Dr. Andrew B. Spurgeon

This is an analysis of the fifteen poems in the NT for their structure, beauty, and theology.

Andrew is a native of India. He is a Professor of the New Testament at Singapore Bible College, Publications Secretary for the Asia Theological Association, and General Editor of the Asia Bible Commentary Series. He and his wife live in Singapore, while their children live overseas.

Ms. Angelica de Vera

My presentation narrates the story of Megumi Grace to the Nations whilst unearthing the role art and artistic expression played in catalyzing missional engagement among its young adults. Through this presentation, I will share not only my experiences, observations, and reflections in employing the arts and artistic expression in my mobilization efforts but also the experiences and reflections of a core group of young adults in the said ministry.

Often described as energetic and passionate, Angelica is a mobilizer by nature. She is likewise a creative who not only draws and paints but also plays the violin and has illustrated a few children’s books and was a contributor to an adult coloring book. She is currently studying for a PhD in Orality studies at the Asia Graduate School of Theology while concurrently serving as the Communications Officer of ATA.

Mr. Biby Sam Varghese

This paper explores the use of video games, particularly visual novels, in theological education. It examines how interactive storytelling can enhance student engagement, facilitate understanding of abstract concepts, and present complex moral dilemmas. The study uses a mixed-method approach to analyse a game as a case study, discussing future prospects and challenges in integrating games into theological education.

An ethnomusicologist and creative director with over 20 years of experience working closely with indigenous and marginalised communities across Asia, and Africa to document, analyse and revitalise folk traditions through decolonial, participatory approaches. A mentor, facilitator & trainer researching the role of traditional sonic arts in trauma healing, peace-building and cultural resilience and a guest lecturer in seminaries on arts and religious expression.

Rev. Dr. Chung Yan (Joyce) Chan

Rev. Dr. Joyce Chan currently serves as the Principal and Professor of Church History at the Canadian Chinese School of Theology Vancouver. She received her M.Div. from Gateway Baptist Theological Seminary and her Ph.D. from Baylor University in church history. Dr. Chan recently completed her Advanced Diploma in Art Therapy with the hope to promote holistic formation and wellness among her students and ministry leaders. She is also a certified Advanced Instructor in Nagomi Pastel art.

Rev. Dr. Daryl R. Ireland

Rev. Dr. Alex R. Mayfield

Daryl Ireland is a Research Associate Professor of Mission and the Associate Director of the Center for Global Christianity and Mission at the Boston University School of Theology

Alex Mayfield is Assistant Professor of History at Asbury University, his research focuses on the recreation and analysis of historical religious networks.

Dr. Fritz Gerald M. Melodi

Fritz Melodi is currently a Senior Lecturer for Pastoral Care at Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary (PBTS) and serving as an assistant minister at La Trinidad Benguet Int’l Baptist Church. He is a Mindanawon, a Davao native and married to Joanna Mae Zambrano. He finished his AB-Psychology from Ateneo de Davao University, MDiv at PBTS, and earned a Doctor of Theology in Practical Theology at the Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary. Recently, he is earning his Master of Science in Clinical Psychology at Saint Louis University. His research interests explore the intersection of soul-care, Filipino culture, and theology.

Pastor Hoiling Poon

This presentation explores “eating together” as a significant Christian art form and cultural practice, rooted in biblical and historical traditions, and parallels in Chinese culture. It highlights the often-overlooked role of communal eating in faith practices. By employing a multidisciplinary approach, the paper examines how communal eating fosters Chinese Christian community, generates social impact, and suggests practical applications for integrating meals into spiritual and family life.

Hoiling Poon is a PhD candidate in World Arts at Dallas International University and an arts mission researcher and adjunct lecturer at Alliance Bible Seminary. Holding an M.Div. in Church Music and a Th.M. in Intercultural Studies, she is a former missionary in Germany and an ethnodoxologist. Hoiling promotes biblically faithful, culturally relevant, and life-transforming arts mission work, inspiring Asian churches and artists to communicate the Gospel through creative and relavant expressions. Her recent focus includes Bible-based arts and trauma healing, multicultural worship, and community arts for holistic wellbeing.

“This presentation examines the phenomenon of localized depictions of Christ around the world and gives a theological justification for why such depictions are not just nice, but are necessary. It will also engage in theological exegesis of several significant and helpful examples of this from various contexts, demonstrating what such depictions have to offer to the rest of the world theologically.”

I am a Korean American from Los Angeles, trained in historical theology (Patristics), but also deeply interested in and working in contextual (Asian) theology.

Rev. N. Earnest

Storytelling is a vital communication method in South Asia, bridging religious and cultural contexts. It effectively conveys religious truths and values through relatable characters, settings, and imaginative elements. Preachers frequently use storytelling in sermons to illustrate lessons and engage listeners. This paper explores practical examples from South Asia and propose strategies for integrating storytelling into preaching, ensuring it remains Christ-centered and culturally relevant while cautioning against overemphasizing storytelling at the expense of the central message.

Earnest serves as an adjunct faculty member at Colombo Theological Seminary in Sri Lanka and is the visionary founder and director of iLEAD-Asia (Institute for Leadership Empowerment And Development-Asia), which focuses on empowering leaders across the region. He has also contributed a commentary on the Book of Malachi to the South Asia Bible Commentary. Earnest is currently pursuing a PhD in Theological Studies with AGST.

Rocelyn Anog Madinger

The Matigsalug kuglung is a plucked wooden chordophone played traditionally by an adult male .This paper would like to explore through the phenomenological lens the kuglung-related subjective experiences of selected Matigsalug Christian men. It examines the intersectionality of their indigenous and Christian identities and how they navigate living out their Christian beliefs while actively pursuing a strong cultural or indigenous identity.

Rocelyn F. Anog-Madinger, is called Roce (r-ow-s) by her friends. She was a music teacher for more than 15 years before she sensed a call to serve cross-culturally through music and the arts. She loves to encourage different ethno-linguistic communities to use their own cultural artistic forms in relation to their faith and/or community needs.

Dr. Romer Macalinao

Pastor Eleazar Atienza

Scripture Planting the Cognitive Neuroscience Way among Oral Communities. A praxis on how to effectively transmit the gospel among non-reading and writing cultures is necessary to ensure Christianity become rooted among the remaining minority oral bibleless UUPG in the world. The participants will be able to identify and articulate the biblical foundation of scripture planting; describe and rehearse some practical cognitive neuroscience principles and practices; and, measure some indicators of spiritual impact.

Dr. Romerlito Macalinao is committed to fulfilling the Great Commission through theological education, Bible translation, global networking, and the utilization of innovative strategies and technologies in discipling every nation. His interest is an intersection of Orality, Andragogy, Critical Pedagogy, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Generative AI. He serves as Dean of AGST Philippines, has an Ed.D. in Adult and Continuing Education, and his recent publication, “Orality and Neuroscience: Making Disciples Among Oral Societies.”

As a pastor, exegete, Christian educator, and emerging orality scholar, Ptr. Zar embraces various roles. Yet, his greatest passion is discipleship, which he sees as the core of my calling. With over a decade of pastoral experience and a seminary background in theology and biblical studies, his desire has been to delve deeply into the Bible and teach it to diverse audiences. Over the years, especially since his involvement in Bible translation and academic training in orality,  his commitment to holistic discipleship has further deepened. With a passion for God’s mission of redeeming “every nation, tribe, people, and language,” he strives to understand and develop strategies that bridge the gap between God and his lost world, especially reaching the oral majority. He serves as Interim Director of Strategic Initiatives at Wycliffe Associates and has an M. Div in Biblical Studies, and is pursuing his PhD in Orality Studies at AGST.

Rev. Dr. Samuel Goh

The presentation will explore the reading process which involves what H-G Gadamer calls the fusion of horizons. The paper will argue that such phenomenon is premodern as well as postmodern, as Bible readers of every generation attempt to make sense what they read in a way relevant to them. We will begin with such a practice in the Second Temple period, as reflected in the LXX Job 2:9 and the Testament of Job, and continue by demonstrating a similar phenomenon in works of art, among others, William Blake’s Job and Goro Kokei’s sculpture of Job. The presentation will conclude by pointing out the implications of such reading process for the church.

I have a BTh, MDiv from Singapore Bible College, ThM from Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, US), PhD from Queen’s University of Belfast (Northern Ireland, UK). After pastoring ministry for about 10 years, I began my teaching career as a Old Testament lecturer, first in Singapore Bible College, then Brisbane School of Theology. Currently I’m OT Professor at Singapore Bible College. Married with two grown children.

Dr. Sylvia Iman Santoso

The art of the Christian will reflect his/her worldview. What values should be reflected in the artistic and cultural endeavor of a Christian in Indonesia? This presentation will describe some of the influence of religions and indigenous beliefs upon the Javanese art and propose a vision based on the biblical understanding of the arts for the artistic and cultural endeavor of the Indonesian Church that reflects the biblical worldview and glorifies God.

Sylvia Santoso has served in the worship and music ministries in Indonesia, Singapore, and the United States. Sylvia earned her Master of Church Music from Singapore Bible College, Masters in Choral Conducting under Dr Kent Hatteberg and Dr. Wonjoo Ahn from the University of Louisville and finished her Doctor of Educational Ministry in Christian Worship at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is currently a faculty member of Southeast Asia Bible Seminary in Indonesia; teaching music, choral conducting and Biblical worship, with a special interest in psalm studies. Sylvia directs Vocatus vocal ensemble and lives in Malang, East Java with her husband, Aaron and her two children, Evangeline and Benjamin.

Ms. Carolien Eunice Tantra

People use language as a means of communication, enabling them to convey ideas and express emotions. Through language, people connect and unite themselves with one another. One form of language is music. Congregational music, encompassing congregational songs is employed weekly by the Indonesian Chinese churches as a faith community.

The Chinese churches in Indonesia consist of Indonesians of Chinese ethnicity and Indonesians. The ancestors of the Chinese Indonesians came to Indonesia from many sub-ethnic groups in China, such as Hokkien, Cantonese, and Hakka. When they established churches, they gathered as different congregations according to their native language, and the Mandarin language became the unifying language among them.

The Mandarin language became an essential feature of the Chinese churches in Indonesia. However, in 1966, the Indonesian government banned the Mandarin language and cultural identity of Chinese Indonesians. It was only in May 1998 that the Indonesian government allowed the use of Mandarin language and Chinese culture in Indonesia, including in Sunday worship. Therefore, Chinese churches in Indonesia have become preservation places for the Mandarin language. Nowadays, most Chinese churches in Indonesia still maintain and use the Mandarin language in addition to the Indonesian language in the worship service, including in congregational singing.

The purpose of this paper is to explain and explore the ways in which the Chinese churches in Indonesia have strategies for surviving congregational music as a language to express devotion and relation with God and one another. This paper comes from my experience as a music minister, worship planner, and musician in a Chinese church in Indonesia.

Carolien Tantra is from Jakarta, Indonesia. Currently, she is studying Doctor of Pastoral Music at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, USA. She is also actively involved in the worship and music ministry at the local church in Waco, Texas, and also in Indonesia.

Together with her son Dillan, and her husband, David Dwi Chrisna, PhD (Cand.) who is also studying World Christianity at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, they are now living in Waco, Texas since 2021.

(This will be an audio-visual presentation and showcase, followed by sharing, discussion and Q & A with the Conkeys)

Calvin and Carol Conkey

Experience the powerful combination of Scripture and cultural relevance through numerous audio-visual examples of indigenous media. Explore films, animations, art, and mixed media forms that are spreading the gospel worldwide. Discover customized animated testimonies, Bible stories, AI-generated films, and digital art, with resources available for the whole family. Find new websites and apps offering free downloadable media and arts in hundreds of languages. Access practical media training and resources, both online and on-field, to benefit schools, churches, and ministries.

Calvin and Carol are the Founders and International Directors of Create International, producing media and art resources for unreached people groups. Serving as full-time missionaries since 1978, along with their 10 global teams, they have created hundreds of indigenous audio-visual resources and ministered in over seventy nations. With MAs in Intercultural Communication, they coordinate media strategies for a number of global mission networks and media coalitions. Currently based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, they also help lead the Media4Movements ministry and have authored Media that Transforms Nations and The Impossible Dream. www.createinternational.com,  http://www.indigitube.tv.