The Nelson Family Indonesia

Tomorrow we’ll conclude the training on the Apostles’ Creed in this area of Nepal. After lunch somewhere between three and seven of us will clamber into a 4×4 vehicle and make the 3+ hour drive back to Kathmandu. There we’ll stay the night.

After teaching today we were able to visit two more local churches. These are simple affairs overall. Large, one-room buildings. These are nicer ones made of brick and stone. In more rural areas the walls are basically mud and there are leaks in the corrugated tin roofs (or so I’m told). They are largely unfurnished. People sit on the floors on carpeting. There are no decorations to speak of. There’s always a set up for music though – usually a sound board and speakers, acoustic and/or electric guitar and finally drums. Not many indigenous instruments here, but people might bring those with them when they worship on Saturday.

Everything is clean. Oftentimes second hand and well-worn, but clean and tidy. Children play in the courtyards outside, pausing only briefly in their games to wonder at the gaggle of men that move through them. Although this is a far more remote area than where we live in Medan, I do not get stares here like I do at home in my own neighborhood. We are accepted and then more or less ignored.

At the end of our touring we’re brought to the home of one of the local pastors. He has offered to make us dinner this evening, and the seven of us gather around a small dining table. The food is simple and delicious – rice, lentils stewed chicken in sauce, some fresh local chilis (that *really* pack a punch, something I love!), and some papadams and rice chips. It’s a generous offering and we are greatly appreciative.

We’re back to the hotel by 8-ish. Michael and I talk for a while. My main reason for being here is to provide feedback to Regional Director Charles Ferry on whether this is a group the LCMS could work further with, supporting their ministry through allocating time, money and manpower for additional training and perhaps some material support to expand their efforts. We talk about the ups and downs and ins and outs of such requests for a while.

As we close I propose an alteration to the next stretch of our time here. Currently the plan is that we both journey with Rabindra six and a half hours south of Kathmandu on Friday. There we’ll visit a few more churches, preach at two congregations on Saturday, and then teach from Sunday through Wednesday before heading back to Kathmandu next Thursday. It’s certainly a fine plan we can work with. But I’m wondering about splitting us up for the next few days in order to better scope out the work being done in Kathmandu. Meeting with leaders of some other Christian and charitable organizations there to get a different perspective on work in Nepal.

We’ll sleep on the possible change in itinerary and discuss further tomorrow. We pray for God’s guidance and protection. Please pray with us towards those ends. The Holy Spirit is working strongly in Nepal which is wonderful. It’s also challenging as the overwhelmingly Hindu majority is angry and threatened by this and comes up with new ways to try and thwart the growth. Our Lord has the victory – may God’s people continue to be faithful in loving Him and loving their neighbors!