Dear Brother,

I am a practising Catholic in a certain situation in my job.

1. My Christian friend (non-Catholic) asked me to join his company because he wanted someone trustworthy.
2. He mentioned briefly what my job responsibilities would be and that it would include international travel. I have always wanted to see the world and so this appealed to me.
3. I considered the fact that he is a Christian who goes to church everyday and sends me bible messages and also that he is a very sharp businessman with excellent knowledge of many affairs.
4. I was working in the night shift in my earlier company and was looking for a change to a regular job because I was to get married soon.
5. I came to know the actual details of my job only after joining.
6. My job involves lying (by mouth and by email) everyday.
7. I am to portray myself as an employee of a non-existent company when I am sent abroad to meet dealers and ask them to sell their products to us in my country on a monthly basis. Though they are not supposed to do so because of their contract with the manufacturers, some of them agree and sell discreetly. These products would however not be transported to my country but to my boss' partner in the US to be sold in the grey market.
8. My business card of this non-existent company carries a wrong address so as not to let any local persons identify me with the real company.
9. Though I work in a dental distribution company I am to tell my colleagues that I am involved in the construction chemical business when I go abroad.
10. Another job requirement is that I have to make false statements to manufacturers in the USA, saying that our company wants to distribute their products in our country. However my boss has those products sent back to the USA to his partner to be sold in the grey market even though the manufacturers make us agree that we will not sell their products in the USA.
11. Another part of this company is portrayed as an authorised importer and distributor of leading brands in my country, but these are sold only in very minute quantities here while most of it is sent to his partner in the USA for the grey market there.
12. This grey market is considered legal but it is not ethical, just as in the case of abortion being legalized in various countries. However, there can be legal implications on this sort of business.
13. This business also cuts into the straightforward business of authorized dealers in their respective countries and they lose because they are not able to match the grey market pricing.
14. The more creative and professional my lies are in order to strike a deal, the more do I get appreciated.
15. When I mention something to a client in a straightforward manner "by mistake," I get questioned by my boss as to how I could have afforded to give that particular piece of information away.
16. I use three different email IDs at work and I am to use different forms of my name in each of these.
17. Over the recent few months, I am given added responsibilities which are again not honest ones.
18. Because I correspond with the partner in the USA halfway across the globe, I am required to always be work oriented throughout the day.
19. My boss is up until about 1 a.m. working and hardly sees his wife and young child even though the office is just across from his home in the same building.
20. He says that I have to do as he does and "to constantly focus throughout the day on the business you have to generate."
21. He has just started making it big with this 1-1/2 year-old company after having suffered setbacks in a few other ventures in the past, so he looks at this as a blessing for his hard work and tells me that I am privileged to be working in this company.
22. I don't feel that this is a straightforward job that I can discuss with my family and friends.
23. I spoke about all this to my wife of 7 months only last month. All these days, I have given her a very superficial image of my job.
24. The rest of our families think that I am in a respectable job.

Brother, I appreciate the time you have taken to read this lengthy description, but I felt that I had to let you know exactly what is going on in my mind and heart.

Is it okay to work as if for the Lord (Col.3:22,23) by doing something that is unrighteous and deceitful? Is it not something like a Christian hired killer doing his job becasue he is paid and so has to submit to his employer (who in this case is also a Christian) because the Word of God says so?

Over the last month-and-a-half, I have felt the Spirit making me more and more aware of the nature of my job. Almost every bible message I read asks me to depart from unrighteousness, deceit and a lying tongue and to not think as the world thinks. I was totally convinced that I had to resign immediately and look for another job, but a few other people I had spoken to told me to wait and pray. I don't consider myself a righteous person or a saint, but I am very distressed with every phone call that I make or email that I type out at work.

I am desperate to know what the will of God in this situation is. Please guide me

Thanks and regards,
Amal