Moises Y.

Acayan Strategic Leadership

Interview with Rev. Benjamin Young

Director of Youth Gospel Center in the Philippines

1. How did you become a Christian?

My brother invited me to join Youth Gospel Center (YGC). Back then I didn’t have

any idea what YGC was all about. I just went there to play pingpong, and I joined a

student conference in Baguio. It was through the student conference that I came to

know Christ.
2. Who are the people who influenced you to become who you are as a leader?
The people who had an influence on me are mostly women, and there are three of

them. My mom, her prayer and devotion to God; Jane Chong, former director of

Youth Gospel Center, whom I had the privilege to work with when I was still in my

fourth year high school; and Ptr. Phoebe Lim, my former youth counselor. She used

to encourage me to be faithful in small things, and God will give you greater things to

do for Him.
As to becoming a pastor, I would consider Dr. Timothy Lim, former president of

China Evangelical Seminary in Taiwan, who had the most impact in my formation as

a pastor. At that time, by the end of the semester, he would fly back to the US, and

pastor his church, then comes back to teach in the seminary. He was transparent to

the faculty, and students. I remember that one of my classmates asked him to teach

them to cast out demons, but he told us that we cannot learn it in a classroom

setting. He also told us that we learn it from our local pastors. That shows how

important the local church is for him.

3. How did you receive your calling to become a pastor?

I came to know Christ through the ministry of youth Gospel Center. I was disciple

and trained here to become a leader. In 1977, I had the opportunity to join

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 leadership training. In 1979, I received God’s calling in a camp. Through the camp,

the Lord spoke to me. One of the passages in Matthew spoke to me, wherein the

Lord went through all the town and province, seeing those people like a lamb

without a shepherd. That passage touched my heart, so during the altar call, I gave

myself to God’s call for full-time ministry.

I can say that I was able to become a pastor solely by the grace of God. I was in high

school, when I responded to God’s call. Then, in college I studied in PSBA to become

an accountant. After college graduation, I pursued a Masters in Business

Administration (MBA) in De La Salle University. At the same time, I was serving

part-time in YGC. I was also accepted as an irregular student at Biblical Seminary of

the Philippines (BSOP). Those were my plans, but God had a different plan for me.

One time I attended a Full-timers Conference, and the topic in one of the morning

devotions was the account of Jonah running away from God. On the third day of the

conference, I confessed to the Lord that I was like Jonah, running away from Him.

After the conference, I told my mom about it, and decided to drop from my MBA

program because I knew that was my personal plan and not God’s plan for me. I

heeded God’s call in 1985, and decided to go full-time to study in a seminary.

4. Where did you study for your seminary training?
Initially, I wanted to study in the Philippines. I have a bed-ridden sister, and I don’t

have the financial capability to study abroad. I was also then serving part-time here

in YGC. But, my three women counselors told me that if I wanted to serve in a

Chinese church, I have to go to Taiwan so that I can be fluent in Chinese language.

During the 1980s, there were only few Chinese schools offering Chinese subjects,

since I needed to enhance my Chinese, I then decided to go to Taiwan. I studied at

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 China Evangelical Seminary of Taiwan, which was highly recommended to me by my

counselor.
5. How were you able to pay for your seminary training?
Honestly, it was by God’s grace. In 1985, as part-time staff of YGC, my salary was

only meager, and I have to pay around a hundred thousand pesos for seminary

training. At that year, YGC began to have a staff development program. The staff who

dedicated for full-time ministry can avail of it. So I was the first recipient of that

program. It was through YGC’s staff development program that I was able to pay my

seminary training.
6. Prior to becoming the Director of YGC, where did you minister?
1975-1979- Part-time Business Manager, Accountant, Bookstore Manager of YGC
1989-1998- Pastoral Staff of YGC
1998- June 2015- Senior Pastor of Gerizim Evangelical Church
July 2015- Present- Director of YGC
In 1989, the founding members of Gerizim Evangelical Church (GEC) invited me to

assist them. So I had been serving full-time in YGC, and I was also assisting (GEC).

When the young people sponsored by YGC to study in the seminary came back, the

Lord led me to move to another ministry, this time to be the pastor of GEC.
Prior to leaving YGC, there were two other churches which invited me to be their

pastor. One church even promised to give me a large sum of salary, cars, and other

material needs. However, I sensed that God wanted me to serve in GEC.

Then, for almost a decade of pastoring GEC, I noticed that there were already

several young leaders serving in the church, so I then decided to pass the baton, and

informed the church board about my decision to step down. When my contract with

Gerizim was about to end, the chairman of the board YGC then invited me to become

YGC’s director because its’ director was about to retire. I was surprised about the

offer because it seemed timely, that I was already planning to leave Gerizim. It was

my conviction to never tell anyone about my plans. For me, I just want to pray about
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 my plans, and let God do the leading. But, I immediately declined the offer, but I was

told to first pray about it. Several months had passed, and it seemed that the Lord

was leading me back to YGC, so I accepted the offer to become the Director of YGC.
7. What are your vision and mission for the ministry?
My vision is to equip and empower people. As to YGC, I envision it to be a place

where young people can experience the love of God. I also see it as training ground

for young people to become future church leaders. I intend to accomplish the vision

of equipping and empowering through the small groups. Right now, we have 20

small groups, and we intend to increase them. In the small groups, the young people

are cared for and equipped for the ministry. It is also through the small group that

the young people can exercise their spiritual gifts.

As to vision casting, I would always remind the staffs and bible leaders on how YGC

had become a blessing to them, so as to be motivated in equipping and empowering

more young people. As a result, more young people could come to the knowledge of

the Lord Jesus.

8. What are your most important values and ethics that you demonstrate as a

leader?
My central core value is servanthood. Paul never said he is a servant leader. He said

that he is a servant. When we say we are a servant leader, there is the term leader

which tends to make us proud or arrogant. The central idea of servanthood is

humility. Another is the importance of punctuality. I believe that we have to

respect other people’s time. Lastly, Integrity in the ministry is important.

9. What methods have you used to gain commitment from your team?
Firstly, by revisiting the mission and vision of YGC. I would always remind them of

YGC’s vision and mission. Secondly, I am currently reviewing the work policies of

YGC. We intend to come up with the employees manual. The manual will regulate

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 the working hours, benefits, and privileges of the staff. Before YGC did not have any

clear policies for the staffs, especially when it comes to their benefits.
10.How would your co-workers describe your leadership style? / What do you

think is your leadership style?

I believe in working in teams. I don’t believe in dictatorial type of leadership. I

would consult other people’s opinion. In the seminary and in other places, I

observed that it is more fruitful and positive to work with a team, and to work as a

team.
11.What are your strengths as leader? What are your weaknesses and how do you

manage your weaknesses?

I would say that my strength is in the aspect conflict resolution. Wherever you go,

there is conflict. Jesus prayed for unity, and it been my conviction to maintain unity.

As to my weakness, I guess it is being stern. People hate it because I am rigid, and I

want to always stick with rules and policies. For example, now that we are

developing the employees’ manual, and the staff are not used to having policies.

They are not so happy about it because of the adjustments. Another weakness, I

think is that I lack communication skills. I often get misunderstood or that I fail to

be clear with what I intend to convey. So what I do is I repeat myself in explaining

things to other people.

12.Name situation in which you struggled as a leader and what did you do about

it?
When I had to discipline one of our church leader. I asked the advice of my mentor,

Rev. Isaiah Tingson, about it, before I implemented the church discipline. There is a

struggle because he is a church leader, and church discipline is a public matter. As

Chinese, we value “our name and face”. There is a struggle between “saving face”

and disciplining the sinning church leader. On one hand, we do not want to shame
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 the sinning leader, on the other hand, we have to discipline him publicly, so there is

really the struggle. Nevertheless, I confronted the person, together with the other

another as witness, and implemented the discipline. We explained the matter to the

congregation, and the sinning church leader underwent church discipline. In the

end, the sinning church leader repented.

13.How do you make hard decisions? Do you consult people? (what’s your

decision making process?) Can you describe a conflict or opposition that you

experienced and how did you handle it?

First, I pray. Second, I share and consult with the board of trustees, especially to

those who are more discerning and godly. I would also consult with my mentor Rev.

Isaiah Tingson, and he would give wise and godly advices.

All leaders experience opposition. However, I tend to look at opposition from

another perspective. I evaluate the criticism, and see if the criticism is correct. I

would then consider the criticism as a suggestion. However, if the person has

ulterior motive then we just entrust him to the Lord. The Lord says “Vengeance is

mine”. We don’t retaliate. We cannot stop the mouth of people, but we can live out

our life. I stick to my conviction to stand for the unity of the church.
I also choose the problems I share with my spouse. If I do share to my wife, I only

tell her about the problem without any reference to the person causing the trouble.

If I share the specifics to my spouse, she would be emotionally affected by the

situation. Worst, I fear that she may even begin to have negative treatments on the

troublemaker, instead of simply praying over the matter and entrusting the problem

to the Lord. I prefer to focus on the problem than on the personalities involve. Just

like I said, it is my conviction to maintain unity in the body of Christ, and just prove

by my life that the criticism or rumor is baseless.

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14.How about for single pastors who do not have spouses?
Well I advise that they share the problem with their prayer partner or mentor.
15. You mentioned about having a mentor, so is it important to have a mentor?
Yes, I would advise and encourage pastors to have a mentor. Until now, I consult

them at times when I needed some advice.

16.What do you do when you’re discouraged? Have you ever thought of quitting

ministry? How did you overcome this?

I overcome my discouragement through prayer and fellowship with others. For

several times, I wanted to quit in the ministry. What kept me going is the love for the

Lord.
17.How do you balance family and ministry? What is your leadership style at

home? How did your leadership style change when your children are small

and now that they are teenagers already?

Aside from explaining the nature of my work to my children, since they seldom see

me at home, I would also find time to compensate the time loss for my spouse and

children. My wife really plays a vital role in the family because she stays most of the

time with our children. During day off, I would treat my spouse and children out for

dinner. Dinner for me is the most important time because it is the only time that we

are all complete. Moreover, when the children are in school, I find time to date my

wife. I remember going out with her enjoying a simple congee and pandesal with

her, and enjoy the time with her. It is not just time with the children, but time with

my wife is also vital for me. I also believe that it is not just quantity of time, but also

quality time with them. Now that my children are working, I make it a point to have

“date” or bonding time with them. For example, I brought my son to Singapore when

he graduated college and my daughter to Hong Kong when she graduated. So we go

out, and at times, we play games outside.

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 When my children were still young, I was more dictatorial to impose discipline.

However, now that they are working, I changed my leadership style. I engage them

in the decision making process at home. I have to admit that I am still learning to

hear and listen to my children.

18.As the Director, how do you make yourself accountable?
By transparency and open communication with the staffs and Board of Trustees.

Under the board of trustees, there are subcommittees, and I regularly report to these

subcommittees. On the other hand, they would also supervise me. I also initiated a

prayer meeting every morning, so during these prayer meetings, we discuss the

problems, and pray for solutions.

On a personal level, I let the staffs discuss matters with me. I am always open for

discussions.
19.How do you want to be remembered as leader? / What legacy do you want to

leave behind?
I want to be remembered as a faithful servant. I don’t want to be remembered for

the things I did. I prefer to seek the Lord’s approval than of men.
20.What do you do to make sure that you finish strong?
I believe it is through accountability; through peer review/critique. It is only

through this method that we can make sure that we are not distracted, and remain

focused on the job.

21.What do you do for relaxation?

I go outside and have a breeze walk.