Two weeks ago I was blessed to spend an hour on Zoom talking to my boss, the director of the Southeast Asia Region of LCMS Office of International Mission. We touch base every so often during the strangeness that is pre-deployment during Covid. He gave me good news – that our raising of funds is going very well. We give thanks to God the Holy Spirit as He calls faithful partners like you into supporting us through finances, prayers, encouragement, and sharing our story with others!
On the flip side, he confirmed what we already suspected. Based on current Covid trends, it didn’t seem likely we would be able to actually get to Southeast Asia (Taiwan and LCMS headquarters initially, then later Indonesia) before the end of the year. Likely we would arrive in early 2022. While unfortunate, we had already guessed this was the likely scenario beforehand. We could begin making plans from mid-November through the end of the year.
Then, during a Zoom teaching session with a group of Taiwanese church workers, someone in Taiwan indicated they didn’t know we were unable to deploy there and felt confident they could accelerate the process of our visa approval. What an amazing possibility! But I didn’t think much of it at the time.
But this week the push is on. We’re racing to complete the final requirements for my work application in Taiwan. All that remains is a series of medical appointments for our family to provide documentation of the status of our health. Once we get those completed, we should be able to send in our visa applications. Though I don’t know how long the processing might take, or whether the assurance of an earlier visa issuance will come to pass, the future has grown uncertain again as we try to be ready for whatever happens, whenever it happens.
We ask your prayers in all of this – appointments are not always easy to get on short notice with medical providers. Please pray we’re able to get appointments quickly, that the required tests go smoothly and all of the documentation can be notarized quickly in preparation for submission with our visa application. Please pray our application is accepted and processed quickly and, if it’s God’s will, that we are issued my work visa sooner rather than later so we can purchase our plane tickets and make final arrangements to leave.
Exciting times! Stressful as well, but we remain in good spirits, confident our Lord is in control of all things and will move us to Southeast Asia when He’s ready for us to be there!
The Nelson Family Indonesia 