‘…where three dreams cross’
In 2016, my father, grandfather and I were asked to speak about ‘generations’ at a conference for a Singaporean church. There were other speakers, all in ‘full-time ministry’. As I listened to them, I remember thinking to myself and God: why do we only hear stories from pastors and missionaries? What about the billions of people who follow Jesus who don’t fall into that category?
Perhaps a little ironically, one of the pastors present shared a scripture with me whilst praying for our family, later on in the event: “My heart is stirred by a noble theme / as I recite my verses for the king; / my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.” (Psalm 45:1) It felt prophetic…
Past and present
When the pastor shared this verse, I already had a blog (now benjaminchant.com). This space contained poetry and a few short stories from my life. As I was at university, its intended audience was fellow students and a few family members.
Since then, I have continued to expand the blog, but this man’s ‘word’ has blossomed into a (still rather young) professional career that includes editing my grandfather’s biography, writing and interviewing for a docu-series concept on the lives and work of ‘hidden’ artists and, most recently, ghostwriting/editing a Hong Kong executive’s story of prayer, grief and butterflies: The Butterfly Effect.
I believe all of these were set up by divine intervention: in each instance, someone called, and all I had to do was say ‘yes’. When Amii phoned me up about the last project, I immediately remembered my thought-prayer from seven years ago. Here was a Jesus-follower in the realm of business who had a story to tell… and she needed my help to get it out. God is good, and He had had a plan.
The neverending story
As you may remember, I have historically held beautiful, naive aspirations of jetting off to the ‘mission field’ of Southeast Asia. I had a heart to go wherever, whenever, however. In many ways, that heart remains, but with a renewed and more grounded sense of meaning: I can see God’s hand leading and guiding my own to release stories that will help others live with perspective, curiosity and hope.
The older I’ve got and the more God’s dreams have matured in me, the more I see how this ‘tent-making’ skill might dovetail with pioneering new frontiers in the Kingdom. I don’t know exactly what God has in store, but as I look back, I know I can trust Him. And if you would like to see where that story goes - God’s big-picture story - then stick around; I’ll be telling my small part of it here ;-)
Great expectations
Many Substacks involve regular updates and requests to support the writer’s work. I don’t think I can commit to either a dedicated frequency of posts or an approach where I offer some things to some people and not to others. I intend for this substack to remain free.
Instead, if you’d like to support me and those I have loved working with, why not check out the projects I’ve been involved with so far?
And if you need help telling a story of your own, you know who to ask…
Blessings on your journey, Ben!