Yesterday for the first time I covered new ground, literally. I left Singapore headed not back to Indonesia or Malaysia, but north and east to Taiwan for my first visit to LCMS headquarters in Chiayi City, Taiwan. As it’s the rainy season for many places on this side of the world, it was cloudy and… Continue reading New Ground
Sharing in Singapore
My second visit to Singapore was a bit sooner than I expected. But with Christmas season coming, and then January busy for many people over here recovering from the Western New Year celebration and preparing for the Chinese New Year celebrations, folks there wouldn’t have been available until February. And when I realized I could… Continue reading Sharing in Singapore
A Long(er) Trip
Today I head out for a week-long trip, the longest of my travels thus far in Southeast Asia. Although there will be longer trips ahead, this is an important start. It’s a testimony to how far we’ve come in the last nine months. I can leave Gena and the ‘kids’ here in Medan knowing they… Continue reading A Long(er) Trip
Thanksgiving II
Our second Thanksgiving took place yesterday afternoon and evening. Pre-Covid, our language school had a habit of hosting a cross-cultural Thanksgiving experience for their students. This year, they expected 120 people to attend to learn about American Thanksgiving and get a small taste of traditional American Thanksgiving food. At least as close to traditional American… Continue reading Thanksgiving II
Thanksgiving I
Living overseas you know things will be different. You don’t always know which things or how they’ll differ, but you know in a general way life is going to be different. One of the more obvious differences is holidays. Each country and culture celebrates their own holidays. Some overlap, others don’t. Thanksgiving is one that… Continue reading Thanksgiving I
Prayers for Earthquake Victims
About 1:21 pm (local time) a 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck the island of Java in the central western region, a bit south and east of the capital city of Jakarta. The epicenter of Cianjur has suffered destroyed and damaged buildings, and there are an estimated several dozen dead and many more injured. This is not… Continue reading Prayers for Earthquake Victims
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
Scholastic Life
The biggest aspect of our lives in Indonesia at this point is language learning. Five days a week from 8:30am to 10:30am we are in formal classrooms. Gena and I are in one class, the kids are in another, but we’re all at the exact same place, covering the same material. In Unit 4 we… Continue reading Scholastic Life
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
Singapore Connections
For the next few days the family and I are in Singapore. I’m meeting with another Lutheran denomination there as well as see a seminary campus they draw pastors from. The family is coming with us as part of our continued home schooling for our younger two (paid for from our personal funds, not from… Continue reading Singapore Connections
The Nelson Family Indonesia 