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
Unexpected Visit
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
Back to KL
Today I flew back to Kuala Lumpur from Singapore. Another good day for travel! My short visit in Singapore was fruitful in several different ways. Most importantly, I received word while in Singapore that my Indonesian work visa has arrived! This simple detail is an immense source of relief after a year or worrying and… Continue reading Back to KL
A Productive Day in Singapore
The LC-MS has been working in Singapore for some years in different capacities. While there is a Lutheran church body in Singapore (Lutheran Church in Singapore – LCS) we aren’t in fellowship with them due to different ideas about the ordination of women. Still, we want to have a good relationship with them as a… Continue reading A Productive Day in Singapore
On to Singapore
I flew from Kuala Lumpur (KL) to Singapore today. As a tangential note, it’s fun learning new airport codes on this side of the world! While I still think that Phoenix has the best airport name in the world (Sky Harbor International Airport – how cool is that?!!??!), airport codes are a bit less sexy.… Continue reading On to Singapore
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
Broadening Relationship Circles
Living overseas as an expat and minority of a larger culture and nation means you think about things you wouldn’t at home. How’s that for the understatement of the decade?! 🙂 For one thing you tend to notice other expats, others who obviously (or less-obviously) are not native to the local culture. Those relationships become… Continue reading Broadening Relationship Circles
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
The Nelson Family Indonesia 