Today we were privileged to join in worship at the local Lutheran congregation Nomin serves – Good News Lutheran Church. The building is apparently old, but as is typical with many old churches, the measure of the place should be taken on the inside, not the outside! Between 30-50 people gather for worship each Sunday,… Continue reading Sunday in Mongolia
Category: Reading
Mongolia
The view on exiting the airport. March is early spring for Mongolia and people are thrilled the snow is beginning to melt. But this is more snow than I’ve seen in multiple years combined! When I knew I would be making this trip, I knew Gena had to come with me. She’s talked about wanting… Continue reading Mongolia
Upkeep Issues
Hi all! As I struggle to catch up on our blog updates, please be aware. I’m going to start posting current updates. At the same time I’m going to be back-filling posts from last month. By back-dating these posts (to keep the continuity of the blog as a whole somewhat logical) you might not get… Continue reading Upkeep Issues
Back in Singapore
As the year winds to a close, the last two months are bereft of major commitments of time and allow me the opportunity for shorter trips. No less meaningful, but easier than long stretches are. Singapore is one such familiar quick stop. Oftentimes Singapore (like Kuala Lumpur) gets added on to the end or beginning… Continue reading Back in Singapore
St. John Book Club
Apologies right off the bat – we all forgot to get a picture of this! But we were blessed to join Pastor Dan Kletke and his Book Club from St. John, Canon City. While they have read a wide variety of books over the years together, most recently they read Ministering Cross-Culturally, a book Dan… Continue reading St. John Book Club
Baptism!
My parish congregations in the US were predominantly comprised of retirement age folks and beyond. I did far more funerals than I could have ever imagined realistic, but only what seemed like a handful of baptisms (and fewer weddings!). So baptisms are an exciting thing for me still. Which is good, because James was excited for his… Continue reading Baptism!
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
Book Review: Prehispanic Source Materials
Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History by William Henry Scott The link above to Amazon is actually the previous edition of the book. The one I just finished is a 2022 reprint from his revised (and slightly updated) 1984 edition. As I travel I like to learn more about the places I… Continue reading Book Review: Prehispanic Source Materials
Suggested Reading: Singapore
Singapore: A Very Short History: From Temasek to Tomorrow by Alvin Tan As a history lover, one of the side benefits of working on the other side of the world is a very real need to learn a bit (lot?!) more about the history of Southeast Asia. This is a topic that was barely touched… Continue reading Suggested Reading: Singapore
Lenten Beauty
It may at first seem counterintuitive, that in the midst of Lent we could find and enjoy beauty. But contrition and repentance are not the same thing at all as boringness or repetition or monotony or ugliness. If anything, our Lenten contemplations should drive us in part by comparison – the aching awareness of our… Continue reading Lenten Beauty
The Nelson Family Indonesia 