Alumnus Matthew’s Calling to Mongolia

EAST Alumnus Matthew Ong graduated from EAST with a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministry in 2018. He received God’s calling to Mongolia through a pastor’s light-hearted response to a baby’s cry in his congregation, “Is there a Mongolian baby crying in our midst?” 

That question was God’s prompt in his heart back in 2014, which led to a friendship with the first Mongolian family (Luya and Tuul) attending his home church, Glory Presbyterian Church. Between then and now, Matthew has made four to five trips to Mongolia itself, getting to know the country and the people better. 

Matthew came to know EAST through Tuul’s introduction, leading him to sample Dr Keith Shubert’s Bible Study Methods and Hermenuetics class at EAST. It was this class that convinced Matthew to enroll at EAST as a student, besides the fact that EAST is a mission-focused seminary and offered hands-on, practical classes.

During Matthew’s Building Spiritual Movement class at EAST, he found his lecturer Ms Janice Chuang to be a familiar face and realised that she was the person who had first shared the gospel with him when he was ten years old at Jin Tai Primary School. He had received Christ only at 17 years old when he was invited to a church service at Chapel of the Resurrection and was baptised there. The seed that was sown as a little child by Ms Janice Chuang was watered and harvested by others, and in God’s mysterious workings, they met each other again in life’s full circle at EAST. 

Prior to coming to EAST, he also had a dream of having a conversation with Motomu Kikkawa, a Japanese EAST Alumnus who graduated with Matthew in the same cohort with an MDiv in Christian Ministry. This dream he had actually took place when he was at EAST, and it just confirmed in his heart that God was leading him step by step in this journey. 

Currently, Matthew is a Pastoral Guidance Officer at Grace Orchard School which serves students with mild intellectual disabilities, mild autism and special educational needs. His plans to serve as a missionary in Mongolia has currently been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic but when the opportunity opens up, he intends to answer his call to serve there as a tentmaker. 

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for his family’s salvation.
2. Pray for God to reveal His timing to serve in Mongolia.
3. Pray for God’s protection and providence.