MG Ministry Weekend Reflections – Part 1
Praying for the needy in Cambodia, September 2024
This past September over a period of three to five days, various EAST Mentoring Groups (MG) fanned out to neighbouring countries for cross-cultural ministry in partnership with local agencies and churches. The purpose of EAST MG Ministry Weekend is to engage our faculty and students in ministering to the field needs of EAST local partners located within those countries. Below are three reflections shared by Dr Mona Bias, Dr Alvin Tey and Ms Su Panum from their experiences in leading three of these groups.
1. Ministry Among the Refugees – Dr Mona Bias
Imagine for a moment that you are without citizenship in any country. There is no chance for a good education, employment, or even of a promising future. On a daily basis, there is no certainty of food for the next meal. Along with being considered illegal, there is a constant fear of repatriation to the country that you have deliberately left behind.
Hopeless and helpless. That is exactly how one father felt over their situation. His family has been waiting for 25 years to be relocated to the USA. The same feeling of displacement and uncertainty enveloped the other refugees.
Alumni: Glimpses of Seoul Lausanne Congress 2024
Thanks to EAST alumni Guia Karla Gonzales (Team Lead), Mikeel Araña, Johanna Sampan and their team members, we get glimpses of The Fourth Lausanne Congress held in Seoul-Incheon, South Korea, 22-28 September 2024. They served as part of the Daily Highlights Video Team for the congress (see below).
L-R: Mikeel, Johanna, Guia and other members of the video team
Climate Change: A Theological Primer
Climate Change: A Theological Primer, by Rev Dr Jarred Jung
Why are we concerned with climate change? I think that a large part of climate change today is man-made climate change as our planet is warming too fast as a result of greenhouse gases. Now, I see the results are coming to fruition and do not think the correlation is just a coincidence.
With the rise of carbon dioxide omitting from things such as vehicles, cars, factories and airplanes, we have more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which leads to rising temperatures. I am not a science or climate change denier. I believe it is a big issue, which is one that Christians, in particular, need to take seriously.
How did we get to this place to where climate change is an issue? By this, I do not mean “why is there global warming?” What is at the root of this need to deal with an issue like man-made climate change? To discuss this, we are going to look at the Bible.
Alumna Cynthia Oh: EAST and My Writing Journey
I (Cynthia) love to write but I had not imagined myself to be a published author.
The story started in 2013 when I began taking up courses at EAST. With encouragement from my EAST mentor Dr Kwa Kiem Kiok and classmate Ms Boo Hui Ling, I plucked up the courage to do a MDiv in Intercultural Studies, instead of taking courses at random. When I made that decision I had no concrete plans except to equip myself should the Lord call me to missions. I remember that afternoon, having lunch with them at the KKH food court, sweating in my seat thinking,“ What am I getting myself into?”.
Alumna Elizabeth Li: The Most Important Amazing Thing
L-R: Dr Lau Ying Kheng, Dr Roland Tan & Alumna Elizabeth Li
Hello. My name is 「感恩姐妹」”Grateful Sister”, and I am glad to be here to share about my life. I would like to share my journey through two major surgeries, in which I experienced something amazing and totally unexpected!
It started eight years ago. I broke my right thigh at home in 2015. A steel plate was mounted in my thigh and I recuperated at home. While recuperating, I discovered that my ability to express myself was compromised. I could not express what I wanted to express and I thought I was beginning to have amnesia.
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