New Graduate: Japheth Chew, Malaysia
Japheth Chew, Grad Dip in Intercultural Studies (2023)
“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page” (Saint Augustine).
Japheth Chew is no stranger to road trips.
Before EAST, he had lived in Brisbane (Australia), Kansas City (USA), and Swansea (Wales) for missions, worship and prayer training.
Besides serving for three years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with YWAM and Open Doors, he ministered among the disadvantaged in Darjeeling (West Bengal), and Mother Theresa’s “Missionaries of Charities” in Calcutta for three months. He also served for a year in missions at Cornerstone Community Church in Singapore.
This early exposure has given him a hunger to “keep learning new things.”
New Graduate: Sarah Angela Ong Pantaleon, Philippines
Sarah Angela Ong Pantaleon, MDiv Christian Ministry (2023)
“Sometimes the most scenic roads in life are the detours you didn’t mean to take” (Angela N. Blount, award-winning author)
Many classes at EAST have blessed Anj.
“Amy Lau’s ‘Bible Study Methods’ taught me to study God’s Word contextually,” she says, “and Dr Jeannette’s ‘Teaching’ class showed me how to write lesson plans.”
“These and many other classes are important for my future ministry,” she says.
But to move forward, Anj also discovered that she had to take a few steps back to “unlearn and learn.”
EAST IMPACT Program
EAST IMPACT inaugural cohort
A New Way of Getting a Theological Education
July was a month bustling with excitement at EAST. Not only did we begin a new school year with new students in our resident school, we also welcomed our inaugural cohort of 16 students to our EAST IMPACT program.
What is IMPACT? It is a new model of accredited theological training that is self-paced, adaptive to the learner’s ministry context and competency-based. It is catered to practitioners in ministry who would like to be equipped theologically while still serving in their respective mission fields. For the learning to be effective, every IMPACT program student would have a mentor team of three, comprising of a Faculty mentor, a Vocational mentor and a Life mentor. This mentor team will help the student grasp the “Content, Craft and Character” that he is learning. As the curriculum is self-paced, the student can take as short as a few months to as long as he needs to earn his degree.
New Graduates – Kim Hak-Soo & Park Ok-Hee, Korea
Kim Hak Soo (MDiv Christian Ministry) & Park Ok-Hee (Partners in Ministry)
“If life were a road trip, I conclude that the roughest, windiest and steepest roads lead us to the most breath-taking views” (Allie Penner, The Well Blog).
In 2019, Kim Hak-Soo was invited to a chapel service at EAST. As the worship team played, he felt a deep connection with God which extended that short tour into a four-year road trip.
One of the first things that impressed the associate pastor of Korean Church in Singapore was “Servant Leadership.” “I’d heard the term before,” says Hak Soo, “but at EAST I experienced it.”
“Through the teaching and lives of Leadership professors like Dr Chan, as we were invited to professors’ home for meals, and the camaraderie of my mentoring group guys in prayer and ministry weekends. I saw servant-leadership – the willingness to serve like Jesus – in action.”
EAST Aleph 2023 @ EMH
As we start a new academic year, EAST Aleph 2023 was held from end-June to mid-July at EAST campus for the cohort of new students. Aleph – the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet signifies a new start and with more to come for our new students. We warmly welcomed new students from East Asia, Mongolia, the Philippines, and Singapore.
EAST Library Catalogue
EAST Populi
National Library Board eResources
The Digital Theological Library
