Serving Well: Help for the Wannabe, Newbie or Weary Cross-Cultural Christian Worker by Jonathan and Elizabeth Trotter Recommended by a friend who had it recommended to him, this is not my favorite read. The style is not one I’m very fond of, overly friendly and informal with useful tips interspersed with emotional self-disclosures. I think this… Continue reading Book Review: Serving Well
Category: Life
Just the Facts
I’m too young to have seen many of the original Dragnet episodes. It was not nearly as favored in syndication where and when I was growing up. But the famous line of Just the facts, ma’am (even if erroneously attributed or cited) has become cultural parlance of a sort (or at least it was the… Continue reading Just the Facts
Helping Out
I’m admittedly an idealist at times, something that tends to clash with what I refer to as my realism (not pessimism) about life. One of the ideals I had as we cast loose of our settled life to start traveling and sharing with partners around the country and waiting for deployment to happen was that… Continue reading Helping Out
Virtually Settling
As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we remain somewhat in limbo since the sale of our home and the uncertainty of when we will deploy overseas. The usual things that determine where you reside or more technically where you domicile don’t apply to us. We don’t own or rent a home, have utilities in… Continue reading Virtually Settling
In Faith Dependent, Anderson Island
When we seized the opportunity to spend some time in the Pacific Northwest we also hoped we’d have the opportunity to visit with some Lutheran congregations. Although that focus is slowing somewhat as we pivot in prayerful anticipation of our visas being issued, it’s still a joy to meet fellow Lutherans and brothers and sisters… Continue reading In Faith Dependent, Anderson Island
New (Temporary) Home
After 1500 miles, several days of travel and a brief ferry ride, we’ve arrived in our new, temporary home of Anderson Island, WA. We unexpectedly found a halfway reasonably priced furnished rental here since summer is over and the crush of tourists has passed. We decided after four months in the summer heat of Phoenix… Continue reading New (Temporary) Home
Almost Done!
Today was very exciting. After an acceleration of our efforts to finalize our initial visa application for Taiwan, we confirmed via a Zoom call with Office of International Mission that we have all the necessary components for the application. Tomorrow, I go to the bank to get cashier’s checks for the application, and then we… Continue reading Almost Done!
Where Do You Reside?
We do a good work in distinguishing home from a house/apartment/yurt/whatever. But we all reside somewhere. The question is, how does this work? For most of us the question isn’t very complicated. Wherever we own or rent a place and live there is where we reside. Sometimes that means making a decision between two (or… Continue reading Where Do You Reside?
Done With Doctors!
At least, I think we are! This has been the most intimidating aspect of our preparations for applying for a work visa for Taiwan. Having been out of the traditional doctor/insurance system for more than a few years, it was a bit bewildering to enter into it with somewhat of a vengeance. My work visa… Continue reading Done With Doctors!
Hope & Waiting
Two weeks ago I was blessed to spend an hour on Zoom talking to my boss, the director of the Southeast Asia Region of LCMS Office of International Mission. We touch base every so often during the strangeness that is pre-deployment during Covid. He gave me good news – that our raising of funds is… Continue reading Hope & Waiting
The Nelson Family Indonesia 