missionaryMAC

Happy Monday/pandemic day 398. Curfew extended through May 16 = still counting.  This post is dedicated to one of my newer projects: Good News magazine , since I've spent more time on it in the past week than I have since agreeing to help before Christmas. Have you heard of or read it? I had seen it around, like back when I lived in El Paso, but never picked up an issue. (This was shocking to my colleagues, given that it's the "most loved Bible tool in LAC," according to our Regional Director.) It all started with former Lutheran Hour speaker Rev. Wallace Schulz. God had laid an interest in Russia on his heart, and, in 1992, he was sent to Moscow to explore doing radio outreach. He returned a year later, convinced of the need for not only a radio program but a print publication. Rev. Schulz and his wife Kathy, aided by a Marvin M. Schwan Charitable Foundation grant, sacrificially took it upon themselves to launch Good News ; the first issue went to press in 1995. As d

All last week, I helped with a takeover of the LCMS Instagram account. The Social Media Manager entrusted me and a slate of other missionaries with the username and password for "thelcms" so as to give followers a glimpse at Holy Week around the world(!!!) by posting stories throughout the week. I felt humbled and at the same time very powerful... For you non-Instagrammers, here's a look back at how Courtney, Jana (LAC's Communications Specialist), and I portrayed Semana Santa  in the DR. (If you ARE an Instagrammer and somehow missed all of this, go follow  thelcms  and watch for more missionary takeovers in the future!) On Sunday, we shared videos of Palm Sunday processionals at the three Santiago-area congregations. Here's the one I recorded, from Pueblo Nuevo. In Latin America, these processionals don't go from the Narthex to the chancel; they wind through the entire neighborhood. And in the DR, we don't order palm fronds from the local florist; the pa

If you guessed a world map...you're right.  The idea was planted when Tirzah mentioned wanting to paint a map on the wall of her new apartment shortly after she moved in...in August...even though she has yet to do it! I've been dragging my feet since having the walls of both guest rooms painted light gray in September, but a week off work stuck in the city made me pull the trigger. Holy Wednesday was the day. I turned to Courtney, never one to turn down the chance to pick up a brush, for help.  I connected my phone to the office projector using a QR code (who knew it was so high-tech?!), and we started by tracing the outlines of the shapes, contorting ourselves into odd angles at times to avoid blocking the light.  There was never a question in my mind that it was going to be white. Two coats! Contemplating our handiwork, we realized there were no Caribbean islands, so as a finishing touch, I freehanded Cuba and Hispaniola. There's also a mysterious  extra  island southeast