Jessica Ang: Adamant Faith and Centrality of God’s Word
Alumni Richard Kwan and Jessica Ang
Through Jessica Ang’s recent involvement with “The Silent Pandemic: Loneliness in the Church” seminar held jointly with EAST and Capelle, we managed to get in touch with Jessica as she was an EAST Alumna (Grad Cert in Missions, 2005) and so was her husband Richard Kwan (MA in Missions & Evangelism, 2005). Below is a short interview with her on her study experience at EAST and where God has led her to serve since then.
Ministry Amongst Books: Librarians Mala and David
Faithful EAST Librarians: Mr David Lim (left) and Ms M Malarkody (right)
Before joining EAST, both Mala and David were civil servants.
“I enjoy interacting with students at EAST. My joy is getting to know the students – both local and overseas and bond with them. The sadness is having to say goodbyes to the international students after their commencement ceremony. I had the opportunities to pray with the students, laugh with them and even cry with them. Having the student librarians have been a source of help and encouragement to me over the years.” Mala shared.
As for David, he recalled, “I joined EAST in 2019 and I was posted to work with Mala at the library. A year later on October 2020, we were faced with the challenge of setting up the library at the Joo Chiat Campus. Because of space constraint, we had to downsize the book collection from 16,000 to 12,000 books. It was a real challenge as we had to label the boxes, shelf the books systematically and it involved the physical labour of moving the books over.”
God is making a beautiful thing: Deborah Quek
Deborah Quek, Graduate Diploma in Pastoral Counselling student, and Arya (her friend’s adopted pet dog, a Singapore Special)
Recently, Deborah Quek led the Wednesday EAST Chapel time for a community bonding time on behalf of the Student Council. Deborah is currently studying Graduate Diploma in Pastoral Counselling at EAST and is a fresh face to many of us in the community. Below is a short interview to get to know this dear sister’s journey to and through EAST. Read on and be encouraged by how God is working in her life.
Crossing Cultures Digitally Today
Cross Cultural Team Internships: Cambodia, Philippines, & Timor Leste
One of the highlights of the school’s program is that students are required to participate in a Cross Cultural Team Internship (CCTI) program. This is EAST’s ‘hands-on” experience for our students to experience ministering in a cross-cultural setting. Even though the students have experienced this in Singapore but we believe a different exposure will allow them to experience the diversity of ministering across borders and culture. The recent cohort of students were divided into two CCTI teams but with borders constraint, they can only do the trips digitally.
The Silent Pandemic: Loneliness in the Church
The panelists (L to R): Dr Tan Soo Inn, Pastor Lawrence Chua, Ms Ting Siew Lee
“How prevalent is the issue of loneliness in our church today? Are there lonely people there? If so, who are some of these people, and what are some of their experiences? Has there been a time you felt lonely in church? What could have been done to make you feel better? What does the Bible say about this matter? How can we as Christians embrace and include the lonely as a true community of faith and friends?”
“The Silent Pandemic: Loneliness in the Church” was the title of a face-to-face dialogue jointly organised by East Asia School of Theology (EAST) and Church Equip of Capelle Consulting on 11 August 2022 at EAST. Pastor Lawrence Chua (Senior Pastor, Living Sanctuary Brethren Church) and Dr Tan Soo Inn (Director of Graceworks, author of “Spiritual Friendship”) were invited to be part of a panel to address this issue. The dialogue was facilitated by Capelle’s Ms Ting Siew Lee, a former missionary who returned to Singapore recently after ministering for 14 years in Timor Leste.
EAST Library Catalogue
EAST Populi
National Library Board eResources
The Digital Theological Library
