What a person observes is a recurrent theme in the Scriptures. In Genesis, chapter one, God saw that everything was good. Why then do people lose their temper? Because they focus on the negatives. Why are people troubled and depressed? Because they fixate on the negatives. And why do people miss opportunities? Because they lack discernment. The lens through which one views things is critically important.

How to Train People

How can people be trained? That is the question we need to address. If people cannot be trained, talk is futile. Let's focus on what is useful. As an educator, I firmly believe that people can be trained. If you do not believe that people can be trained, then meaningful discourse becomes impossible. Why? Because you believe they are immutable.

I used to hold the view that a cat could never become a dog, nor a dog a cat. This view has some merit, but the issue is whether people can be trained. If a person is inherently a certain way, and you merely train them to be more of what they already are, that has little bearing on the cat-dog analogy. I often find myself wrestling with the question of whether the investment in training a particular individual is worthwhile. It can be excruciating, especially when it seems like you are trying to turn a cat into a dog. However, I have endeavoured to resist this line of thinking. Training a person's vision, I must believe that people can be trained. In the process of training people, faith plays a vital part.

Over the years, I have witnessed many success stories. One notable example is a child who initially struggled academically but gradually improved. Through training, they have excelled and are now doing well. Therefore, training and developing people, as an educator, yields immense rewards and a strong sense of fulfilment.

Training People's Vision

What do I want to share with you today? Training people's vision! How is vision trained? You ask me how to train people's vision, and I must admit it is a challenge. Do I truly know how to train people’s vision? I am still striving to figure it out. For example, during our renovation project, I poured my heart and soul into it. The workers would make mistakes if you didn't constantly supervise them. Of course, you could hire better workers. I am grateful that Brother ZH was willing to take on the renovation work for us. His quote was the lowest, and his scope was the most comprehensive, which was a great deal for us. The masons, tilers, and carpenters he brought in were quite good. However, when I hired a local air conditioning vendor to install the units, it was a headache. The entire process was incredibly frustrating. Even though I am an amateur in air conditioning, I could see that things were not right. I was deeply moved that these workers, who install air conditioners every day, couldn't see these problems. So, I resolved to train our full-time staff and brothers and sisters in the church to use their vision when doing things. I entrusted the task to several brothers and sisters to inspect the installation. Underneath the counter, there are network cables and water pipes. On the counter, there is a water basin for filtered drinking water. Above, there is a cabinet for the router and switch, with network cables plugged in. I asked what they saw as a potential problem. Eventually, someone noticed that there was no door for the cabinet. I brought it up because I wanted them to see how the network cables ran from the bottom up and were exposed in the gap. The exposed cables looked unsightly. I impressed upon them that we must cultivate the vision to observe such details during this process. A person's vision is developed through training.

I spoke about vision previously, mentioning a little girl who studied in Singapore. She came to my office and organized the books on the bookshelf neatly. I was impressed because she did it without being instructed. I believed she would go far in life because she was both proactive and observant. Many people go in and out without noticing anything. How is a person's vision trained? I do not know the definitive answer. One approach is for me to train people through my work. By guiding people through tasks, I want to stimulate their eyes and minds. How their brains react to what their eyes see—that is how their vision is trained. Vision is not merely about the eyes; it is about the brain. It’s about what the brain does after the eyes see something. I have come to realize that training can be encapsulated in two phrases: eyes to see people and mind for things. I learned this from a classmate—a younger brother among us—who found a job at my classmate’s company. My classmate instructed him to have eyes to see people and a mind for things. What does it mean to have eyes to see people? It means seeing the boss, understanding his problems, and knowing what he wants. And what does it mean to have a mind for things? It means understanding a situation and taking things logically in order. I submit to you that the most inept person is a selfish person, someone who is utterly self-absorbed and never considers others, whose needs are completely irrelevant to them—how foolish! Why do they lack vision? It's because they don’t see problems for what they are. For instance, a boss gives an employee a task and says, Get this done. The employee responds, I can't. I have to catch the 5 o'clock bus. The boss says nothing but thinks, This kid is a fool. Could the employee not say, Boss, I have to catch the 5 o'clock bus, but can I finish this at home? If not, I will stay and complete it. Just tell me when you need it. If you need it by 9 o'clock, I'll give it to you by 8:45. They have eyes only for their bus, not for the boss. So where do you begin in training the brothers' and sisters' vision? By beginning with having eyes to see people.

Whenever I did odd jobs, I did what was expected of me. And if something wasn't my responsibility, I tried to do it anyway if no one else would. Some would argue that this would lead to exhaustion, but I was never exhausted. Why? Because I enjoy working. I have no other hobbies. I don’t like travelling, playing mahjong, or indulging in food and drink. My only hobby is working. I tackled problems as soon as I saw them, and after forming that habit, my efficiency greatly increased. I can identify the problem with just a glance, without much effort.

I wondered if I could establish these methods and habits within our church community. I eventually found a way: by giving them a little pressure, making them feel stressed, worked, and challenged hard, and then they would see where things were going.

I use words that are more suited for releasing stress. Some people say, “Pastor, you’re so unkind.” In truth, I could do the work myself and it would save me the trouble. However, if I do it all, the brothers and sisters will not develop their vision, and I would feel like I’m failing them. So, I seize opportunities to call on them: “Come, handle this matter. Come, handle that matter.”

If they still cannot see the need, I would continue to put a little pressure on them. A lack of vision itself is a kind of curse. If you are willing to change after hearing my reprimanding words, then you will emerge from that curse, is that not so? Solving the problem of vision truly is the core of our pastoral work. Being a teacher is also a form of pastoral guidance. Being a counsellor is also a form of pastoral guidance. Shaping these people, training them, is the work of an educator, is it not? So I think, the first thing is to train a person to have eyes to see people.

When some brothers and sisters go for interviews, can they see and understand people's needs? It's not that difficult. What people want, what they don't want, what they like, what they dislike—it can all be figured out quickly. So, if you ask me to train someone’s vision, where do I start? By beginning with seeing the needs of others. If you have a clear understanding of people's needs, your brain will quickly respond, “That’s what they need.”

Practice Your Own Vision

Is your brain thinking about the needs of this person and that person? When I do my work, I hope to be a painkiller to my superiors. If you are a painkiller to your boss, solving his problems with wisdom, then you will find favour with him. Having eyes to see people starts there, by analysing people’s needs. I never teach people how to make money; I teach them how to understand people's needs.

Before we do anything, we should ask ourselves: have I satisfied my customer, my boss, or the person for whom I am doing this? Have I met their needs? Some people say they are already very tired and under great pressure. Why are you under so much pressure? Because you haven’t been working correctly. If you do a job and the boss says it's no good, would you not be pressured? The boss walks past you with a dark look. You ask, Is this okay, boss? You say, It's fine. Just leave it there and go play. If I were you, I would also be under great pressure. The method I am teaching you is a method for resolving pressure. If you don't have vision, you will be under great pressure. Think about it: you did the work, but the boss doesn't like it. You say, I have done it! I did everything you asked me to do! But have you met the boss' requirements? No. He doesn't even want to pay attention to you and finds it a waste of effort to talk to you.

I earnestly hope that our brothers and sisters will be trained. Let's say I have vision, but I don’t have time to do the work. Who says I don’t have time? How do I make time? You may be busier than me or just as busy as me, but I should be doing more things than you. I still sometimes sweep the floor and clean the water room, and it doesn’t interfere with anything else. Can't you just treat it as a form of rest? So, we need to change our mindset. If we don't change our mindset and fill our heads with trash, our lives will be miserable, and we will not even know how we became miserable, let alone how to reverse it.

Ask yourself in every situation, Who am I doing this for? Have I met their needs by doing this? Have I achieved their goals? Some people need a lot of training because they don’t know. Even the people you work with, if they not your boss, they could be your colleagues and you may pass the work to them. Can you solve the problems?

What Is Vision?

Vision is essentially a core component of mental capacity. The eyes and the brain are connected, but you can look without seeing and hear without understanding. For example, we can all read the same Bible, but we may look at it without understanding it and hear it without comprehending it. So, I want to address vision, which is a core component of a person's core competitiveness. If your vision is constantly improving, you will see how one thing should be done and how another thing should be done. You would be trained to not only understand the purpose of doing something, but also the specific parameters and how to meet people's needs, all while knowing the methods to go about doing it. All of this is vision. The eyes see, you think; you think, then you see again; you see again, then you think again, and then you solve the problem. That's vision.

Eyes to See People

Having eyes to see people is very important. Actually, this is not said by Christians. I’m borrowing it from someone else. 'Mind for things' means knowing What problems do I want to solve? What is this problem? What is that problem? Are there any problems with this? Are there any problems with that? You will know at a glance. For example, recently when I returned to Singapore, our company office in Singapore was in a terrible state—very messy. I won't say that I cleaned up well, but it wasn't a very difficult task to do. When I called Brother HF, he said, Pastor, I'm sorry, but we tried our best. We tried our best but also did not try our best, and then we gave it our best, and after much deliberation on the matter, it sounded like there was effort and at the same time, there was no effort at all. I feel that everything we touch can improve on. This place can improve a bit, that place can improve a bit, this place can be organized a bit more, and that place can be organized a bit more. And little by little, it will improve gradually.

Mind for Things

What is the Mind for Things? To have that progressive space to improve. To want see the different things that need to be improved and improve upon them—isn’t that good? For example, Sister Xiao Yang stayed here for period of time. While staying here, the place that she stayed needed to be freshened up or she needed to take a shower or take a wash. She had to figure get by, but no one has ever concerned themselves with it. Yesterday, after I saw it, I had a shower head installed. They were thinking of installing a water heater and that that would be super complicated to install the water pipes at the same time. All I need to do is just replace the faucet, and it's actually great as well. The water is also warm. So, you must have that Mind for Things, that progressive space to improve. To train up, shepherd and build, someone else, you want them to have progress, not to just solely be a religious man. Your aim isn’t to just have him be a religious man., but to have that place to improve, and that place to improve, and to improve a little bit every day. Saying and shouting Hallelujah must be done loudly, but cannot improve anything, then is not OK. You must be have progress, little by little, every single day. So, a Mind for Things is important, you must ask yourself, What things are there that need improvements, and how do I to improve it, and in what way should it be improved? That would be having good vision.

Be Able to See Problems

If people are able to see problems, then that person has basically walked into the solving problems stage, and half of the job is done. The most terrifying part is when you CANNOT see the problems. How you going to solve the problems? The things that we do can actually elevate the space of the progress we want to improve. It will give us lots of that space. If you train and you have a good eye and in one glance you know what exactly is to be done, you can bless a person. Someone makes a decision to become a Christian and lives out his Christian walk his entire life, and ask Lord, why are you not blessing me? What your eyes see is what is yours. What if you cannot see, how you going to own is? From the Bible, something very important is shared, what you see with your eyes, is what is yours. What you have seen, you will obtain; what you cannot see, how you can take it! So, the opportunity is all around, but what counts is if you have that vision to see the opportunity. You have seen, and you will obtain. Some people forever cannot see what the opportunity is. Then during the housing and property rise, he won't buy. Then wait until property has inflated and he buys, then the price drop comes, then he sells it out again - So during then, that means this entire life is very tough.

So, I am very touched, on how we can let our education and training can develop a full set of training that teaches one's ability to observe, his problem-solving skills, and also his way to improve our skills, and that all needs to be a concern of ours.

The session spoke about, Having eyes, to see people, Mind for things to talk about training those, through multiple sides. In January, I've previously spoken about Vision. Even through the children are still young, you must train their vision. Yesterday, I watched a video that spoken about the health, but on the other hand, has been trained and showed the other family member, his child, on taking care of his father. He's using a 5 year old to treat his father as if an handicapped elderly person and feed him with biscuits and porridge. I felt it was something meaningful and insightful. Next, we still have a lot of work to do. Before you judge something the way it is, don't say the things you see are always a bad thing. When you see problems, then you see the opportunities to solve problems, and in turn, you also are in a position to improve your skills. If you are only good at seeing things, what are you good for! You are only good at being a leech, nothing can done. What if it's good, what will you be able to do? All will be of others doing.

You MUST be able to capture these opportunities. Opportunity is that you are wanting to improve on those issues. When Mr Ma, saw China's E-Commerce being an empty plot, he saw that opportunity, the result, now that is for sure Taobao, Alibaba and Tmall. This long journey to train others to see. Then we must train the family the journey of Micro-Business? Some do it well, some do it bad. The ones that do it good and the ones that do it bad. The key is the most important is your vision, Have you seen the opportunities? There are others that are more important. That's all. So, one must remember that you must not be selfish, always not think of yourself only to think more of others, then you will have vision. One to see parts that need to be improved and solve those problems, there is your vision. There are other visions as well, that I will share with you today, thank you everyone.

Greetings.
Let us begin the translation.