Living overseas as an expat and minority of a larger culture and nation means you think about things you wouldn’t at home. How’s that for the understatement of the decade?! 🙂 For one thing you tend to notice other expats, others who obviously (or less-obviously) are not native to the local culture. Those relationships become… Continue reading Broadening Relationship Circles
Updates
It’s the beginning of the month already here in Medan. It’s hard to believe how quickly time passes in weeks and months and years while at the same time dragging by in terms of seconds and minutes. When we last heard from our intrepid heroes….no wait, that’s the wrong update. Never mind. Word has it… Continue reading Updates
Grounded
I returned from Singapore last Saturday evening. It had been a long day and I was tired. But the day wasn’t over yet. After paying for a Visa on Arrival I waited in the foreign passport line to process through immigration. However the agent who I handed my passport to was concerned about all my… Continue reading Grounded
Off to Singapore
I leave this evening for Singapore. I’m eager to meet at least one of the two newest additions to our group, expanding our fellowship slightly. One of them, Hayley, is recovering from Covid after returning to Singapore from China. She shared she never had Covid the entire last three years, but now that it’s no… Continue reading Off to Singapore
Meals & Relationship
We were invited by a mutual friend of our family and another ex-pat family to come to her home this past Saturday. It was sort of an extension of Eid al Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan and their month of daylight fasting. Technically Eid al Fitr fell… Continue reading Meals & Relationship
Prayers & Prepping
Back in Medan after nearly three weeks away. It’s good to be home, which is what Medan has become over the past 15 months. But it’s not a long time to rest and recover. Next week I’m back to Singapore to visit Lutheran friends there. And plans are finalized for a week-long trip to the… Continue reading Prayers & Prepping
Tokyo
Saturday evening we flew from Okinawa to Tokyo. Sunday we met the Jastrams for worship in Shinjuku, a suburb slightly west of downtown Tokyo. We experienced a traditional Lutheran worship in Japanese. The small congregation was very warm and welcoming. The building where a congregation of the Japanese Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC) meets. A fairly… Continue reading Tokyo
Okinawa
With the blessing of LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces, I was asked to make two trips a year to the island of Okinawa, south of the Japanese mainland. Rev. Dr. Daniel Jastram has worked for the LCMS in Tokyo for seven years and visits Okinawa throughout the year to provide Word and Sacrament ministry… Continue reading Okinawa
Long Time Gone…
Literally. And not just here! I was away from home for over half of April. Fortunately my family was able to join me for a significant portion of that! In fact, I flew from Hanoi directly to Okinawa, there to meet my family arriving the following day. I had a trip planned to Okinawa and… Continue reading Long Time Gone…
CISH
I’m in Hanoi, Vietnam for my second visit with Concordia International School Hanoi (CISH). Celebrating a dozen years of operation, this is one of three LC-MS international schools in Asia (Hong Kong & Shanghai) and Southeast Asia. It’s a blessing to get to visit with the staff of this amazing educational institution again. We enjoyed… Continue reading CISH
The Nelson Family Indonesia 