We’re staying in the heart of Phnom Penh in one of the few hotels capable of handling a group of our size while located nearby a plethora of places to eat and things to see and do. It’s a bustling, big city. It reminds us somewhat of Medan, though the feel (as a capitol city)… Continue reading Time in Phnom Penh
Category: Theology
Standing Out
We’ve been in country now for nearly 11 months. I’ve learned to ignore the stares (mostly) and turned heads from locals amazed at seeing a bule (Caucasian) way out here in Medan. We have routines of a sort, places we usually go, and after a while you stop thinking about it. This is partially necessary… Continue reading Standing Out
Christ the King
We worship at an English-speaking congregation that isn’t Lutheran. Given the choice between attending a more Lutheran service in Bahasa Indonesia when we can’t understand it at all, or dealing with doctrinal and traditional differences where we could hear the Word and be part of Christian community, we opted for the latter. It has been… Continue reading Christ the King
LCS & TTC
Gotta love acronyms, right?! This afternoon I was blessed to meet with Bishop Lu Guan Hoe of the Lutheran Church in Singapore (LCS). Bishop Lu assumed his position in 2021 and I was happy to congratulate him in person. While the LCMS and the LCS are not in formal partnership, we have a shared Lutheran… Continue reading LCS & TTC
Watching Others Work
There are, of course, many other Christians beyond Lutherans at work in Medan and Indonesia. As we grow our network here we get to meet them and sometimes learn more about the work they’re doing. For instance, I had no idea there were Eastern Orthodox in Indonesia (Antiochan Orthodox, to be more precise). Then I… Continue reading Watching Others Work
The No Good, Horrible, Very Bad Week
Pretty inspiring, huh? That’s why I swore I wasn’t going to post this week. Who wants to listen to something like that? Who wants to hear about struggles and illness, about how Satan can grind you down? Good Lord, most people have enough of those issues in their own lives and the lives of their… Continue reading The No Good, Horrible, Very Bad Week
First Meeting – Bishop Lawrence of the ELCM
I was blessed today to meet with Bishop Steven Lawrence of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Malaysia (ELCM). He set aside not just time to meet in his office and to introduce me (and my wife, Gena) to their staff, but also to drive us 90-minutes to visit one of their ministries – the Women’s… Continue reading First Meeting – Bishop Lawrence of the ELCM
Hello From….Kuala Lumpur!
No, Kuala Lumpur is not, in fact, in Indonesia. It’s close by though, just across the Malacca Strait, and an hour from the Medan airport. We landed and discovered it was Malaysia’s independence day. Which means in the past two months we’ve celebrated three different independence days – America’s on July 4th, Indonesia’s on August… Continue reading Hello From….Kuala Lumpur!
Home!
It was a long weekend. We were up at 6am to catch a 10am, two-hour flight from Phoenix. A 2-hour stop in San Francisco and then a 10-hour flight to Narita, Tokyo where we had 30 minutes to make it to our next flight, a seven-hour flight to Jakarta, arriving at midnight Saturday night Jakarta… Continue reading Home!
God and Covid
I like to try and apply theology to actual life as much as possible. It disturbs me when these two things that are naturally and unavoidably related appear separated. Sermons and Bible studies should not serve as merely intellectual grist for the mental mill but guideposts and signposts in daily life. Failure to make this… Continue reading God and Covid
The Nelson Family Indonesia 