Dr Alvin Tey: Teaching (and Learning) to Transform Lives
A blessed Teacher’s Day to all! And I do mean to all, as I am sure that all of us are teachers in one way or another!
Teaching is a calling. It is a calling not merely to impart knowledge and experiences, but to transform lives. Mirroring the Great Commandment (Mark 12:30) to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and the Second Commandment (Mark 12:31) to love others as ourselves, teaching is meant to be holistic in nature. The aim of teaching is firstly to transform the whole life, to love God more and more with our heart, soul, mind and strength, and secondly to transform us to love and serve others. Importantly, even as we are individually called to teach in our different capacities and different seasons of our lives, we are also called to learn and grow in our walk with God (see Deuteronomy 4:10 and Proverbs 9:9).
Alumna Lydia Fong: Held to Heal Ministry
L-R: Karl, Zion (in green), Lydia and Moses (in grey) – birthday celebration for both Zion and Moses (born in the same month).
Lydia Fong graduated in May 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministry. Since then, she has gotten married and given birth to two lovely boys, Moses and Zion. But along the way, she has experienced both a miscarriage and a stillbirth. Out of the depths of pain and sorrow of her loss, Lydia birthed the ministry “Held to Heal” to journey along with other mothers who have gone through similar experiences of miscarriage and stillbirth. The ministry was launched on 1 January 2024, the first anniversary of Lukas passing through a stillbirth. It was done in remembrance of Lukas and to help support other mothers who suffered loss. Read more of her story below.
Blessed 59th National Day, Singapore!
EAST wants to wish our nation a Happy, Blessed 59th National Day!
Friday 9th August, Singapore celebrates her 59th year of independence as a nation. For nearly six decades, God has blessed our nation with His supernatural grace and rich favour. He has blessed us with exceptional leaders. He kept us protected with peace and harmony within and without our borders. He has prospered us materially beyond all human calculations. Despite our lack of natural resources, by His grace we have transformed from a swamp to be a first world nation. All praise and glory be unto our Living God for His mercies and grace.
– Rev Dr Chan Chong Hiok, President of East Asia School of Theology
Operations Team: Chris Wong, David Lim & Raymond Lim
L-R: Chris Wong, David Lim & Raymond Lim
The three gentlemen behind EAST Operations Team consist of alumnus Raymond Lim who graduated with a Master of Divinity in Intercultural Studies (2019), Chris Wong, Zone Pastor of Living Sanctuary Brethren Church, who joined in 2018 and David Lim who had years of experience in the manufacturing sector. All three of them were instrumental in the EAST move from Middle Road EAST Office and Dorset Road EAST Library to Joo Chiat Road campus in 2020. Shifting the library which involved curating, packing, and moving 16,000 books to its present locale was a massive project as there was no lift available at Dorset Road campus then. By God’s grace and with the help of library staff, Mala, and many other unnamed faculty, staff and students back then, the library was safely and successfully relocated. This was amidst the Covid pandemic no less!
Alumna Bessie Lim: Updates since Graduation
Alumna Bessie Lim graduated with a Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies in 2010 despite having challenges with her vision even back then. She always used to sit in front of the class so that she could hear better as she could not see the slides. She would also frantically take down notes as the lessons went by.
Over the years, her sight gradually deteriorated to the point where she lost her sense of depth and perception and she had to carry two canes, one white cane on the left hand for people who are visually impaired and a support cane on the right hand for her slipped disc problem. Bessie had no third hand to carry things so she decided to apply for a guide dog as a better solution. One day while making carrot soup, she dropped a small piece of carrot and she could not detect it. Several hours later, she noticed a pile of something black on the kitchen table top and it was moving. These had to be ants and she had a lot of cleaning to do and Bessie lost confidence in herself in being able to take care of a guide dog and soon withdrew her application.
EAST Library Catalogue
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National Library Board eResources
The Digital Theological Library
