When you go to Walmart, or Target, or Home Depot, or any other number of retail establishments, you expect when you walk in there will be someone you can ask questions of, someone to show you where things are. Sometimes you have to hunt them down, but they’re there. Somewhere. Here in Medan, when you… Continue reading Mega
Category: Theology
Goodbye Jimmy
That’s Jimmy, our first pet in Medan. Kind of anticlimactic in many ways. We didn’t pick him out, he picked us. We rarely saw him, except when we’d inadvertently open a cabinet door he was hiding behind. We joked about the parties he would throw when we were away from the apartment, but he was… Continue reading Goodbye Jimmy
Our First Ramadan
A beautiful sunset Saturday night from the east side of Medan… Of course it’s not really our first Ramadan. Ramadan has been celebrated for over a thousand years. We heard more about it in the US over the past few years but even so it remained a very distant affair. Important to adherents of the… Continue reading Our First Ramadan
Practicing Language With My Grab Driver Who Is Also a Charismatic Pastor
Grab is the Indonesian (Southeastern Asia, really) equivalent of Uber. It’s practically pennies to get back and forth to most anywhere in the sprawling city of Medan and a lifesaver when every day the temperature and humidity wrestle with one another for dominance. I was invited by the waitress at the restaurant across the street… Continue reading Practicing Language With My Grab Driver Who Is Also a Charismatic Pastor
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
Drinking from a Firehose
It’s hard to believe we arrived in Medan two weeks ago. Although we feel so inadequate in terms of language, we’ve learned so much in such a short time. Like this post’s title, we’re at times overwhelmed by the process of learning a language and a culture as well as how to function in life… Continue reading Drinking from a Firehose
Good Mooooorrrrnnniiinnnggggg Medan!
Hello and good morning from Medan, Sumatera, Indonesia! We arrived safely on our flight from Jakarta yesterday evening. We may not look terribly excited in the photo but we are – just weary as well! The sig behind us, as we exit the airport terminal in Medan, means Welcome (at least we think it does!)… Continue reading Good Mooooorrrrnnniiinnnggggg Medan!
Quarantine Day 4
Because they counted the day of our arrival in Indonesia – Wednesday February 9 – as our first day of quarantine even though we spent most of that day in the air – today is our last day of quarantine. The quarantine hotel informed us yesterday that sometime after 8am today we would be tested… Continue reading Quarantine Day 4
From California Dreamin’ to Jakarta Dreamin’
We’re here. After almost a year of clearing various obstacles and hoops and requirements, after visiting with many of you last summer and Fall to share what the Holy Spirit has Called our family to, and after unexpected delays because of Covid, we’re finally here. To say it’s surreal would be an understatement. To say… Continue reading From California Dreamin’ to Jakarta Dreamin’
Moving Forward
Short Update: It took all day, but we have confirmed reservations to leave San Francisco Tuesday about 12:30pm to change planes in Tokyo and then arrive in Jakarta, Indonesia about midnight Wednesday. Longer, Mostly Unnecessary Excurses and Anecdotal Observations: First off, it’s interesting some of the unexpected freedoms that come with cutting loose your ties… Continue reading Moving Forward
The Nelson Family Indonesia 