Alumni Bataraa & Zulaa: Equipping Church Leaders For Ministry
Joy and Freedom in Mongolia: Equipping Church Leaders for Ministry
Through EAST’s Extension Centre in Mongolia, local church leaders are being equipped to serve their churches and communities with renewed understanding, joy and freedom in Christ. When Baataraa Buyanmandakh and Zulaa Jantsan were challenged to start an EAST Extension Centre (EEC) in Mongolia in 2023, they were unsure how to begin.
Both former Cru staff members, with 21 years of service and EAST Alumni, Baataraa and Zulaa now serve as church ministers. They recognised the need for theological training among local church leaders, but establishing a training centre would require considerable commitment.
“But this is what we need in Mongolia,” says Zulaa, 46.
In Memory of Alumna Lim-Bay Wan Jee
In Memory of Lim-Bay Wan Jee (1973-2025), EAST Alumna 2007, MDiv ICS
On 8 March 2025, EAST Community lost one of our best and brightest students who graduated in 2007 with a Master of Divinity in Intercultural Studies – Bay Wan Jee. The Lord has called her home. All who know her and have been touched by her gentleness and warmth will cherish our memories with her in our hearts. She graduated from EAST with an Academic Excellence Award, earned by those who are top of their MDiv cohort academically. Wan Jee has also served as a missionary with Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) for 15 years after her graduation from EAST. Her ministry was with the elderly in Japan. But when she was undergoing cancer herself and had to go through pain, hers was also a ministry of pain among cancer patients whom she could relate to and empathise with.
Wan Jee married later in life with Siah Chuan on 31 December 2021 and though the Lord had only granted them over three years together, they loved each other deeply. Below is Siah Chuan’s heartfelt tribute of Wan Jee:
Alumnus: Ordination of Rev Asung Pharung Khapai
Rev Asung Pharung Khapai was ordained on 26th January 2025.
EAST rejoices with alumnus Rev Asung Pharung Khapai (MA Intercultural Studies, 2019) who was ordained by the Tangkhul Baptist Churches Association on 26 January 2025. Praise God for the affirmation of His call on Rev Asung as a minister of the gospel of the grace of God by the Tangkhul church leaders. Below is his faith journey as he recalls how the Lord has led him and his family all the way including through his studies at EAST.
I grew up in a farmer’s family in a small hill village of Manipur, Northeast India. My parents raised me in a Christian home with six siblings, but I was not serious in my Christian beliefs. I encountered Christ in the year 2000 through the study of the Gospel of John. I came to realise God’s unfailing love for me. Things were so different with new experiences and new journey of my life. I realised I was totally a new person in Christ. From the time I gave my life to Jesus, I started reading His Word, attending Bible studies and maintaining my quiet time regularly. With my earnest prayer and commitment, I enrolled in a Seminary for my theological education in my home country. I enjoyed learning God’s word, and getting to know Him more and more as I studied about Him.
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
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?”.
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