made against Eliz’s office in the tourism industry, Eliz managed to penetrate into the Singapore industry recently. Three of the tour agencies had approached and stated their interests to deal with her company.
“When we are covered in the presence of the Lord, and dwell in His Presence, we do not need to strive with our own strength actually,” said Eliz.
When you honour God in your workplace, God will shine forth His Light through you.
References for pictures:
http://www.doraksales.com/AnaResimler/Kapadokya-Paketi-1.jpg
http://www.doraksales.com/AnaResimler/Istanbul-Classics-City-Tour-3.jpg
Hi, I read with much interest on christian tours in Turkey. I plan to tour Turkey in the near future and would appreciate very much if you could provide your schedule for 2014 and 2015. Your reply is very much appreciated. Thank you.
Hello Eunice,
I have given your email address to Eliz Grace. She should be contacting you soon.
Blessings,
Adeline