A Crazy Time of Joy: How the AGST-EAST DMin Programme Shapes Ministry Leaders
How one ministry leader discovered growth, resilience and renewed joy in pursuing the Great Commission
When Luke Park Dae-Yeun began his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Leadership studies at EAST, life was already moving at full speed.
A staff member of Korea Campus Crusade for Christ (KCCC) with 28 years of ministry experience, Luke had just returned home from overseas missions. His teenage son was adjusting to school, and the family had adopted twin baby girls that same year.
“Yes, my life was crazy busy,” he recalls. Balancing family responsibilities, demanding ministry commitments and doctoral studies was no easy task. There were many moments when Luke considered giving up. Yet, through the encouragement of his faculty and mentoring group leader, Dr Raymond Go, he persevered.
“Of course, many times,” Luke says with a laugh when asked whether he had wanted to quit. “You can say they owned my journey.” That sense of ownership would become central to both his doctoral research and his ministry.
Agape Room: Invisible Classroom of EAST
Invisible Classroom
The “Invisible Classroom” of EAST: Learning Through Friendship
Some of the most formative lessons at EAST take place outside the classroom. Elijah, an MDiv Teaching and Exposition graduate from East Asia, remembers sitting in the student lounge with eight other students as they shared how God had led each of them to EAST. He was amazed that people from so many places had been gathered for one common purpose: to be trained for God’s work.
Graduate Henry Aung: Do Fewer Things With More Love
Learning to slow down, know God, and embrace His heart for the world
In a culture that often equates busyness with faithfulness, slowing down can feel counter-intuitive. For Henry Aung from Myanmar, an MDiv Teaching & Exposition graduate at East Asia School of Theology (EAST), learning to slow down became an important part of his theological formation. Henry, 29, moved to Singapore with his mother when he was nine years old. During his studies at EAST, one of his steepest learning curves was discovering how “not to rush about with busyness, accept my limits, and do fewer things with more love.”
Happy Teacher’s Day 2026!
Happy Teacher’s Day 2026! We Appreciate You!
As Singapore celebrates Teachers’ Day on 4 September 2026, we at East Asia School of Theology (EAST) give thanks for the teachers who faithfully invest in the lives of our students. At EAST, teaching goes beyond imparting knowledge. It is about forming the whole person—Head, Heart and Hands—equipping men and women to think biblically, grow in Christlike character, and serve faithfully wherever God calls them. But what does a good teacher look like through the eyes of a student? Three current EAST students—Joel De Vera from the Philippines, Candy from Indochina, and Themreiso Lamlang Awungshi from India—share how their teachers have shaped not only what they know, but also how they live, serve, lead and follow Christ.
Graduand Mali Jana: Equipped and Ready to Go!
Graduand Mali Jana entered EAST in January 2024 and started the Master of Arts in Theological Studies program. She came from Chiang Mai, Thailand, and over the past two and a half years, she has grown through the equipping at EAST and is ready to go back home to serve. She will graduate at the EAST Commencement Service on 16 May 2026.
Below are the excerpts from Mali’s Summative Portfolio Project where she recorded what she has gleaned from her time at EAST and it will give the reader a sense of what an EAST student go through and learn.
Committed to Growing in Christlikeness
Through Field Practicum & FIRM, I was taught to pray by bowing and kneeling, which helped me express wholehearted devotion to God. Practicing this prayer posture changed me physically and spiritually and gave me strength throughout the day as I depended on Him.
EAST Library Catalogue
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