When she was 17 years old, Joyce Lo made a promise to God.
“I am full time for You, part time for the world.”
God took her word for it.
For the next 35 years, Joyce served God in a myriad of ways in and out of church. She ushered, sang backup, led worship and cell groups, mentored young adults and ministered on campus and overseas.
However, the bedrock of her ministry was beyond church walls, in the marketplace. Joyce told this to more than 400 attendees at the inaugural Salt&Light Christians in Banking & Finance Gathering that took place recently.
“Our primary purpose on this earth is the Great Commission. Where I work is a mission field,” Joyce said. “Whether we are in good condition or not, God can work through us.”
True to her vow to God, the 52-year-old has started a cell group in every workplace she has been.
Going all in
At 13, Joyce gave her life to Jesus.
But as the only Christian in a family of eight and no community to rally around her, Joyce drifted from church. “Other than my Bible study teacher, I had no support group,” she told Salt&Light in an interview.
Extracurricular activities at school – field, ball games and the military band – soon took priority and replaced church.
“Since I had no friends in church, I felt nobody cared if I went or not,” Joyce said.
But at 16, Joyce burnt out under pressure despite her apparent success at school. “I felt empty, as if no one understood me,” she shared.
Joyce looked everywhere for answers for her melancholy but found none. At her lowest point, she felt a quiet prompting to “give God another chance”.
She pulled out her long-abandoned Bible and read the book of Psalms and Proverbs. The Word of God jumped out at her, especially the Psalms of David, who cried out to God, encouraged Himself and always returned to the truth that God was sovereign.
“Suddenly, it all made sense to me,” Joyce told Salt&Light. “I realised life was not as bad as I had thought if I gave my life back to God.”
Shortly after at pre-university, Joyce met a Christian who connected her with a group of three to four friends with whom she “talked God”.
“That small group was church for me.”
Joyce eventually ended up going back to church when she met another friend who brought her to Marine Parade Christian Centre and plugged her into a cell group. Her faith found grounding in the cell group and grew.
It was then she rededicated her life to God and made that promise to Him.
From that point, Joyce came to understand the importance of cell group. “That’s where we find our support, our grounding and also learn the Word of God.”
She became acutely aware of the need to have the same kind of support and community in the world, not just in church.
“It’s like charcoal. On your own, you burn out quickly. But together with others, you can start a fire,” she said.
“It’s like charcoal. On your own, you burn out quickly. But together with others, you can start a fire.”
Joyce decided she would start a cell group everywhere she went.
A cell group in every workplace
At 21 years old, working in the steel industry, Joyce started her first workplace cell group.
Although she was the youngest in her office, she made it a point to talk to people over group lunches and prayed for opportunities to go deeper. She would then initiate one-on-one lunches where she probed deeper into their faith journeys before throwing out the idea of starting a cell group.
Two years of relationship building later, Joyce gathered six colleagues into a cell group that met every Friday. They called themselves Ekklesia, reflecting the vision of the called-out assembly of people.
“We started off very slowly. We’d sit together, talk about the Word of God, then about our own lives before ending with prayer,” Joyce recalled. “Prayer was the main driver of the cell group and what bound us together.”
That became Joyce’s modus operandi: Love first, gather later.
Joyce’s modus operandi: Love first, gather later.
After seven years in the steel industry, God opened an unlikely door for Joyce in the banking industry. Though she had neither desire nor qualification, she was hired by DBS Private Bank in 2000.
“This job was a miracle,” Joyce recalled. “It is notoriously hard to get into private banking but I got the job with neither a banking background nor certification. I think God really wants me to go into the industry.”
But she struggled in the job. While navigating a new role in new territory, Joyce was also studying to be certified and qualified as a banker. At the time, she was also a newlywed then with hardly any time to spend with her husband.
“But I kept my word to start a cell group at the workplace,” Joyce told Salt&Light.
There was an existing cell group of four people at DBS. When she joined, she rallied to recruit more people. Within a year, the group grew to 15, even volunteering together as befrienders at the Institute of Mental Health every six months. They also threw Christmas parties at the office and invited pre-believing colleagues.
After seven years, Joyce left for UBS Singapore in 2007 and started a cell group. Despite the demanding KPIs and ever-changing work environment, members of the cell group kept their commitment to meet every week at lunch time to pray and to fellowship.
Joyce and her UBS cell group continued to meet for 14 years until God called her out. Although reluctant to uproot herself from the comfort and familiarity of the bank, Joyce conceded after a year of wrestling with God.
She joined Citi Private Bank in February 2022 as Director and Senior Private Banker.
The first three months was “a honeymoon” but business soon hit the skids and challenges mounted.
During that season, a few colleagues at Citi who had heard of her cell group in UBS reached out and invited her to start a cell group with them.
“You can imagine my struggle,” Joyce confessed to the attendees at the Gathering. “I was not in my best state – both spiritually and emotionally – but I kept my promise to God.”
The group at Citi began end 2022 with five members. Psalm 23 became her life line through a turbulent 2023. “Every verse came alive as I faced tremendous challenges, uncertainties and insecurities,” Joyce told the gathering. “I felt I had lost the cutting edge and I was afraid to stay in the cell group when I was so broken.
The core members of the Citi cell group pressed on with Joyce and continued to meet every Wednesday. Today, the group has grown to over 10 members.
Reminders from God in Zechariah 4:6 and Philippians 2:13 kept Joyce going:
Not by might, not my power but my Spirit, says the Lord. (Zechariah 4:6)
For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Phil 2:13)
“In the cell group, we remind each other to count every blessing – big or small – and to stop whining,” she told Salt&Light. “We encouraged one another to do what is right by God for our clients, even at the expense of our business, and to leave the outcome to God.”
The cell members pray for each other, for the company and for opportunities to reach out to their pre-believing colleagues. As she did in DBS, Joyce and her cell group served together, now with Meals-on-Wheels delivering meals to homebound individuals with no caregivers.
The Citi cell group meets alternate Wednesdays: One in the office to study the Word and to pray, and the other to fellowship over lunch. The cell group members invite pre-believing friends and colleagues to these lunches.
“I wanted to build an altar in any workplace I’m in (Exodus 20:24b) and to gather His people to worship Him and to build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11)”, Joyce said.
“I wanted to build an altar in any workplace I’m in.”
“I think that’s good fruit”
Over the years, Joyce has seen colleagues maturing in faith and lives changed.
Some colleagues who did not attend church previously have started to attend church.
Others who would have complained or given up in the past when facing problems are learning to turn to God in prayer or their pastors for help and guidance.
“In the past, some would go for a drink, complain and use expletives, but they now pray and seek God and talk to their Pastors,” Joyce noted.
“Lives are being transformed. I think that’s good fruit.”
One of Joyce’s colleagues who had been attending church but not a cell group decided to join one at his church after experiencing the encouragement from his office cell group.
Cell groups at work do not replace those at church; they are complementary, she pointed out.
“Cell groups at the workplace have an added layer of intimacy and relevance because everyone is in the same boat sharing the same struggles,’” she noted. “We can identify with one another and can be more targeted and specific in our prayers.”
Although working with integrity and wisdom is the call of every Christian, it is particularly crucial for those in the banking and finance industry because of its pivotal role on the economy.
“It is important for us who are in the industry to follow God’s example and teachings, and to let His Word shape our dealings with people and our work,” Joyce told Salt&Light.
“My hope is that by gathering as Christians, we will remind each other of our calling, encourage and pray for each other, and glorify God by doing what is right in His eyes.”
Joyce is also working with colleagues in the industry to establish small groups in their workplaces, training them to be bold in sharing the Gospel.
At Wesley Methodist Church, where Joyce worships with her family, she mentors a group of young women in the finance industry.
Looking back, Joyce sees why God called her into banking 25 years ago despite her reluctance.
“It is for such a time as this.”
Starting a workplace cell group
Forming a cell group is not difficult but it does require intentional effort, Joyce said.
She shares these tips when starting a cell group at work:
- Build friendships
Building the foundation of trust in a small group calls for relationship first. “You don’t go in asking immediately about cell groups,” she cautions. Joyce makes friends by taking a genuine interest in them, asking colleagues out for lunch or coffee and listens to them. In her first cell group in the steel industry, Joyce spent the first two of years building friendships before bringing them together as a cell group. “You sit down with them, have coffee and let them let them share with you. Then you broach the idea of a cell group,” she shared. - Build discernment
To create a safe place, one has to discern who to recruit into the cell group. “Don’t invite everyone,” Joyce advised. “Chemistry is very important. Find out who get along and who do not.” For those whose personalities and objectives do not fit with the cell group, Joyce suggests journeying with them separately. - Build support
Equip and support cell members to live out their faith at work and be a missionary in their sphere - Build bridges
As a light in the marketplace, cell groups are an effective means of being a bridge for pre-believing colleagues. At UBS, Joyce and her cell group threw Christmas parties and invited other colleagues. The Citi fellowship lunches are open to pre-believers to hear the testimonies of God’s hand in the workplace. “Our Christian faith is not just about me and God,” Joyce said. “It is God’s Great Commission to us to make disciples.”
Read also: Private banker and Pan Pacific CEO among winners of 2025 Marketplace Impact Award; Beyond the Balance Sheet: Joanne Lo’s Heart for Community
