Our last stop is in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mail. As with everywhere we’ve visited, it’s lovely. Lush, green. Plenty of rain here in Southeast Asia! In fact, a week before we arrived Chiang Mai was hit by a typhoon that submerged sections of villages outside the city center. By the time we… Continue reading Chiang Mai
Category: Partners
Phuket
After three days in Bangkok, it’s time to move on. The TCLC has major centers of work in three areas of the country. Bangkok is the central area of Thailand, and now we’re moving on to Phuket in the southern section of Thailand. All the logistics of travel and accommodations in-country have been arranged by… Continue reading Phuket
Welcoming
When you live overseas you develop an awareness of newcomers and other folks making the transition from other lives and places to this new one. While we work hard to interact with locals, it’s just a reality that ex-pats also keep tabs on one another and we hear about new arrivals. SungHo is one of… Continue reading Welcoming
Baguio Seminary #2
For the second August in a row I’ve been privileged to be a guest instructor at the Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS) in Baguio, Philippines. This seminary serves the Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP), a full altar-pulpit fellowship church with the LCMS. This year instead of two courses I taught three – one to each… Continue reading Baguio Seminary #2
Traveling Buddies
My job is to travel. But I usually do this alone. This month however, I was blessed to have two traveling buddies! Deaconess Sandra Rhein and teacher Melinda (Mindy) Thews met me in Manila, Philippines prior to our joint journey northwards to Baguio for a week-long Deaconess/Sunday School teacher training. Sandra and I have worked… Continue reading Traveling Buddies
Typhoon Chasing
Well, not intentionally! My longest trip this year (other than our time back in the US in the spring) will be this trip to the Philippines. I’ll be in-country for three weeks, not including travel time on either end. Initially I’ll be providing pastoral care and teaching during a deaconess review session for over 80… Continue reading Typhoon Chasing
Transience
One of the many books we read before deploying overseas talked about the difficult nature of relationships amongst ex-pats. While it can be easier to make friends overseas, when people of a similar cultural background are fewer and more inclined to seek one another out, those relationships may not last very long. At least in… Continue reading Transience
Great Discussions
My work in Malaysia continues with a weekly Saturday night online and in-person (as my schedule permits) Bible study based on the lectionary readings for the next morning. It was a joy to gather again with half a dozen or so brothers in Christ, mostly in their early to mid 20’s, for an evening of… Continue reading Great Discussions
Home
And just like that, it’s over. The planning and anticipation of the past year is over all too soon. The weeks fly by. Faces and smiles and tears blur together in a Impressionist reverie. Was it all real? When we arrived in the States we were amazed at how natural it felt. Granted, we’ve only… Continue reading Home
Discerning
I think back to them still, more than two months after first meeting them. Who could have predicted such an encounter and opportunity? Who could have foreseen the Holy Spirit’s web of connectivity being spun in time and space and lives? My seminary classmate who invited me out to his community in central Colorado likely… Continue reading Discerning
