Our Story

The story begins with a poor hillbilly family living in the southern part of China, their regional dialect signifying them as a minority among their own people.  Pooling their savings to scape together enough transportation funds for a single person, this family had an opportunity to send one of their children to fabled America in the hopes of a better living and future support for themselves. The oldest of six sons was chosen and placed on a ship at the age of 12, bearing his family’s aspirations and dreams on his shoulders. Their hopes were not in vain, and despite opposition and unfamiliarity in the foreign land the young boy grew to become a thriving businessman, successfully living out the “American Dream” and faithfully supporting his family back in China.

However, not only was he successful in obtaining physical wealth, but also gaining that which was intangible and yet held even greater value. He won the respect of others, seeking neither to cheat nor short change those he interacted with. He acquired the affection of others, being known as a generous man to many and took the initiative to provide jobs to the struggling and downcast. Yet, this man’s greatest gain was neither bought nor earned; rather, it was a gift freely given and openly received by him: the inherited spiritual blessing through accepting Jesus.

I am the daughter of this man.  Even though my father did not know Jesus until the end of his life, I was always close to him and am grateful that he enabled me to understand what a father’s heart is like.  The kindness and integrity shown to others, the sacrificial love and care shown to me – these traits modeled by my earthly father helped me better grasp those similar characteristics infinitely greater displayed by my heavenly father.

It is with this mindset and heart that I hoped to build our foundation upon. Gen123’s inception began as a family conversation with our children. We were pondering 2 Peter 3:10, which notes that ‘the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up…’

Intrigued, my husband and I asked our two sons the following question:

“So guys, if this is true and if everything is going to burn up in the end but you have a million dollars, is there anything that you can invest in that won’t burn up and will last for eternity?”

It was quite silent for awhile; I could see that they were thinking. Suddenly, one of them got all excited and triumphantly exclaimed, “I know!  Bibles!  We should invest in Bibles.”  Sadly enough, I had to remind them that, while the Word itself is holy, the paper inscribed with the text was not and would burn quite nicely in an Apocalyptic event. My sons were then momentarily stumped. Finally one of them said, “people…we should invest in people because their souls will live forever.”  It is this moment of insight that provided the seed of thought for Gen123’s establishment.  Our desire is to provide a model for our sons which allows them to see our finances invested into the souls of people, an endeavor reaping eternal gains outlasting its fleeting earthly value.

It is with this value in mind that Gen123 was created.  As the name implies, our vision is to see God’s Abrahamic covenant and promise fulfilled:

“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

As a “famil[y] of the earth” ourselves, we have already experienced a fulfillment of this promise. Much of Gen123 would not be logistically possible were it not for my father’s labor and financial blessings. Indeed, we have been richly blessed both spiritually and physically through the many Christian brothers and sisters who provide us constant encouragement and support. Our hope now, therefore, is to share these abundant blessings with those around the globe, to continue to fulfill God’s Abrahamic covenant promising that, not just a few, not only some, but rather “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

We welcome you to join us by sharing your ideas with us on how to live out our vision statement, which defines our investment decisions. Together, we will partake of what Jesus promised when he said that “the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”