Thank you for prayers and inquiries about the Thanksgiving flood in Medan. We woke the next morning and, thank you God, the rains had abated and the floodwaters had dropped. Our street looked as if nothing had happened. Other than the sight of neighbors shoveling mud out of their homes, the first step in returning… Continue reading Flooding Follow-Up
Category: Partners
Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s Thanksgiving evening here in Medan, Indonesia. We had plans to gather with some other ex-pats to share turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, pumpkin pie, and most of the accoutrements we’re used to as Americans for Thanksgiving. My friend Kyle and I secured a turkey in advance. For the sake of simplicity, let’s call… Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving!
Home Service Planning
It’s hard to believe that it’s time to start planning for our next Home Service in 2026. Every two years (or three years in unusual circumstances) overseas workers return to the US to visit their partners in ministry. Six weeks of visiting with partner congregations and individuals, and two weeks of reconnecting with family and… Continue reading Home Service Planning
Pieper’s Posse?
I may need to define the term thug for my first year students at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Baguio. Some of them look way to cheerful and friendly. But they look like great future pastors and deaconess, don’t they!?
Installation
It was a blessing today to be present for the installation of Rev. Dr. Walter Steele in his capacity as a faculty member at Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS) in Baguio, Philippines. LTS is the seminary of the Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP), one of our oldest and strongest church partners in Asia. Rev. Steele… Continue reading Installation
September 5 – Celebrations
Life in the Papua New Guinea Highlands – as with many other mission fields – is all about flexibility. Plans are by definition tentative. It’s not a culture where advance planning is a fundamental aspect of things, and ideas about what to do and when to do it can erupt rather spontaneously. So it was… Continue reading September 5 – Celebrations
September 4 – Touring
Today we spent looking over the grounds of Timothy Lutheran Seminary in Birip, and doing a bit of touring in the nearby towns. The seminary is situated on expansive grounds that are lush and, due to our visit no doubt, neatly kept! Visitors are a big deal here in the middle of the middle of… Continue reading September 4 – Touring
Heading to the Highlands
Today we traveled from Lae back to Port Moresby and then from Port Moresby up to the Highlands, landing at Mount Hagen Airport. There we were met by Rev. Dr. Ron & Mary Anne Rall, LCMS missionaries who have served full-time and part-time for over 50 years in PNG. In order to fly on the… Continue reading Heading to the Highlands
A Day in Lae
Lae (pronounced lay) is a major shipping port for Papua New Guinea (PNG) on the northern coast. We came here for several reasons, mostly exploratory in nature. There are two major Lutheran church bodies in PNG – Gutnius Lutheran Church (GLC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG (ELC-PNG). The LCMS founded the GLC, while… Continue reading A Day in Lae
PNG Domestic Travel
Today was the first of three major transitions we’ll make in Papua New Guinea. We flew from the capitol of Port Moresby, where we initially landed in the wee hours of Friday morning, to the city of Lae. Port Moresby is kind of center on the map above. Look directly north (up) from it and… Continue reading PNG Domestic Travel
The Nelson Family Indonesia 