At least it will have been by the time I return. Today I head out for a three-week stint abroad. Traveling in and out of Kuala Lumpur with buffer time for some catechesis with a young teacher there, the bulk of my time will be spent in the Philippines. The Lutheran seminary I visited in… Continue reading Long Time Gone
Category: Vocation
Busy In Singapore
I still pinch myself. Here I am, sweating my brains out, clothes soaked through, lugging a 60-lb suitcase through the subway system. By all accounts I ought to be miserable, and I certainly do wish it was cooler. But then I remember, I’m in Singapore! That seems almost unimaginable still, even though Singapore is getting… Continue reading Busy In Singapore
On the Road Again
I successfully left Indonesia today. I wasn’t sure if immigration would want to see more documentation than the little stamp in my passport, but the officer didn’t say a word. We’ll see if they let me back in on Saturday! I’m headed to Singapore to lead worship for a small group of LCMS people there.… Continue reading On the Road Again
Reaching Out
Today was a busy day. The morning was spent at the local immigration office where Caedmon, Gena and I were fingerprinted and photographed as the final step for my Indonesian work visa. We’ll return on Tuesday afternoon of next week to pick up this new visa which will cover the three of us until next… Continue reading Reaching Out
Graduation!
Today was a special day for our family. Everyone (except Paul!) graduated from language school! Although I had to drop out after the core program (6 units of study), the rest of the family continued for the final 3 units. Their studies culminated in a 2000-word research paper and oral presentation – all in bahasa… Continue reading Graduation!
A Busy Tuesday
Normally my schedule is busiest when I’m not in Medan, but today was a welcome exception! I had a lunch meeting today with the missions executive for the Lutheran Church of Australia, Rev. Matt Anker. Rev. Anker does a lot of work in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia and Singapore and I’ve been hoping to meet… Continue reading A Busy Tuesday
Good News and No News
The good news is three-fold. The first part is that I’ll be catechizing James in Kuala Lumpur towards baptism, and will be able to bring him the Eucharist as I’m passing in and out of KL on future trips. That’s very exciting, and I think a relief for James who has struggled as to where… Continue reading Good News and No News
God Provides
It wasn’t the night I expected. I awoke shortly after falling asleep, realizing something wasn’t right. After tossing and turning for a while I realized I had some sort of food poisoning, most likely. The already-short night was tragically spent mostly not in bed sleeping. By the time my driver arrived I was dressed and… Continue reading God Provides
Into the Wilderness
Today I embarked on a 7-hour drive from Medan to the southern side of Lake Toba. I’ve been invited to be the guest preacher and teacher for the GKLI, the partner Lutheran church we work with in Indonesia. Formerly my colleague, Rev. Wood, has done the honors but he and his family are currently in… Continue reading Into the Wilderness
Home Again
Thank you all for your prayers. This evening Gena, Caedmon and I were able to successfully re-enter Indonesia on e-visas as prelude to receiving my Indonesian work permit in the next 30-days or so (God-willing!). We still need to go to the local immigration office to finalize the work permit but that should be relatively… Continue reading Home Again
The Nelson Family Indonesia 