missionaryMAC

I left off my account of home service road trip #1 en route to Warsaw, MO, perhaps best known as the site of Truman Dam, separating Lake of the Ozarks from Truman Lake.  I know it best, however, as the site of Faith Lutheran Church; I have the fine flock there to thank for my first Missouri State Fair experience! But first... I arrived in Warsaw Monday evening and stayed two nights with Ken, a retired LCMS pastor, and his wife Vi.  Vi hooked me up with a purple shirt for Tuesday morning's excursion with Faith's LWML ladies (well, for the picture beforehand, anyway).  Stop #1 (pictured): the Benton County Museum. There I learned that Warsaw was historically  known as the Gunstock Capital of the World, but the most interesting thing I saw was a yellowed map of US states, territories, and overseas possessions that included an inset for the [Panama] Canal Zone! The Lutheran Church in Panama has worshipping congregations there to this day!  Stop #2: Lunch at My Secret Garden Tea Roo

This post was longer in coming than I had hoped, but I'm here to say...my first  ever  home service road trip is in the books: mid-Missouri.  Sedalia, home of the Missouri State Fair (which I'd later visit) and proud of it, is an easy < 3 hr. jaunt from St. Louis. My connection is with Our Savior, one of two LCMS congregations in town; I went to high school with the pastor's wife. I rolled in Saturday in time for pulled pork and Ticket to Ride at their house, with another family from church so I'd have at least a few other familiar faces in the morning.  We commemorated Mary, mother of our Lord, in Sunday's worship service and sang an Advent  hymn! I debuted my presentation during the Bible class that followed. It occurred to me that Sedalia was also  the first stop on my pre-deployment network-building adventure but not on a Sunday, so I simply met with the pastor. Still - they're #1! Rev. Andrew & Elisabeth Tessone and Levi & I.  The Tessones treate

Don't get your hopes up: I'm not going to do a detailed post about every day of home service. I think my first 24 hours, though, deserve special mention.  My day started with a 16 mi. bike ride on Grant's Trail with dear supporters friends Mark (right), Ellen (below, left), and newlywed Josh (center)! They may as well have been on the Tour de France compared to my piddling effort on a borrowed bike with a too-big helmet, but a leisurely pace allowed us to chat while we pedaled.  We tried a new (to me) taco place in downtown Kirkwood for lunch afterwards... ...and followed it up with dessert at - where else? - Ted Drewes.  We finished the last of our custard and hopped in the car right before the skies let loose with a classic Midwest summer thunderstorm!  That afternoon, I ran errands with my mom and sister; what's more American than Wal-Mart? We also hit up the library. The library ! A few days before leaving Punta Cana, I had the forethought to put real books on ho

 ... un solo cuerpo (one body)! Such was the responsive chant that echoed back and forth multiple times a day at the 2021 LAC regional missionary conference, whose theme was drawn from 1 Corinthians 12:12: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. The fact that the conference happened at all is a testament to God's hand at work. Thanks to the efforts of many willing hands, though, a majority of missionaries from around the region gathered in Punta Cana, DR, for a few days of 1) rest, 2) study, and 3) fellowship. I say "majority," because COVID meant there were some notable exceptions who were dearly missed and prayed for by name one morning during Matins.  Speaking of Matins, we - missionaries, missionary kids, speakers, OIM executives, interpreter, and childcare volunteers -  began each day together in the Word. A brief business session followed, and then a Luther study by the Rev.

Hello from St. Louis! I arrived here safely Monday evening and have already had Ted Drewes and Imo's, so I suppose you could say home service is going well so far :) I leave for my first network building trip (Sedalia, Columbia, and Warsaw, MO) Saturday.  I'm committed to keeping up my blog throughout this season, which means first catching up on the hectic two weeks that preceded my arrival here. Last week, LAC missionaries from around the region gathered in Punta Cana for our regional conference, and the week before that , I helped with Vacation Bible School in Palmar Arriba. The theme?  De Jesús cordero soy (I am Jesus' Little Lamb).  My involvement actually started several weeks ago, when the coordinator, Deaconess Caitlin, and I sat at her kitchen table and scrolled Pinterest for sheep- and shepherd-themed crafts that went beyond cotton balls. I also pitched in during the prep stage by making posters (I spy my "Mackenzie Font" handwriting in the first photo b