New Student Kristian Peace: God’s Grace is Sufficient

 

Mr Kristian Peace Braquis is one of our new students from the Philippines this semester. He is in the Master of Arts in Leadership program. Below is his reflection of how the Lord has led him and his young family to EAST.

“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33, ESV)

When my friend, Mikeel (an EAST alumnus) returned to Philippines after his study at East Asia School of Theology, we invited him for lunch to hear his story. Amazed of what God has done to him and how He equipped him to be of help in his church and ministry, I also desired to study in a theological school to serve the church and to minister to those who are in need. But I did not consider going to EAST as I was aware of the cost of living in Singapore and I was just starting a family with a one and half year-old child at that time. However, God was already setting us up for one of the best seasons of our faith journey.

Mikeel then contacted the EAST Admissions team. Both Mikeel and I were invited to a Zoom meeting with them. They were so encouraging and even prayed for me. During the process of program student application, Aitee who was assigned as my point person for EAST Admissions was so helpful in leading me through it all. When I was applying for Student’s Pass, she went the extra mile to coordinate with the Singapore Immigration (ICA) to correct my answer when I misunderstood a question in the ICA form. She also made sure that my medical report reflect all the needed information as it was from a clinic in the Philippines.

Amidst handling a number of applications, Aitee never failed to answer my queries on time. She is very knowledgeable in this area and it is such a big help for international students like me to be assisted by her.

During our time of preparation, there are a lot of God-ordained meet-ups with random people and missionaries happened confirming His call for me to leave everything and follow Him. It wasn’t an easy decision; we had to pray for months to be sure if this was really from the Lord and not just a fleshly desire.

But God spoke to me through Mark 10:28-30,

“Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.”

I praise God for using the faculty and EAST Admissions team to pray with us and support us in meeting all of EAST and ICA requirements even while we were in the Philippines. God also prepared an affordable place for us to stay conducive for our family. The EAST community had been very helpful with us in transitioning to Singapore. And so here we are today, experiencing God’s unfathomable ways of bringing us here in Singapore even if we didn’t have the means – His grace is sufficient and He blesses others to provide for us day by day.

For more information on EAST check out this page. Visit our other pages for theological study programs and student admissions process. Email the admissions team if you have further queries: admissions [at] east.edu.sg. We look forward to hearing from you!