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.
Newly Arrived Students: Thanawat & Phichanida Wichaphon
L-R: Rev Jonathan Yao (seated), Wong Ee Yuing, Boon-Koh Aitee, Phichanida Wichaphon (Peung), Thanawat Wichaphon (Off)
Thanawat and Phichanida Wichaphons are the first couple to have arrived in Singapore from Thailand for our new semester this June. They are better known by their nicknames Off and Peung. Off has been enrolled in Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies since July 2022 and Peung has been attending online Partners-in-Ministry classes. They are thrilled to finally take the classes at EAST on-site in the upcoming semester and have face to face interactions with faculty, students and staff.
EAST News had the opportunity to ask a few questions to get to know this “cool couple” better (as some have described them) and share their journey to EAST. Read more
PIM Graduate Salaimphy: I finally had the chance to be trained!
Sailamphy Rakhangmi, EAST PIM graduate, India
Here is the story of Sailamphy Rakhangmi who graduated in May 2024 with an EAST Certificate in Partners in Ministry (PIM). PIM is a two-year Certificate Program designed to provide a learning environment to develop wives of seminary students, wives of men in full-time ministry and wives of men in bi-vocational ministry to grow in partnership with their husbands in the Lord’s ministry.
For a long time Sailamphy, 44, who shepherds a church in New Delhi with her husband Rejoyson, hungered for ministry training. Read more
Clare Chen: God of Possibilities
A slice of Japanese life – mother with daughter. Photo credit: Clare Chen
Ms Clare Chen, a final year MA in Intercultural Studies student, recently went for a mission trip to Kyoto, Japan, a most unlikely place for her. Clare’s initiative to spend her term break for missions resulted in a mindset-changing missional experience for her. Read her reflection from the trip – why not Japan, what she had learned more about God, the Japanese people and herself.
“I would go anywhere for missions, but Japan” was the mentality I held for many years because it is a place of hard soil. But we all know too well what typically happens when you claim a “never” statement such as this: God laughs, and things happen. This December, I was led to go on a mission trip to Japan with a few schoolmates. Despite the challenges, God reminded me of his sovereignty. God is a big God and is there anything impossible with Him (Luke 1:37)?
Dr Lau Ying Kheng’s Reflective Poem for the New Year
Dr Lau Ying Kheng walking in the rain with her granddaughter Theo
As we enter into a new year, one of EAST’s resident faculty, Dr Lau Ying Kheng has penned a poem upon reflection from Ecclesiastes 9:11-12. Do enjoy her poem below.
Eccl 9:11-12 “I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all.”
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