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On a quiet day in 2021, Eric was spending time with the Lord, feeling lost and directionless in life. The young man asked God, “What do you want me to do?”
At that time, he was randomly reading Exodus 35 and expecting God to speak to him. Moses calls upon all who are skilled to make everything that the Lord has commanded, including woven garments worn for ministering in the sanctuary (verse 19).
“I didn’t know that garments or apparel would be mentioned in Exodus; that really spoke to me. And then in Isaiah 61, we see the garment of praise. And it hit me that there is a ministry in apparel and garments,” the business owner and passionate Christian said.
A love for T-shirts
Eric has always loved t-shirts. When he was 18, he started a t-shirt line called No Brand, then renamed it Paper Fishes. But as he says, it was always “try and fail, try and fail.”
Eric Kee, one of the Worshiper’s founders and main designer.
So when he received the revelation about the ministry of garment, he went ahead with the little funds he had and launched Worshiper Club with his wife, Shanice that same year.
“It was not my vision, but God’s vision that was placed upon my heart. We want to let people know our Christian identity through our garments,” he explained.
At the time, however, the couple was also running Salt & Light Creative Lifestyle Store, a set-up largely focused on candle-making that offers job opportunities to the marginalised.
Worshiper took a back seat until earlier this year when a divine encounter in Malacca resulted in the birthing of the brand’s current team.
From strangers and non-believers to partaking at Christ’s table
“We met simply because we shared a table at a random restaurant 3 years ago,” says Madeleine Seow, one of Worshiper Club’s partners.
Madeleine Seow and her husband Jeff Pong were at a crowded restaurant in Malacca and ended up sharing a table with Eric and Shanice. Both couples got to talking and quickly became friends.
Shanice and Eric enthusiastically shared the gospel with Madeleine, and realised that Jeff was equally pumped about Jesus.
At the time, Madeleine was working in Singapore and was not a Christian. But sometime during the Movement Control Order (MCO), she came to know Jesus Christ.
“I had always wanted to start a Christ-centred brand, but we didn’t have the capacity because both Jeff and I had full-time jobs. I was already a fan of Worshiper Club so I was prompted to call Eric and from there, everything just fell into place,” Madeleine enthused.
Within two days of the phone call, the partnership was formed and Eric’s T-shirt designs were pushed into production.
Spreading God’s Word through garments
At present, Worshiper Club has sold over 300 t-shirts. Eric comes up with various designs, each inspired by personal experience or revelation from the Holy Spirit.
For example, Emmanuel was birthed from an experience Eric had as an insurance agent.
“My insurance leader wore a specific cologne. Whenever he was with me at meetings or discussions with potential clients, I could smell the scent and it gave me comfort. When he wasn’t with me, I’d take his cologne and spray it on myself!” he said.
Emmanuel was inspired by the same logic: having a tangible reminder (in this case, visual) that God is always with us. The word is in the middle, reflecting Christ in us.
The design also has a blurry feature because sometimes in life, Eric said, things can be blurry. But God doesn’t change, and He is always with us.
Another design, Disciple, is a challenge to believers.
“How many of us truly understand what it means to be a disciple? How we face the world is a representation of God to people,” Madeleine said. “We bear the cross and glorify Him.”
The Disciple shirt by Worshiper Club.
A tool for sparking divine conversations
One great thing about wearing your faith on your clothes, says Eric, is that it can open opportunities for conversation.
One of their bestsellers, Choose Prayer Over Fear, features big, bold fonts sprawled across the shirt.
“Whenever I wear that, I get people asking me if I’m a Christian. The words are so big that people can read it, so it’s a great conversation opener,” he said.
Jeff then jumps in to explain the brand’s mission.
“Our goal is to increase the awareness of Christian values and spread the Word of God through garments,” he enthused, adding that Worshiper will soon be available in Singapore and Hong Kong. Their latest drop is Fear Has No Place.
Their latest drop, Fear Has No Place.
Using art for God’s glory
All Worshiper t-shirts are custom-made. The four young adults oversee every stage, from the purchase of cloth to dyeing, cutting, printing and sewing.
They hope to expand their range of products to include hoodies, caps, pens, pants, postcards and more.
Shanice and Madeleine oversee the daily operations of the Worshiper Club, while Jeff and Eric (the main designer) hold down jobs as marketers in the automotive industry.
Amid the excitement of an expanding business, however, Eric always remembers the Holy Spirit’s gentle word of caution.
“I was once in a cafe and the Holy Spirit showed me that Satan can be disguised in art. We must be careful. Art is God’s creation, it is His handiwork. But it can be manipulated for evil and by sinful desires. We have to be careful,” he said.
On the lookout for strategic partnerships to extend God’s Kingdom
For Worshiper, the calling is clear: to spread God’s Word and make Christ known through fashion and garments.
On 19 December, they will be hosting a Christmas worship night at His Sanctuary of Glory, KL together with the House of Cornerstone. On 11 December, they launched a collaboration with local Christian podcast show, Let’s Get Real.
“We would like to travel across Malaysia and set up pop-up booths at churches and share about the designs and testimonies. If they have physical stores, we can also stock the brand,” Shanice said.
With new designs just launched, Worshiper is set to blaze a trail in the local Christian scene.
The four are excited about what lies ahead but know they have to keep first things first.
“As creatives looking to bring God glory, we must seek His kingdom first. We must understand the Great Designer’s purpose for us,” Eric said.