Just a few weeks before we departed Indonesia for the US we were informed we had a new partner congregation. The LCMS has a program called Together in Mission (TIM) that connects congregations with deployed church workers around the world. We were told a new congregation was now partnering with us. Very exciting news!
I contacted them right away. Although it wouldn’t work to be with them on a Sunday to preach and be introduced to the entire congregation, there was time for us to rearrange the tail end of our Midwest journey. Rather than heading south after Mission Central and departing from Omaha, we pivoted north and headed to Excelsior, a suburb on the Western fringe of Minneapolis. There we met with the pastoral staff, the mission board, and some of the teachers at the school of Our Savior Lutheran Church.
We enjoyed lunch and fellowship with them for several hours. They are no strangers to missions or supporting workers around the world. It was great to learn about their mission foci and to share a bit about our work. The fascinating thing is that our name was first brought to their attention three years ago when Gena and I stayed in the home of a pastor and his family in Wisconsin. That pastor suggested our name to his father, who happened to be a member of Our Savior Excelsior and involved with the mission board. Three years later, they acted on that recommendation and connected with us through TIM.
The Holy Spirit is amazing in how He works as well as unpredictable! We had no idea that connection had been made. If we had, we might have worried about the timeframe or decided nothing was going to come of it. But since we didn’t know, we couldn’t worry or wonder. We only needed to marvel at his perfect timing after the fact!
Our time in Excelsior concluded our Midwest tour. We covered a lot of miles in a short amount of time, and were blessed to meet wonderful people and congregations and be reminded of how vast and diverse God the Holy Spirit’s work is. People in congregations of all sizes and backgrounds united in the person and work of the Son of God. Humbling and awe-inspiring. We stayed overnight in Minneapolis before catching the first flight out that morning back to Phoenix. We are grateful for new and old friends and safe travels!
The Nelson Family Indonesia 