Outside the visit of our Regional Director and another Office of International Mission (OIM) worker back in May (which was lovely, to be sure!) we haven’t had any visitors until this past week. But we were blessed this week to be visited by the Cima family. The Cimas work with church partners in Cambodia. They’ve… Continue reading Our First Visitors!
Author: mrpaulnelson
I've been blogging for over twenty years on one platform or another, and my favorite topics are cross-sections of faith and culture and everyday life. I'm an ordained minister with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod - among other things. Welcome!
Illness – Again!
Sorry for the delay in posting. Most of the family was laid out with sickness after our return from Kuala Lumpur earlier this month. I in particular had the joy of dealing with it not just once but twice, after I thought I had recovered from it. Frustrating but not too terribly awful. Fevers at… Continue reading Illness – Again!
Lutherans in Indonesia
Before I joined the international team I would never have guessed at the number of Lutherans in Southeast Asia. While in Kuala Lumpur I had the opportunity to see two different churches that are part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Malaysia (ELCM). Zion Cathedral is located in downtown Kuala Lumpur, shadowed and dwarfed by… Continue reading Lutherans in Indonesia
First Meeting – Bishop Lawrence of the ELCM
I was blessed today to meet with Bishop Steven Lawrence of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Malaysia (ELCM). He set aside not just time to meet in his office and to introduce me (and my wife, Gena) to their staff, but also to drive us 90-minutes to visit one of their ministries – the Women’s… Continue reading First Meeting – Bishop Lawrence of the ELCM
Hello From….Kuala Lumpur!
No, Kuala Lumpur is not, in fact, in Indonesia. It’s close by though, just across the Malacca Strait, and an hour from the Medan airport. We landed and discovered it was Malaysia’s independence day. Which means in the past two months we’ve celebrated three different independence days – America’s on July 4th, Indonesia’s on August… Continue reading Hello From….Kuala Lumpur!
Biawat
You’re awakened at 3 am by strange sounds. Better still, you’re awakened by your spouse at 3 am, who was wakened a few moments earlier by strange sounds. Now, after trying to make sense of them in the dark, they’ve wakened you. Groggy, you listen to the bumps, scrapes, and thuds emanating from somewhere vaguely… Continue reading Biawat
Adjusting
It doesn’t seem like much but on our first flight from Jakarta to Medan in February it was deliciously unexpected. Just like the in-flight meal on the two-hour flight was unexpected. And after close to 25 hours of traveling and transiting from the US it was a much-needed pick-me-up. A much-needed bit of excitement, as… Continue reading Adjusting
Home!
It was a long weekend. We were up at 6am to catch a 10am, two-hour flight from Phoenix. A 2-hour stop in San Francisco and then a 10-hour flight to Narita, Tokyo where we had 30 minutes to make it to our next flight, a seven-hour flight to Jakarta, arriving at midnight Saturday night Jakarta… Continue reading Home!
God and Covid
I like to try and apply theology to actual life as much as possible. It disturbs me when these two things that are naturally and unavoidably related appear separated. Sermons and Bible studies should not serve as merely intellectual grist for the mental mill but guideposts and signposts in daily life. Failure to make this… Continue reading God and Covid
Back to Indonesia
I doubt I’ll ever lose my amazement at how quickly and how far we can travel so easily. Partly my historian roots and understanding that until the last century (and less!) travel was very expensive, very time-consuming, and very dangerous. Now, with just a ‘mere’ 25 hours of travel time we can be on the… Continue reading Back to Indonesia
The Nelson Family Indonesia 