From The Gem Museum to Freedom Encounter: How God Uses Every Calling

Sharing about wealth to the creatives during Freedom Encounter Conference 2025.

The Beginning...

If someone had told me years ago that one day I would be organising a Christian conference, I probably would have laughed.

After all, my world revolved around gemstones.

I spent years studying gemology, training students, building businesses, and eventually co-founding The Gem Museum Singapore. Every day was filled with rocks, minerals, exhibitions, education, and conversations about one of God’s most beautiful creations.

It didn’t look anything like ministry.

Or so I thought.

God Rarely Wastes Our Journey

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned is that God rarely calls us away from who we are. More often, He redeems what He has already placed in our hands.

Looking back, I can now see that the museum was never just about gemstones.

It became a place where families gathered, students discovered wonder, travellers encountered beauty, and conversations about faith happened naturally.

It became a platform. Not because we planned it that way. Because God did.

Over the years, that platform grew beyond museum tours and gemology classes. It led to worship gatherings through BlessingsFM, overseas missions, creative workshops, business conversations, and eventually Freedom Encounter Conference.

Each new step felt different. Yet every step was connected.

Calling Is Bigger Than a Job Title

For a long time, I thought calling meant doing one thing. I thought people were either pastors or business owners. Missionaries or entrepreneurs. Artists or professionals. Church or marketplace. It has always been difficult to navigate both.

But Scripture paints a much bigger picture. God places people everywhere.

Some preach. Some teach. Some build businesses. Some compose music. Some tell stories through film. Some raise families. Some steward finances. Some create beauty.

Each calling is different, yet every calling can glorify God.

The question is not whether our work is “spiritual.”

The question is whether we are willing to invite God into it.

Finding Worship in Everyday Work

One of my favourite places to worship isn’t necessarily on a stage. Sometimes it’s standing in the museum, explaining how a gemstone was formed deep within the earth over millions of years. Sometimes it’s designing a conference programme. Sometimes it’s planning a mission trip. Sometimes it’s writing. Sometimes it’s sitting across the table from someone, listening to their story.

I’ve realised that worship isn’t confined to a song. It is found wherever we faithfully offer our gifts back to God.

The Heart Behind Freedom Encounter

Perhaps that’s why Freedom Encounter Conference means something to me.

It isn’t simply about creativity. Or worship. Or business. Or leadership.

It’s about helping people discover that God can use every part of their lives.

The artist. The entrepreneur. The teacher. The engineer. The student. The parent. The marketplace professional. The retiree.

Every calling matters because every calling can become a place where God’s Kingdom is made visible.

What I’ve Learned

If there’s one thing this journey has taught me, it’s this:

Don’t wait for a different platform before saying “yes” to God.

Use the one He has already given you. Your classroom. Your café. Your office. Your studio. Your business. Your home.

Your gifts may look very different from someone else’s. That’s okay. God delights in diversity because His Kingdom is beautifully diverse. He doesn’t ask us to imitate another person’s calling. He simply asks us to be faithful with our own.

A Continuing Journey

People sometimes ask me whether I’m a business owner, a worship leader, a museum educator, or a conference organiser.

The answer is yes. Not because I wear many hats. But because they are all different expressions of the same calling.

Today, I no longer see these as separate parts of my life. I see them as different rooms in the same house God is building.

Each one has opened doors to conversations, relationships, and opportunities I could never have planned on my own. And perhaps that’s the invitation for all of us. To stop asking whether our calling is “big enough.”

And instead ask,

“Lord, how can I be faithful with what You’ve already placed in my hands?”

Because sometimes the most unexpected platform becomes the very place where God reveals His greatest purpose.

Ms. Loke graduated with a BSc. (Pharm) and Dip. in Gemmology (UK). She had been teaching gemmology since 2010 and had co-founded The Gem Museum, Singapore. The Gem Museum is the first and most comprehensive gems and minerals museum in Singapore open to the public. In 2021, she was licensed as a financial planner and is now on her way to acquiring the Associate Specialist Estate Planner (ASEP) Certification. Her vision is to be the go-to person for families and businesses that believe in building and leaving a legacy for generations. To contact Sarah for a chit-chat session, email her at huiying@gem.com.sg or WhatsApp +65 97324091.