My wife was born in Papua New Guinea where her parents served in LCMS missions. I’ve been hearing their family stories about that formative decade overseas for over 30 years now, 20 of them as part of the family by marriage. And one of the recurring characters in those stories were their teammates on the… Continue reading Renewing Old Connections
Category: History
New Year, New Responsibilities
Work on the mission field is always in flux. At times I’m surprised that, after close to a century doing ministry work in Southeast Asia we lack things that seem basic and obvious, more extensive systems to capture the work being done and connect it with previous work and future work. Part of this is… Continue reading New Year, New Responsibilities
Samantha*
Summertime, the first week of July, 2012. Our second anniversary of my second pastoral Call, this time to the California seaside community of Santa Barbara. But we were living about 15 miles south of there in a sleepy little beach town called Carpinteria, where we were renting a house about half a mile from the… Continue reading Samantha*
Bangkok
Bangkok is a massive city. Founded 500 years ago it sprawls now over 600 square miles with a population of over 9 million. I first visited Bangkok eight years ago with my wife on a trip to do some teaching and visit friends of ours in Vietnam. We made a brief stopover in Bangkok for… Continue reading Bangkok
Representing
The nature of my work is fluid. A jack of all trades and master of none. A chameleon of sorts, able and willing to accommodate myself to a variety of situations and needs. Not perfectly, of course, but still it’s a gift I have been given that has served me well in a variety of… Continue reading Representing
Homeward Bound
Concluding our time in the Los Angeles area we next headed north. Homeward, as it were. As close to home as we’ve ever known. Nearly eleven years spent in the idyllic locale of Santa Barbara, California. The American Riviera. An exquisite, beautiful bubble of wealth mixed with a healthy strain of surf culture. It’s where… Continue reading Homeward Bound
Tenebrae
I haven’t belonged in a church in nearly three years. That’s a strange feeling, to be a wandering worshiper without roots in a congregation. It’s acceptable and I can deal with it. Our whole family has to varying degrees. God the Holy Spirit is good and his love remains palpable even when we aren’t firmly… Continue reading Tenebrae
Angels Unawares
They shuffle into the line for lunch just ahead of me, a younger man guiding (presumably) his aging father. We make some polite conversation. The older man cannot see or hear so well anymore but otherwise seems fine aside from some unsteadiness. The younger man it turns out serves on the board of directors for… Continue reading Angels Unawares
Singapore Salvaging
You can see the heat and humidity in Singapore. It hangs over everything, seeps into everything, drains energy and melts ice cubes at a pace that constantly astounds me. Walking just a few steps, not even a city block in a city where blocks can come up short before you know it, walking just that… Continue reading Singapore Salvaging
Book Review: Looking for the Prehispanic Filipino
Looking for the Prehispanic Filipino by William Henry Scott The Amazon link above is to a previous edition of the book. I’m not sure if the newer edition (2022) is only available in the Philippines, but it likely was a fairly small print run. This is a collection of essays, most of them academic in… Continue reading Book Review: Looking for the Prehispanic Filipino
