One of the major focal points of every missionary Home Service is a Reconnect at the International Center in St. Louis. The name kind of explains the goal – a lot goes on in St. Louis to support the work of the Church around the world. Missionary names and faces are pretty familiar to some of these departments and staff, but the Reconnect is an opportunity for them to meet us face to face. Likewise it’s helpful for those of us on the field to have faces and names connected when we need things from the Home Office. It’s a time to celebrate collaboration.
Our day began with a small reception in the OIM section of the cubicle maze at the Home Office. About 30 minutes of informal sharing and conversation around some light refreshments preceded a tour of the major departments that work with overseas staff. This was followed by participation in the daily chapel service held at the IC.
After this, missionaries have an opportunity to share with interested parties about specific work in their Region. Since we were the only missionaries attending this Reconnect, we had the whole time to ourselves, allowing for about 20+ minutes of presentation followed by time for Q&A. We were guided in all of this by Clarion Fritsche.
After lunch we had time to meet with specific people in the building, like upper OIM management and Concordia Plans representatives. We wrapped up with a time of prayer with some of the staff members in OIM who work with us most closely. A good day of Reconnecting and hopefully clarifying some of the work happening in the Asia Region.
The Nelson Family Indonesia 