As born again christians, my wife and I were led by God into the idea of starting a business that would glorify the name of Jesus. That will be a blessing to all who partake of it. Initially, we were unsure of the direction to take. But God led us every step of the way. From developing the products, to business setup and finally the launch. It is thus only appropriate for us to share alittle about our faith and our ministry for Christ Jesus. Our ministry in starting this business, is to bless others with our cakes and products. More than that, we endeavour to subtly and unobstrusively raise the awareness of God's love through our "special blessings" labeled on our cakeboxes. Our prayer is that each blessing will speak positively into the lives of those that read it.
Our Faith
God has been so real to us, especially in the last 2-3 years, that we do not hesitate to share our testimony and our faith with all who would listen and receive. We would not able to document all that God has done for us in this limited format but we will make an attempt to share the key highlights.
In 2001, my son was born. A healthy, bright and handsome child. Little would others know that during my wife's pregnancy, she contracted Chicken Pox. And there was a high chance that our son might be born with some bodily defects. At that time, we were very anxious and prayed hard for God to intervene and help us. We benefited from our christian cellgroup, who all prayed and interceded for our baby. Sometime later, even before our son was born, God put our hearts at ease. As we began to trust in Jesus for a complete healing, should our baby be affected by the virus. Today, our son is 41/2 years old and as perfect as can be.
In 2004, my younger daughter was born, prematurely, but healthy. In the later part of her pregnancy, my wife and I was told that our unborn baby girl suffered from "Intra Uterine Growth Restriction (IUGR)". This meant that for some reason, the baby is unable to continue growing in the womb. And that was a very risky condition. In addition, the gyneacologist advised that due to our baby's low weight, she is not ready to be delivered safely. She had been stagnated in growth for 1 month with a low weight of 1.7kg at 8mths. Again, we were devastated. To cut to the chase, Pastor Tay Cheng Kee from our church, Bethesda Cathedral, prayed for our unborn child. Rejecting all sickness and commanding a complete healing for her in Jesus' name. A week later, our baby started growing again! She put on a good 500 grams, and was safely born! Glory be to God.
Shortly after these events, my wife went through a period of severe depression. Stemming from the traumatic experiences mentioned above. In addition, I myself went through a series of health challenges. And was hospitalized 4 times in 3 months. It was on my hospital bed that, once again, Pastor Tay Cheng Kee and Pastor Mark Chew visited me. And told us to "come under the cover of the church". Sick and tired of being "sick and tired", we then made a commitment to follow God fervently. It was thereafter, that God completely restored me to health, delivered my wife from depression, and set us on a path of faith that led us intimately closer to God.
I should also mention that miraculous healings continued to follow our faith. My son had been sick every alternate week and was diagnosed as suffering from allergy. But now, with much prayer, he's been delivered from such sicknesses and is a healthy, active boy. He hardly falls sick now! More recently, he was down with "Hand, Foot, Mouth" disease, but after Pastor Tay laid hands on him, he recovered in 2 days. Where others afflicted by the same disease took more than 5 days to recover, if at all.
After all that God has done in our lives, we can do nothing else but to share of his goodness and love. God is real. We continue to experience him powerfully, and desire to share that experience with others. If you are a fellow believer, I am sure you will join with us to give glory to God, in view of our testimonies. If you have not yet come to personally know Jesus, we urge you to consider this decision.
Foundational Scripture
"I will rain down bread* from heaven for you...then you will know that I am the Lord your God." - Exodus 16:4.
The business name of 7th Manna was one of the things that God gave us clear direction on. Our initial concepts were far from the name "7th Manna". And included such as "Aderes", and other names. Then suddenly, God impressed upon my wife to look into a business name to do with "Manna". Manna is bread from heaven. And God led us to call our business 7th Manna. Below is the interpretation of the business name.
In Exodus, God was leading the Israelites through the wilderness. As they wandered around for 40 years, their food began to run out. They then complained to God and Ex.16:4 was God's answer to Moses. That he will rain down bread from Heaven. This speaks of divine providence. God instructed them to collect just enough manna for the 1st five days of the week. And on the sixth day, to collect double portion - enough for the sixth and the seventh day. As the seventh day is Sabbath day, a day of rest for God's people.
Here's the insight. If the Israelites collected more than their daily needs on the 1st five days, the left overs would have mould and maggots growing on them by the next morning. But miraculously on the 7th day, the extra portion that God instructed them to collect on the sixth day, did not grow mouldy. And this forms the premise of our business.
7th Manna to us speaks of divine providence. God will provide for our business despite our "works". In addition, we are believing for a "7th day" providencial blessing. Hence 7th Manna. We will be a business run on Faith. Not normal dynamics.
The Logo
While setting up our business, God sent many signs to confirm it. At one stage, my wife received a prophecy that she was to "return to the altar" and lean on God's wisdom for our business. And not try to run it with her own efforts. It was then that God sent a "rock dove" to perch upon our neighbours window ledge. Directly facing my computer desk. It stood there for 20mins looking at me. Initially uncertain whether it was a dove or a pigeon, we turned to the internet to verify. It was indeed a rock dove!
Later that evening, we just fooled around with our logo sketch. And happened to embark on a design that included a dove. We drew some swirls around the right of the logo. Making it look like chocolate swirls. Suddenly, God impressed on me that the logo was the exact scene of the dove perched on the ledge! The chocolate swirls were identical to the curved tiles on the window ledge. This is as visual a confirmation as we can get for our logo. So we proceeded to officially use it. Glory be to God.
God bless,
Paul & Shereleen
