Indonesian Alumni’s Recovery from Covid-19

Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the world for over a year and EAST Alumni have been directly affected as well. EAST News caught up with two families from Indonesia, two families from Mongolia and one family from India who have suffered from Covid-19. Below are their brief updates from two families in Indonesia. More updates will follow next week.

Hendra Bagun, who graduated in 2017 with a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies, is currently pursuing an EdD and is currently the President at Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Injili Bethsaida, a seminary in Medan, Indonesia. He suffered from Covid-19 from the first week of January this year, but thankfully his wife and children were spared. He experienced the loss of the sense of taste and smell for about two months. The senses were only fully recovered from March to April. The seminary currently runs all their classes online.

The situation in Medan is still quite serious, under red alert. Hendra shared about a Chinese student named Su Beity who also suffered from Covid-19 and is in a serious condition.. She is taking Master of Christian Education in his seminary and currently is also suffering from fibrosis on her lungs due to Covid-19. Please keep Su Beity in prayers for her recovery.

Charles Bessie graduated from EAST in 2013 with a Master of Divinity in Teaching and Exposition. He is currently a Senior Pastor of C3 Reach Pemulihan Kupang in West Timor, Indonesia. He and his family caught Covid-19 in December 2020 but by the grace of God, they have all recovered by March 2021. According to Charles, the rate of infection is now lower than before and the Covid-19 vaccines are being made available too. The church he pastors has 200 plus people attending each service on Sunday and there are three services. Usually, there are at least 100 people attending online through three different platforms: YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

By God’s grace, there are no critical cases among the congregation that he serves with. We thank God for granting full and complete recovery to him and his family through their Covid-19 experience.