Inspiring Story about a christian in the workplace.

I'm auditing Today magazine at the moment. It is a christian magazine, and a company that forms part of the multinational Louis Group International. As you walk into the Louis Group offices at Louis Group in Century City, there is a Bible that is open at Joshua 1. It is amazing the atmosphere there. I have such a sense of God's presence there and the employees are all so friendly.

Here is an excerpt from the Louis Group News. One of the founders of Louis Group, Colia Louis and his wife just recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. The excerpt is about Colia Louis. I find it so inspiring.

"When you first meet Colia Louis, the seventysix-year-old chairman of the Louis Group, you are touched by the man’s humility. A giant in the property field, his handshake is firm and friendly, and his smile and eye contact are both welcoming and engaging. He puts you at ease and you soon realise that you are in the company of someone whom you would like to be able to call your friend. One is accustomed to finding the chairpersons of multinational companies to be distant, aloof and inaccessible. Colia is the antithesis of this. A true people’s person, one believes him, when he explains: “Life is like a puzzle; there are a number of colourful, related pieces on the table that are initially unconnected. They have no real value in their unconnected state. Only through skill, application, dedication and the natural passing of time can one select the matching pieces and fit them together into a picture of beauty.” Colia is both a collector and connector of things and people; a finder, an assembler, a doer, a creator of things of beauty. It is this special gift of wisdom and the insight of putting things together or seeing potential that sets Colia Louis apart from the crowd. He has learned the value of fitting in together as part of the Body of Christ. He understands that the work of Christ is not done by individuals but by the Body and he passes this important learning on in his role as mentor.

Colia shares his wisdom with his five sons and the members of the extended Louis Group business family. He has now entrusted the day-to-day running of the Group to his sons and other handpicked people selected for a special skill, that unique part of the puzzle that they would bring to the Group and its stakeholders. Sharing God’s gifts is a key value to Colia and to the Louis Group. Every penny of investor money is backed and exceeded by matching funds from the Group. Colia explains: “The Group and I are not spectators watching from the grandstand. We are in the scrum together, hunting for the ball with our co-investors. The ‘ball’ is information, and we need that information to conclude the deal, to score the try. You don’t get the ball if you’re merely a spectator sitting in the grandstand. You have to be an active participant in the game.” Colia exercises this same philosophy with all staff members, from cleaner to chief executive officer. Every morning you will find him doing his rounds. He greets all the staff personally – he knows their names. He is empathetic, he listens and he hears. He believes that God has given us all an equal amount of that most precious commodity of all – time. The charitable can be distinguished from the non-charitable by how they choose to use that single, equal gift. Colia will use his to help others. He will always share his time with his staff, his investors, and his family.

When asked what he would like to leave behind, Colia answers: “A legacy, a foundation, to be remembered as a good husband, father, grandfather, friend and employer.”

Sir, you have done and are all of that. You are a true ambassador of the legacy left by Jesus Christ."