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What do Sunday mornings, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, funerals, and Christmas all have in common? In our corner of the world, the answer is: a church service. Sometimes called “The City of a Thousand Churches,” our town is home to multiple denominations and churches of all shapes and sizes. A rigorously-observed aspect of the local church culture […]

This post was originally published on July 10, 2023 at https://thekresges.com/2023/07/10/pineapple-parable/. I planted several pineapple tops around the yard almost two and a half years ago. Spaced apart in the warm earth between other plants, some in full sun and others in partial shade, the leaves grew steadily into groups of saw-like branches that could […]

This post was originally published on January 4, 2023 at https://thekresges.com/2023/01/04/twas-the-day-after-christmas/. The major days of the Christmas holidays were successfully concluded, and we had all settled in for a quiet morning on December 26th. We had made plans for afternoon visits to friends, and we expected a crowd of coworkers at our home for an […]

This post was originally published on December 14, 2022 at https://thekresges.com/2022/12/14/room-at-the-inn/. The Celebes Mission Home: Making a Home-Away-from-Home for Weary Travelers Two years ago yesterday we landed at our final destination in Asia-Pacific, in the city that was to become our home. Masked, exhausted, largely pregnant, and traveling at that point simply as an act of […]

This post was originally published on June 20, 2022 at https://thekresges.com/2022/06/20/beautiful-feet-beautiful-wings/. On the eastern edge of a minor island in our Asia-Pacific country lies a small village. The Gospel came to this group of Tugutil people over thirty years ago, carried by the beautiful feet of missionaries who spent years learning the Tobelo-Boeng language, sharing […]

This post was originally published on June 17, 2022 at https://thekresges.com/2022/06/17/give-us-this-day-our-daily-fish/. Allow me to express warm greetings on behalf of the past 11 months of silence. It’s summer break, and apparently that’s the only time I get down to writing. Last year I mounted a 7-day campaign of blog posts, but this year I’m making […]

This post was originally published on July 26, 2021 at https://thekresges.com/2021/07/26/day-7-whos-ready-for-dessert/. As we wrap up our blogging adventures on Day 7, I thought it would be appropriate to end on a sweet note. Today we’re making pisang goreng–fried bananas. Put on your apron and invite a friend or three, because these things are dangerously delicious! I’m […]

This post was originally published on July 25, 2021 at https://thekresges.com/2021/07/25/day-6-this-is-the-way-we-drive-a-car/. Yesterday we took a walk through the neighborhood; today we’re going to driving school. If you were to come to our part of the world for a vacation and casually rent a car, you’d quickly discover that around here right is wrong: we drive on the left […]

This post was originally published on July 24, 2021 at https://thekresges.com/2021/07/24/walk-with-me/. Welcome to our neighborhood! We live in a bustling desa (village) near the airport just outside a fairly large coastal city. Picturesque mountains surround us and offer a beautiful view of the city if the weather permits. We have a comfortable home with a grassy yard […]

This post was originally published on July 23, 2021 at https://thekresges.com/2021/07/23/day-4-peace-is-a-promise/. If you followed our updates back in 2018, you may remember that particular year as being full of physical trials from beginning to end. I even experienced a little PTSD from the trauma of watching my kids hurt themselves over and over. When Gabriel […]