This is one of the most interesting guys I have met so far. Den is currently working in partnership with some of the KIM people and has some incredible projects he is coming up with for community development and God is just truly blessing them. He is working within the community that surrounds the KIM base in Manila and helping start businesses with some of the impoverished families. The way Den is setting up these business opportunities is by fueling people by what they’re gifted with. The lady he is partnering with now is a great cook, so they are making sack lunches and delivering to some of the workers around the area. The goal was to make his capital back in six months and pour it into another opportunity. With is first project, Den should make his capital back in less than two months and start a new project in a couple of weeks.
However, Den’s life wasn’t always headed this direction. He is Filipino but spent the majority of his life in Hong Kong, mixed up in things he greatly regrets. I loved hearing about his past and his journey out because he comes from a long line crime with a family full of Godfathers, drug lords, gang leaders, and everything in between. With a heritage like this, it’s hard to have a decent moral compass, but instead of heading into the leadership positions, Den got mixed up in the drugs they were selling. It wasn’t until a man came along and locked him into his spare bedroom to dry him out that Den realized where this life was taking him.
Over several days, Den dealt with the withdraw symptoms as the drugs slowly left his body. By the time he was clean, this man told him all about the Gospel and that Jesus loved him enough to forgive his past and give him a future despite the brokenness he was in. As Den cleaned up over the next several months, he made his way back to the Philippines and God gave him a heart for his own people. He committed his life to serving the Lord first, followed by the Filipino people and now God is allowing him to see the fruit of his ministry.
In the capital, it’s easy for a man of privilege, like Den, to use his name and skill to work his way into the elite class, but God has a little different plan. Instead of Den working his way, he’s helping families work their way out of poverty. However, instead of giving people the answers, Den prefers to just ask them the right questions and force them to find the answers. By doing this, Den takes a day long conversation and stretches it into a month long one, but people have their answers for life. It’s not about him knowing the answers anyway, it’s about them.
I’m blessed by Den’s life and vision to bring a person, family, neighborhood, and potentially nation out of poverty. Sure it’s a huge, possibly unattainable goal, but I love dreaming like this, because we don’t have to settle for the hands we were dealt…
