Soul Care for Indonesian Doctoral Students
(Front row, L-R) Drs Sarinah Lo, Lau Ying Kheng, Jeannette Shubert, Rev Jonathan Yao, & Dr Ishak Wonohadidjojo. Ps Hendra Bangun (3rd Row, extreme left)
A Mentoring Group (MG) Retreat was held on 21-23 October 2022 at Medan, Indonesia for 15 doctoral-level students with the theme “Soul Care for Ministry Professionals.” It followed an in-person module by Dr Ishak Wonohadidjojo on curriculum design and development as the last module for the doctoral program coursework phase. This is part of the Asia Graduate School of Theology Alliance (AGSTA)—East Asia School of Theology (EAST) Doctor in Education (EdD) program, Indonesia. The program began in end-2020 amidst the Covid pandemic and the cohort did most of the modules online.
“Soul care is what we needed—thank you! How I wish we had MG Retreat at the start of our program. It would have better prepare us spiritually, to be more resilient, and grow in community as we seek to balance our studies and ministry over the last two years,” said retreat participants. This was the first time the cohort could gather in-person since the program began. Mentoring and transformative holistic education are the values and practices EAST brings to the AGSTA-EAST partnership for doctoral programs.
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.
Seek God for the Future
Listening to Daniel Yoncer speak about his past, present and future plans, one gets a peek into a tender heart for people. “Back in uni days, my sis and I invited people to our home a lot, even people we hardly knew,” says Daniel, who tells you he can whip up a decent escargot a’ la Bourguignonne for his guests.
And the self-professed ‘introvert’ enjoys listening to people. “During the pandemic, God led many with needs to my path, and used them to grow my empathy.”
EAST Library Catalogue
EAST Populi
National Library Board eResources
The Digital Theological Library
