Merry Christmas!

Christmas greetings to you all from the bungalow :-)

Back when the tree had leaves...
Now: No leaves, No snow. Winter?

A very blessed Christmas season to you all! We hope these days and weeks of advent have been a wonderful time of fellowship and shared joy. Zach and I enjoyed a Skype date at my family’s Christmas celebration, and I saw parents, brothers, nieces and nephew, and an aunt and uncle. It was lovely :-) The kiddos couldn't stop making faces at the camera, and were particularly impressed by the werewolf transformation feature of my computer’s visual effects. Technology sure can make distances feel smaller! My Mom and Dad will be visiting Malaysia in two weeks as well. We are excited to show them around, and the four of us will also be taking a holiday to Thailand. Life is good!

As a married couple both going into ministry, and necessarily completing internship at two different churches, Zach and I received a wonderful Christmas Eve gift of being able to attend worship together for the first time in 4 ½ months. Bangsar didn’t have a Christmas Eve midnight service, but Luther House did – so we got to usher in the day together with candles and joyful praise. We are continuing to grow and learn what this call to ministry means for both of us, and are being equipped each day by the grace of God. This was a lovely treat though :-D

One thing we have enjoyed in Malaysia is the beautiful concept of hosting open houses during the festivals. We attended one shortly after arriving, for the Muslim Hari Raya festival (New Year), and there were also similar opportunities during the Hindu Deepavali (festival of lights). For Christmas it is the Christians who open their homes and share food and fellowship. Some invite friends and family, and others open their homes to anyone who wishes to come. It is certainly difficult to go hungry! We continue to enjoy the hospitality and fellowship that is such a gift of the culture here.

Buddy can't be Malaysian - he doesn't like people.
He is the house's dog, but he still won't let us near...
But he has a cute ear!

Also, on Christmas day, the Lutheran Church of Malaysia hosted a High Tea with the Prime Minister of Malaysia and other dignitaries. Although Zach and I didn’t manage to cram the event into the busy week, it was an interesting opportunity. There were about 1,000 in attendance, and the event is an annual one that is hosted by different Christian church organizations each year, and is sponsored by the government. Bishop Lok was able to raise awareness of some issues and challenges.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/church-leaders-happy-with-najibs-pledge-but-wary-it-wont-trickle-down/    (hold control when you click and it will open a new window)

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/i-am-pm-for-all-najib-tells-christians/ 

(The parliament is due to call for an election by April 26th, with a 60-day grace period, and many in Malaysia have been waiting two years for this. Tensions are high in many cases, and patience is low. Please keep the country in your prayers as things may escalate as time goes on. – We are safe though. - )

We hope this finds you well! God’s peace to you as we usher in the new year. May you grow in the fullness of God’s grace each new day.

Emily

I loved growing up on Steamboat Bay/Steamboat Loop -
and recently discovered another wonderful use of "Steamboat"!
Steamboat is a meal where you have a boiling pot and throw tastiness into it: so many different
kinds of sea food and meats and mushrooms and greens and what-not.  Very tasty!
And such a fun means of fellowship :-D
A big thanks to Shirley Tan & family for the introduction!

The Jam

Kuala Lumpur (KL) is an interesting city. One of the interesting things about the city is that, over the course of time, the roads have not been able to expand with the amount of people driving cars. There just isn't enough space in the city to expand the roads further. Also, cars have been subsidized by the government so they are easier to purchase than earlier in history. Also, the weather here is so hot that it can be quite miserable to try and walk anywhere. If you have a car, however, you can stay in a nice, cool, air conditioned place as you make your way to work. The bus system is not completely reliable either, at least not with being on time. With all these factors combined, you have the "jam." This is the perpetual condition of the roads here in KL. Starting roughly at 6am until around 11pm, the main roads are almost completely clogged with cars. There is always the "jam" that has to be considered before you go anywhere (at least if you are driving). Many people must spend around two hours driving to work. Therefore, some people spend around four hours a day in their cars. This phenomena can actually extend throughout peninsular Malaysia during public holidays. We took a trip to Penang (which we will write about soon!) which is around a four hour drive away from KL. We took a bus there and it took around six hours to arrive. On the trip back, which was the Sunday at the end of a holiday weekend, we left Penang around 2pm and we arrived back in KL at 1:30am. It took us almost 12 hours to arrive home. We even tried to take back roads that most people don't know about, and even those were jammed. It is quite an interesting aspect of Malaysia that has become part of its culture. Because of the jam, it is hard to tell when people will arrive for events. Therefore, there is a grace period that is "understood" for most all occasions that allows for around 30 minutes of leeway for people to arrive because of the inconsistency of how long it will take for people to arrive. (It also makes for a convenient excuse if you are running late, but we can't use it because we don't drive! >.< ). Because of the delay, it is more or less understood that things will not start on time. So if a meeting is scheduled for 10am, it is expected to start probably around 10:15 or later depending on who is still missing. Here is a picture of a normal day in peninsular Malaysia =)

We hope this finds you all well! God Bless you and keep you strong in your life of service to Jesus Christ!

History of the Lutheran Church of Malaysia (LCM)

     This is a brief history of the LCM.  Those of you who are reading this who are in the LCM, please let me know if I say anything inaccurate!  So here goes... =)      There were two main cultures that were brought to Malaya (before the LCM existed).  There were workers from India who were brought in for rubber tapping.  There were also Chinese workers brought in for tin mining.  The Swedish church was one that focused on preaching the Gospel to the Indians.  These Indians who chose to follow Christ were the beginning of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Malaysia (ELCM).  This organization still exists today.  The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), as well as many other churches, targeted the Chinese in Malaysia and these Chinese workers were the start of the LCM.      The LWF began it's missionary work towards the Chinese workers when they were put into "New Villages."  Here is an excerpt from good old Wikipedia.org to explain why these villages were set up (can read the whole article here)

     "The original purpose of the New Villages in Malaysia was to segregate the villagers from the early Malayan Races Liberation Army insurgents, which were led by the Malayan Communist Party, during the Malayan Emergency. It was part of the Briggs Plan, a military plan devised by British General Sir Harold Briggs shortly after his appointment in 1950 as Director of Operations in the anti-communist war in Malaya.

     The plan aimed to defeat the communists, who were operating out of rural areas as a guerrilla army, primarily by cutting them off from their sources of support amongst the population. To this end, a massive program of forced resettlement of Malayan peasantry was undertaken, under which about 500,000 people (roughly ten percent of Malaya's population) were eventually removed from the land and housed in guarded camps called 'New Villages'.

     By isolating this population in the "new villages", the British were able to stem the critical flow of material, information, and recruits from peasant to guerilla. The new settlements were given around the clock police supervision and were partially fortified. This served the twofold purpose of preventing those who were so inclined from getting out and voluntarily aiding the guerrilla, and of preventing the guerrilla from getting in and extracting help via persuasion or intimidation. The British also tried to win the hearts of the new settlers by providing them with education, health services and homes with water and electricity."

     In March of 1952, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) convened its 1st Southeast Asia Lutheran Conference in Penang, Malaysia to talk about the Chinese in these "New Villages."  In 1953, there were international mission projects from the USA, Germany, Sweden, and Hong Kong to the "New Villages." In 1962, efforts were made to make a national Lutheran Church in Malaya (Malaysia was still Malaya at that time). There were significant differences, both theologically and culturally, between the Indians and Chinese who made up most of the Lutherans in Malaya at that time.  Because of these differences, both the ELCMS (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Malaya and Singapore) and the LCMS (Lutheran Church of Malaya and Singapore) were formed.  The church in Singapore has since developed its own governing body, the LCS (Lutheran Church of Singapore), thereby disconnecting itself from these two churches which is why they are now the ELCM and the LCM.  The LCM became a member of the LWF in 1971.

     The first bishop of the LCM was the Rev. Carl Fischer in 1974 followed by Rev. Peter Foong (1977-1985), Rev. Daniel Chong Hoi Khen (1985-1993), Rev. Gideon Cheng (1993-2005) and the current Bishop, Rev. Philip Lok (2005-present).  For a more in-depth look at the history, please take a look at this link: Our Story.

     The current partners who are supporting the LCM are the ELCB (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bavaria), the LCA (Lutheran Church of Australia), the FELM (Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission), and the ELCA. Please keep all these churches in your prayers so that the ministry going on here in Malaysia may continue for  God's glory and kingdom.

     I hope that this post finds you all well.  I also hope that God may move in your lives to bring you closer to Jesus and to our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Please keep the LCM in your prayers!  =)

Are you eating with a fork?!?

Emily here.  A bit sniffly - probably from the haze - but doing well.  The husband and I just had a scrumptious lunch of Chicken Rice, which I know we are going to miss in ten months when we head back home: rice cooked in the chicken water, topped with moist flavorific chicken, two slices of cucumber for good measure, and sprinkles of cilantro that are easily picked off and discarded... Mmm... Life is good!  Of course, this is eaten with either (1) a plastic flat spoon, or (2) a spoon and fork.  This makes me really happy!  Mostly meals in Malaysia are eaten with a spoon and fork, the latter used to shove food onto the spoon.  Even if the last few bits of rice are clinging to the fork, you often see someone brush them off onto the spoon and then sayonara into the mouth.  Shortly after we arrived we were out to eat with some church friends (shocking, I know), and someone laughed at Zach: "Ha!  You're eating with a FORK!"  Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle.  It still makes me happy :-D  Silly Shipman outsiders... what do they know...

After two months in, many things have become normal routine that once seemed strange.  Though the heat still feels like we are walking through a lava field, and the humidity makes us question whether we are land creatures or are swimming through the sea, it is now becoming old hat that we shower in a tub with no shower curtain, that the haze makes my nose run and my throat hurt, and that movie theaters offer the option of caramel corn or salty (heavier on the caramel).  In addition to the caramel corn option there are other joys - the most frequent being my daily joy of finding an empty bathroom: each time I hold my breath to make sure I don't scream if I find a cockroach.  (I'm still surprised the neighbors didn't come knocking after my first night of screams.  Poor Zach came home at 1:30 am after a meeting to find me curled up on the couch attempting to sleep under the timer-set fluorescent lights, disturbed by the war zone in the bathroom.  I had given up on killing them after four missed attempts and discovering my inability to smack without screaming...  Turns out I married a knight in shining armor!)  Lately the creepy crawlers have been on holiday :-D  Praise God!  As for the lizzys, I appreciate the chirps they make, especially when they coincide with amusing moments in the movie we are watching, or when they provide entertainment for us in other ways...

My childhood aversion to rice is no more, and I happily eat it 2-3 times daily, and am developing a taste for spicy foods as well.  Our schedule is predictably unpredictable - which I'm still getting used to.  Nights run really late, which is getting easier.  And of course our vocabulary is changing: We call air conditioning "Air-Con" rather than "A/C", and getting a ride with someone = "follow me" or back home = "I'll send you", while "last time" refers to pretty much any point in history.

Beyond all that, we are meeting some really fun and amazing people.  Both churches are very welcoming and often we are both invited along to cell groups, events, and fellowship at each other's churches.  We are truly being exposed to a lot and have a lot on the books for the months ahead!  We are so blessed to be here in this place, and to be walking this road of discernment for what God is calling us to.  Life is good :-D

Deer Park and Elephant Park

Sorry it has been a while since we posted.  On 17 September we visited a deer park and an elephant park with some of our new friends.  A group of people from Luther House Chapel (Zach's church) took us out to see the deer park and the elephant park.  The deer park was actually a small zoo-like area.  The deer were in two different areas.  One was fenced off quite a ways away from where people were.  The other was an area where some of the deer had been selected to be petted/fed by visitors.  The food that was available to purchase to feed the deer was a sliced potato, much like a french fry (but not deep fried). Next to the deer cage was also a cage for an ostrich, who also enjoyed these potato pieces, but was not as adept at missing fingers as the deer were.  There were also many other creatures on exhibit at the deer park.  There were guinea pigs, snakes, chickens, cats (interestingly looked like house cats...), peacocks, mouse deer (called a chevrotain), hedgehogs, and many different types of tropical birds.  I am sure I missed some of the animals, but the point is that there were many varieties of animals that were wonderful to see.

The elephant park was another interesting experience.  This place actually is an elephant refuge.  When there is an elephant that is separated from its parents when forest clearing happens, or when there is an elephant that is causing disturbances in an area, or when there is an elephant that is injured in a life threatening way, they are brought to this park to live.  We were able to take a guided tour to meet three elephants.  All three were very young elephants, around 8 or 9 years old.  One had been mauled by a tiger and had lost its tail in the fight and had over 30 puncture marks in its back.  Another elephant lost its foot to a trap.  The last elephant that we met had broken its leg and it had healed badly.  These elephants had been trained to be friendly to strangers, even allowing food to be put onto their tongues.  The park also had younger elephants in some holding areas that could be fed by visitors.  The food that was available to feed the elephants were peanuts and small bananas.  Also available for visitors was the opportunity to ride on an elephant and to actually swim in the river with the elephants.  We were not able to do these activities, but it was definitely worth the trip anyway.  We posted some pictures to our picture hosting website here. Our other pictures are also on that website and another link is found on the right sidebar under "Photos Here."

We are loving our time here so far and we are hopeful for what the future holds for us here in Malaysia. I hope this finds you all well.  God Bless!

-Zach

Nepalese Ministry

Malaysia has become a place where workers from other countries come to work because they can earn more here than in their native countries.  A large portion of these migrant workers come from Nepal.  They are under contract to work for three years before going back home (possibly to come back again for more work depending on their circumstances).  Many of these people work at restaurants here in Malaysia.  Those that do usually have room and board paid for (live upstairs at the restaurant or somewhere close and eat at the restaurant) so they can send almost all of their earnings back to their families in Nepal.  Nepal is not an English speaking country (the British never conquered Nepal. In fact, the Nepalese defeated the British soundly and made a treaty with them afterwards).  Because they do not speak English, they have a hard time here in Malaysia where most people can speak English (plus Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, Tamil, and many other languages).  However, because these workers do not make a lot of money, they usually would not pay to take courses in English.  Here is the opening that the Church found to minister to the Nepalese.

Luther House Chapel (the church at which I am an intern) is joined with a few other churches to engage in ministry through helping the Nepalese migrant workers here in Malaysia.  This program began in the early 2000s by offering free classes in English, computers, and guitar for the Nepalese migrant workers.  After about a year, they began having a worship service after the classes that were open to the Nepalese to attend.  This ministry has grown over the years and now has two different sites where classes and worship are offered.

The Nepalese religion is primarily Hinduism.  The culture is such that it is difficult for people to convert to Christianity in Nepal because of the social and family related conflict that emerges.  Therefore, it is difficult for people to go to Nepal to preach the Gospel and be heard.  The ministry here is important because it reaches out to the Nepalese that are here needing education.  It also allows for the proclamation of the Gospel without the social constraints found in Nepal and an opportunity for these new Christians to go back to Nepal to spread the good news of Jesus Christ as a native of Nepal.

Please keep this ministry in prayer.  Thanks!

-Zach

Religion in Malaysia

A question has been posed about religion, Christianity and Lutheranism in Malaysia.  As far as religions are concerned, Islam is the official religion of the state, however there is freedom of religion in Malaysia.  The Constitution includes the practicing of Islam in the definition of “Malay”, but those who are Malaysian-Chinese, Malaysian-Indian, or otherwise practice a variety of religions.

Islam     61%
Buddhism            19%
Christianity         9%
Hinduism             6%
Confucianism, Taoism, traditional Chinese religions          1%                          (2010, Wikipedia)

For an interesting read, check out the religion section of “Malaysia” on Wikipedia, or “Religion in Malaysia”.

Christianity is predominantly Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Methodist.  On West/Peninsular Malaysia, there is one protestant seminary that serves most of the protestant denominations.   A beautiful outcome of this is the relationships built among people of different denominations.  (Eric and Wendolyn Trozzo, also with ELCA Global Mission, are serving at a seminary in Sabah – West Malaysia, on the island of Borneo.)

There are two Lutheran churches in Malaysia: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia (ELCM) was founded through outreach by Swedish missionaries to the Indian migrant workers who were brought in by the British to serve in the rubber fields.  The Lutheran Church of Malaysia (LCM, until recently the LCMS – Lutheran Church of Malaysia and Singapore) was founded via missionary activity from the ELCA to the Chinese tin miners.  As a result of this history, the ELCM remains predominantly Indian ethnically, while LCM predominantly Chinese.  Zach and I are working with the LCM, though my supervisor was formerly in the ELCM, and his father was their bishop for many years.  The Lutheran churches vary in degrees of formal/informal liturgy, and whether they have services in Mandarin or Cantonese, English, or both.  Worship at the National Lutheran Conference included songs with each verse in a different of three languages: Mandarin, Bahasa, and English.

More to come on the differences/similarities we notice between churches here and back home.  And as far as how we are being welcomed and received – very warmly!  We have been shown tremendous honor and welcomed by those we have met here.  Also, the ordination of women was not a huge struggle faced here, as far as I have been informed.  As soon as people realize that both Zach and I are interns and both are attending seminary to become ordained, we are both received well as far as I have perceived.  We remain exceedingly blessed by this opportunity to serve.

Many thanks to those who have been posing questions for us – thanks for your interest, and keep the questions coming!  God's peace to you and yours, Emily

Gathered Together

The Lutheran Church in Malaysia's 2nd National Lutheran Conference was kicked off by bishop Phillip Lok sounding three gongs, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

Gathered together at a resort near the east coast and Kuantan, over 1,000 pastors and lay persons worshiped together, shared meals, learned and were challenged together.  Connections were made with the greater church body and it was truly a great sight.  Zach and I were blessed to meet so many different pastors and parishioners from around Malaysia, as well as get to know Bishop Lok and his family better.  Once again we were shown tremendous hospitality and honored as guests.  We continue to be amazed, as back home interns can tend to feel on the bottom of the totem pole from our understanding - but here we are continually blown away by our hosts, their love and grace.

In a lovely gesture of ecumenism, the speaker at this year's conference was Rev. Dr. Gordon Wong, a member of the Methodist Church in Singapore who is a professor at Singapore's Trinity Theological College.  Dr. Gordon shared challenging and encouraging messages, including from Matthew chapter 26.  Here Jesus' distress, even to the point of death, in the Garden of Gethsemane reminds us that we will not always be happy or excited about what God calls us to do.  Through prayer our will is joined with God's will and we are given the strength to follow through with our calling and to continue to put one foot in front of the other.  We also looked at the sleeping disciples - Peter who was so recently willing to die for Christ, but struggles now to stay awake and pray.  Die, yes, but lose some sleep?  How is it that those things which cost us little can seem so difficult?  We make big sacrifices for our children, but stopping "to teach a child how to pray", Gordon points out, Why, this is just too much.  We are reminded that Jesus is not looking for disciples to die with swords, but for disciples who will do the Father's will.

LCM NLC 2.0

Pastor Thomas (Z's supervisor) & Rev. Dr. Gordon Wong

The Girls :-)  Me, Judy, Petrina, May

Z w/ Pr. Augustin (my supervisor) & Rev. Wolfgang (from Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bavaria)

Rain

For the past two nights, we have had some pretty impressive rain storms.  The night before last, it was raining so hard that the sound of the rain hitting the roof was enough to wake us from our slumber.  It was so loud, in fact, that Emily was having fun talking to herself because she could not hear her own voice.  It has rained almost every day since we have arrived.  What is important to note is that this is not the rainy season.  As one who really enjoys thunderstorms and rain, I am excited about this new environment of thunder and rain.  It helps me to keep in perspective how small I am in comparison to the world.

We are living in a tropical area with a wide variety of plant life.  There are many different kinds of palms here ("palms" are what we in the states would call "palm trees").  One of the chief exports of Malaysia is palm oil. When we were flying in, we flew over many palm tree farms and were impressed with the size of the farms and the sheer number of trees.  This rainy climate provides a great place for plants to grow.

Also, this climate allows for other creatures to thrive.  One in particular are mosquitoes.  We have been fighting against them since we arrived.  There are some wonderful devices that you plug into a wall socket and place a pad into that release a smell that mosquitoes do not like.  These have been great.  Also, we are having some new mosquito netting put up today (we in the States would call them screens for the windows) and we are excited to have that addition to the bungalow.

We are doing well and we will write more soon!

Peace,

Zach

Black Bean Burgers?

This morning = absolutely lovely.  Pulled tea and roti for breakfast: RM$4.80 (USD$1.60).  I do believe breakfast is cheaper to eat out than to eat in.  Plus the short walk is really nice before the sun turns to scorching.

Contrasts can truly be beautiful.  For instance, the contrast between breakfast this morning and dinner last night: the furthest thing possible from the same level of enjoyment.  We had attempted to make black bean burgers.  However, a combination of exhaustion, lacking familiarity with local ingredients, not having made them at home ever, and zero patience to let the turtle-esque member of the food family (i.e. beans) simmer for a quarter-century led to our "black bean burgers" having to come to terms with a new name: "garlicky green globs".  The only black bits were the charred chunks as we struggled to master our two-burner stove.  Our tired selves were quite relieved to find a food processor in our unfamiliar cupboards; but alas - the garlic-and-onion puree did our green globs no favors.

Food is a primary focus in Malaysian culture.  While we have been here for a week now, yesterday was our first attempt with the stove as we've been graced with amazing hospitality and meal invites during these first days.  In fact, our first full day in Kuala Lumpur consisted of a walking tour to the close shops and markets, lunch and shopping, and then a dinner outing.  We ate four times with our neighbor Brian on the first tour, three times with Adeline, Alpha and Seth (from Bangsar LC) during the mid-day, and only once with Brian, Pr. Thomas and Suzie for dinner.  Though to be fair, the last was a ten-course Chinese meal - and we were sent home with a bag of cookies.

Hungry, anyone?  Come visit us!  (We promise to eat out...)

Much love,

Emily

Air Travel Adventure

Our trip from the United States to Kuala Lumpur went as follows:

Leaving: 15 August 2012

Arriving: 17 August 2012

Bemidji, MN to Minneapolis, MN

     5:25am-6:25am     Flight time: ~1 hr     Layover: ~2.5 hrs

Minneapolis, MN to Chicago, IL

     9:00am-10:21am     Flight time: ~1 hr     Layover: ~3.5 hrs

Chicago, IL to Tokyo, Japan

     12:53pm-2:00pm     Flight time: ~12 hrs     Layover: ~2 hrs

Tokyo, Japan to Singapore

     4:00pm-11:55pm     Flight time: ~7hrs     Layover: ~13 hrs

Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

     12:50pm-1:45pm     Flight time: ~1hr     Arrival (Thanks be to God!)

We were under the understanding that the flight from Chicago to Tokyo was a 20 hour flight.  When we boarded the plane and were told that it was only a 12 hour flight, we were overjoyed.  One of the highlights of our plane voyage was arriving at the Singapore airport.  We had a long layover so that we would not be arriving in Kuala Lumpur (KL) in the middle of the night for our supervisors to come pick us up (first impressions are important! ^_^).  We had tried to book a room in one of the three transit hotels, but there was not room when we tried before our flight.  When we arrived and found our way to the hotel in the terminal we would be taking off from in the morning, we were delighted to find that there was a room available that had a communal shower/bathrooms for around $80 US for eight hours.  We gladly settled down for some sleep in a real bed.  After trying to sleep on an airplane, this was a blissful moment.

Upon waking up in the morning, we found out that the Singapore airport is amazing.  The night before, I was too tired to try and soak anything in, so I missed much of the beauty of the airport upon arrival.  However, we had time to explore this treasure trove of an airport (that sounds strange, but it is the truth).  Among the many different gardens interspersed throughout the airport (yes, I said MANY), we went to a garden called the "Sunflower Garden."  This was the first place we went to after checking out of our room.  We were not sure if this was a lounge, coffee shop, or, in fact, a garden.  When we arrived, we were amazed that there was an outdoor, rooftop, sunflower garden.  Here is a photo:

As we explored further, the Singapore airport is one of the most technologically advanced, eco-friendly, options for "free" services airport that I have ever been to.  There were 4 or 5 main gardens spread around 3 terminals (one a pond with coy fish and palms, one a cacti garden, and others).  There were also other small garden areas with trees and flowers interspersed throughout.  There were many free internet areas with computers provided.  There was an E-post card station which was essentially a web-cam that would take your picture in the airport and send it to someone's email address.  There were also multiple free foot massaging machines along the walk to the specific terminal gates.  Also, there was a free movie theater area which had a large screen and was constantly playing movies.  Plus, there was an area where you could play Xbox (it was provided), PC, and (I think) PS3.  This is not even mentioning the shops, food options, and other architectural beauty to be found.  It was a paradise at the tail end of our journey.  If you are ever in this neck of the woods, check out the Singapore Airport.  The US has so much to learn from Singapore in this regard.

Our flight from Singapore to KL was uneventful, just a little late.  We arrived and met our supervisors, Thomas and Augustin, and our new friend Brian.  That about sums up the trip to KL.

God Bless,

Zach

On the Road Again

If ever there was a wisp of a thought that God's will for our lives is wrought with boredom, senseless action or monotony, the thought has long since dissipated.  God knows our hearts and our yearnings, and following one's call does not mean giving up everything that excites us.  (How is that for affirmation of God's love for us?!?)  So, here Zach and I find ourselves on a grand new adventure, our eyes continually widening to the diversity of God's creation and the beauty within the people of God everywhere.  Here we are... We are here...

Thirteen weeks have passed since we packed up our house in Dubuque, Iowa.  The days and weeks since have been marked with visiting family and friends, a synod assembly, a wedding, doctors visits, orientation, the summer mission conference, farewell dinners and commissioning services, paintball, boating on Leech Lake and zip lining through the Redwoods.  We've covered Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, California, Illinois, and Ontario, Canada.  We have stowed our carry-ons in 15 planes worth of over-head compartments in these weeks, and - needless to say - when we stepped past that last baggage claim and met our supervisors for internship -- we were ready.

We are excited for the year ahead, and anticipate learning heaps from Augustin and Thomas.  We already know our pairing to be a great fit, myself with the quiet and witty Augustin at Bansar Lutheran Church, and Zachariah with the outgoing and comical Thomas at Luther House Chapel.  Both are very insightful with deeply-grounded theologies.

To all those who are with us on this journey - in thought and prayer, in presence via letters and Skype - a tremendous Thank You.  We are here to grow in our witness as the body of Christ and to share in communion together.  Your presence with us affirms this reality.  God's peace be with you in your journey,

Emily

General Information

Emily and I are currently enrolled at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, IA.  We are engaged in a four-year long Masters Degree program in Divinity (M.Div).  After we graduate, by God's grace, we will be pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  During the third year, all M.Div students are required to do a pastoral internship.  Emily and I applied through the ELCA Global Missions office to a program called Horizon International Internships.  This is a program through which seminarians can do their pastoral internship abroad.  We were interviewed, accepted, and placed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  We will be serving at two different sites: Bangsar Lutheran Church (Emily) and Luther House Chapel (Zach).