Prayer Pointers – 19 August 2021
“Rejoice always,pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; Philippians 4:7, ESV)
How can we as a people of God “give thanks” amid an ongoing global pandemic with 208 million cases and which has claimed 4.4 million lives? While we grieve for each death, we are also quietly grateful for the 188 million who have fully recovered, and the 4.5 million vaccine doses administered. How can we “rejoice” over the violence and fear gripping Afghanistan especially among the followers of Christ? Our response is to “pray without ceasing” whereupon he promised a shalom peace “which surpasses all understanding” as a guard over the hearts and minds of those who do so (Philippians 4:7).
Source: WHO Coronavirus Dashboard (covid19.who.int), 17 August 2021 (CEST).
A Community Together
Design by Blessed Ong.
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17.
Most likely to be a familiar verse to most of us, we know that “iron sharpens iron” means that we Christians are meant to keep each other accountable and “sharp” for the Lord.
What does this look like in our daily lives? We should make all efforts to interact and communicate with our Christian communities, even during inconvenient times such as these. Despite feeling comfortable at home, we should take the time and energy to go for physical services and bible studies.
Iron need to come into contact with other iron to sharpen each other, as we should as Christians motivating and building up each other.
Applications are Now Open!
Thinking about starting a journey of learning in theological education that suits you? If God is leading you to be further equipped for life and ministry, do consider an EAST program for your personal transformation. Or you may ask to visit and sample some of our “live” classes onsite or online.
If you want to know what classes we are offering for this semester, view them here.
To find out more about EAST accredited programs, visit our Academic Programs page.
For program student application information, click here. International applicants, please send us your completed application forms by 1 September 2021 to join the January 2022 intake. Applicants currently residing in Singapore may apply by 1 October 2021.
Do contact us at admissions@east.edu.sg to find out more or if you have questions.
We look forward to hearing from you. Shalom!
Mental Health Resources for Parents/Caregivers
Mental health of young people is a key concern for Singapore with recent events throwing a spotlight on it. For this #SaturdayGoodRead, EAST News reproduces a set of resources originally compiled for parents of youths at Grace Baptist Church (GBC). We thank Ms Hannah Yeo of the GBC Youth Ministry for graciously allowing us to do so. May it be a timely and useful resource for parents or caregivers to engage in ongoing conversations with their teenagers, not only for those who have signs of mental health challenges.
According to the Straits Times, “more than half of the young people polled by the National Youth Council [NYC] in the second half of 2020 said that mental well-being was a challenge for them, with some citing anxiety over the future, stress over finances, and worries about academic or work performance.” Even before the onset of COVID-19, mental health for youths was an issue flagged by NYC (see its April 2019 issue of Y+).
Introducing Student Council President: Brandon Chan
Left to Right: Adeline, Brandon Chan, Brandon’s brother, Brandon’s sister-in-law Front row: Brandon’s dad and mum
Sports has always been a big part of my life. I always loved everything that is related to sports in general. Since I was a young boy, I would want to go to a park, a court, or an empty field. My parents even sent me to swimming lessons when I was seven years old. It was then no surprise that I took up studying sports at polytechnic and university. God led me to EAST through sports. A simple tennis game turned out to be a profound game changer.
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