Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary (APNTS) is honored to participate in the 2025 INCHE/HGU Asia-Oceania Conference, held November 24–26 at Handong Global University in Pohang, Korea. This historic gathering celebrates 50 years of the International Network for Christian Higher Education (INCHE) and 30 years of Handong Global University (HGU), bringing together educators, leaders, and students from across Asia and Oceania to reflect on the future of Christian higher education.
The conference theme, Holistic Intelligence in Higher Education: A New Paradigm in the AI Era, invites the over 200 participants to explore how faith-based institutions can respond to the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence.
Representing APNTS, Dr. Marie Joy Pring-Faraz presented her paper, “Liberative Theological Education in the AI Era: Addressing the Indigence of Being for Holistic Transformation.” Her research draws on Engelbert Mveng’s concept of the “indigence of being,” emphasizing that theological education must serve as a liberative force against existential deprivation and digital colonization. Dr. Pring-Faraz, inspired by Dr. Allder and Dr. Ackerman’s Emmaus Model, proposes that just as Christ walked alongside the disheartened, theological schools must walk alongside students navigating both existential poverty and technological disruption. AI must be integrated in ways that foster genuine encounter, dialogical learning, and transformative insight. This means seminaries must become places where technology is scrutinized through the lens of liberation, where algorithms are tested against the values of dignity and shalom, and where students are formed not only as scholars but as resilient leaders who resist oppression and embody compassion.
The presentation was attended by Dr. Deborah Haarsma, INCHE’s new Executive Director, and Dr. Moses Chung, Director for Missions Innovation at Resonate Global Mission, both of whom expressed appreciation and affirmed it as a meaningful and timely contribution to the conference. APNTS is deeply grateful to INCHE for providing a scholarship that enabled Dr. Pring-Faraz to attend and present at this historic gathering.
Through this contribution, APNTS affirms its commitment to shaping theological education that is both contextually relevant and deeply rooted in the Christian mission. As the digital age unfolds, APNTS continues to stand alongside INCHE and partner institutions in nurturing leaders who embody justice, dignity, and shalom.
