I was pleasantly surprised to have time with Bishop Lawrence, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Malaysia (ELCM) today. While we have been in touch via e-mail, this is our first in-person meeting in almost a year. During our time together we discussed the possibility of restarting deaconess training in Malaysia, something that has… Continue reading Unexpected Visit
Category: Theology
KL Visit
People here refer to Kuala Lumpur as KL. Much easier to say, for sure. That’s where I’ve been so far this week. It’s my first extended time in KL in several months and I used the opportunity to catch up with James. James reached out to the LCMS last year, wanting to have conversations about… Continue reading KL Visit
Updates
It’s the beginning of the month already here in Medan. It’s hard to believe how quickly time passes in weeks and months and years while at the same time dragging by in terms of seconds and minutes. When we last heard from our intrepid heroes….no wait, that’s the wrong update. Never mind. Word has it… Continue reading Updates
Meals & Relationship
We were invited by a mutual friend of our family and another ex-pat family to come to her home this past Saturday. It was sort of an extension of Eid al Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan and their month of daylight fasting. Technically Eid al Fitr fell… Continue reading Meals & Relationship
Tokyo
Saturday evening we flew from Okinawa to Tokyo. Sunday we met the Jastrams for worship in Shinjuku, a suburb slightly west of downtown Tokyo. We experienced a traditional Lutheran worship in Japanese. The small congregation was very warm and welcoming. The building where a congregation of the Japanese Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC) meets. A fairly… Continue reading Tokyo
Ministry of Presence
Many Christians I talk to worry about their faith. The primary worry they express is feeling ill-equipped to minister to others. They are firm in their faith but worried somehow the Holy Spirit has neglected to give them what they need to minister to others. They oftentimes discount or ignore or are unaware of the… Continue reading Ministry of Presence
Teaching in Sri Lanka
This week I had the opportunity to meet again with the five evangelists of the Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Last month I led them through a discussion on Luther’s Large & Small Catechisms. This week I led them through a discussion on the Augsburg Confession (AC). As before, they were… Continue reading Teaching in Sri Lanka
Baguio City
We had the opportunity to celebrate Matins with the seminary community this morning, and afterwards sit in on several of their classes. The professors are knowledgeable and the students are eager to learn. One student has traveled all the way from Mongolia to study here. Another student is from North Sumatra, Indonesia! I had the… Continue reading Baguio City
Arriving in Manila
I’m in the Philippines this week, connecting with Deaconess Sandra Rhein and SE Asia Regional Director Rev. Charles Ferry to meet with the leadership of the Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP). Deaconess Rhein and I arrived Sunday evening and were graciously met at the airport by our driver – President Rev. Antonio Reyes! He… Continue reading Arriving in Manila
Building Relationships
Today I was blessed to meet with Bishop Lu Guan Ho of the Lutheran Church in Singapore (LCS). I had the pleasure of meeting with him late last year as well, and it was nice to build on those initial introductions to one another. We were also joined by his assistant, Martin Yi. While the… Continue reading Building Relationships
The Nelson Family Indonesia 