August 30, 2005

Computer Related Frustrations

Well, it's official. My Dell laptop has to be sent in for repairs. I am officially without a "lappy" for awhile.

This means that there will be no "Comings and Goings" newsletters until the return of the laptop. It also means any posts (like this one) will have to be done on a spare computer at church. That will preclude any Caption Challenges for the time being, as well as any podcasts.

Here's hoping for the quick return of my laptop.

In the mean time, I came accross a story today (via Pyromaniac, from whom I seem to be getting an inordinate amount of stuff lately), that should be a wake-up call to Fundamentalists everywhere. Read it and weep (literally).

Posted by Andrew at 6:56 PM // Comments: 1 //
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Lincoln Rush

Today I heard the news that my friends Jamie and Hannah have just given birth to a baby boy (I'm sure Hannah did most of the giving birth, actually). His name is Lincoln Rush. Any guesses as to the political affiliation of the parents?

Posted by Andrew at 9:44 AM
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August 29, 2005

What Were You Thinking, Pat?

I was very troubled when I heard of Pat Robertson's comments about Hugo Chavez the other day. I certainly share the TV evangelist's views on Chavez, and am always worried when I see the Lula administration in Brazil making overtures to the Venezuelan dictator. However, a Christian leader calling for his assassination is way, way over the top.

I came accross article by Al Mohler today--via Pyromaniac--which calls for Robertson to repent and retract his statement. I agree.

Let us keep things in perspective, however. Here is a list of some statements made by Hugo Chavez:

At the Conference of the Americas, I’m going to sneak up on him [Bush] real quiet and shout BOO!

Hugo Chavez, speaking at the Tribunal Against Imperialism. (hat tip Chase Me...)

A model of participatory democracy

This is how he describes Gaddafi's Lybia. (Source: Times Online)

I cannot marry Condolencia (condolence), because I am much too busy. I have heard she dreams about me.

He is here referring to Condoleezza Rice, an apparent fixation of his. He has also called her an illiterate. (Source: Times Online)

This election won't be between me and other candidates. This will be between me and George Bush.

Hugo Chavez on the December 2006 presidential elections, according to Bloomberg, July 11, 2005. (Source: Latin Business Chronicle) I was unaware that George W. Bush was planning on running for president in Venezuela. Chavez also used a very obscene word to refer to Bush recently. Interesting that there have been no calls for him to appologize.

A good overview of the Chavez administration can be found here.

Posted by Andrew at 1:10 PM
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August 26, 2005

When it Rains, It Pours

No, this is not a post about Hurricane Katrina, which looks to have missed us here in Central Florida. It is instead a post about a very interesting day I have had so far.

We left Limestone PA (north of Pittsburg) on Thursday morning. Instead of getting a hotel somewhere in South Carolina--like I would normally do--we drove straight through, arriving home at about 5:30 this morning.

The reason we elected to drive straight through was the fact that the contractor was coming to fix the water dammage in our house today. He arrived at about 9:00. If you are doing the math, that comes out to about three and a half hours of sleep for Andrew. Not good.

Another detail of my life so far is that my laptop, an essential tool to our ministry, is on the fritz. Not sure what the problem is. Instead of being home right now helping my wife get the house ready, I am at the office, sweating it out online with tech support.

The list of things that needs to be done is enormous. I got a ream of medical forms in the mail today which will need to be filled out and sent in to the home office for us to get clearance to the field. Sometime today I need to fill out the applications for my permanent visa, for our trip Monday to the consulate (depending on whether or not the hurricane did any dammage--the Brazilian consulate is in Miami).

To top it all off, I got notice today that I have jury duty on September 28th.

Perhaps all of this would seem less daunting if I had more sleep. When I get home, that is priority #1.

Anyway, my posts here might be less than regular right now, depending on how successful my chat with tech support is.

Addendum:

I guess I should probably list some positives, so here goes.

1. WE ARE AT 99%! BOO-YAH!
2. The hurricane missed us!
3. The water dammage in my house is finally fixed!
4. Our new desktop has been ordered and should arrive sometime next week!

Posted by Andrew at 6:14 PM // Comments: 2 //
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August 23, 2005

Caption Challenge

Last week's winner was Connie, for this caption:

It was a great day for basketball when the descendants of Goliath and Zaccheus faced off.

Click below to see the prizes available to her.

This week's caption challenge is dedicated to "do it yourself" home re modelers everywhere.

Continue reading "Caption Challenge"

Posted by Andrew at 9:15 AM // Comments: 31 //
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Of Roy Rogers and U.S. Grant

This week we had a great time with the folks at Temple Baptist Church in Portsmouth Ohio. While there, I learned many things.

I learned, for example, that Roy Rogers was a native of Portsmouth. In fact, Pastor John Gowdy (also a Portsmouth native) had the famous cowboy's memorial service.

Pastor Gowdy's family had deep roots in the city--so deep, in fact, that he was able to share family anecdotes about another famous native son, Ulysses S. Grant.

Portland apparently has some very historically minded people. These people commissioned an enormous mural, running the length of a flood wall. We took pictures of most of the wall, and have made a photo set of them. If you ever get a chance to visit Portsmouth Ohio, I would highly recommend it.

While there, don't forget to pay a visit to Pastor Gowdy and the folks at Temple Baptist.

Posted by Andrew at 12:39 AM // Comments: 1 //
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August 22, 2005

99%!!!!!

Just got a call from one of our supporters, letting us know that they were increasing the support they send us. This increase brings us to exactly 99%!

I can hear Brazilian music in the background...and it sounds GREAT!!!!

Posted by Andrew at 9:14 PM
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August 21, 2005

Latest on Brazilian Scandal

Here is an article that gives great background on the scandal currently rocking the Brazilian presidency, as well as the latest details.

Continue reading "Latest on Brazilian Scandal"

Posted by Andrew at 5:23 PM
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The Podcast Project

I am currently in the midst of aquiring podcast capabilities. At the present, most of the Missionary on the Move sessions are available as podcasts. The RSS feed can be found here.

I am currently upgrading the quality (including bumper music, learining how to use Audacity, etc.), and hope to begin regular podcasts by September. My goal in doing this is to better communicate with those who pray for us and invest in this ministry, as well as challenge others for missions.

If anybody knows of any sites where I can find public domain bumper music, let me know.

Update: If you have the latest version of iTunes, you can subscribe to the podcast, entitled Missions in Brazil.

Posted by Andrew at 3:52 PM // Comments: 1 //
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August 19, 2005

Picture from Today

My wife snapped this shot as we were driving through downtown Atlanta today on our way to Ohio for more meetings.

Posted by Andrew at 10:37 PM
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August 18, 2005

Very Cool

Today I got to do something awesome...I got to schedule an event in Brazil! A pastor in São Luís invited me to be the speaker for this year's Carnaval Retreat in that city. This is in the end of February, so we will most definitely be in Brazil at this time. It may not seem like a big deal, but I was very excited to put this in my Outlook calendar.

Posted by Andrew at 5:47 PM
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Mikey's Duet

Yesterday we shared our ministry at Grace Tabernacle Independent Baptist Church in Brooksville. After the service, Mikey and a new friend provided us with some "special music".

Posted by Andrew at 2:19 PM
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August 16, 2005

Happy Birthday, Dad

Forty-five years today, a new person was born. A teenage boy went to a Bible camp, heard the Gospel, and accepted Christ. This event had a huge impact on my life, because that teenager later grew up and became my Dad.

Throughout my life, Dad has been for me a model of ministry, family leadership, and determination. The impact he has had since that day in 1960 (the above picture is him about ten years prior to his conversion) cannot be estimated. He has touched lives in four churches in pastoral ministry spanning almost four decades. For fifteen consecutive summers he took a week of his summer to be a dean at Lamoka Baptist Camp (that has to be some kind of a record), and campers and staff looked forward to "Pastor Comings' week".

As I travel up and down the East Coast, I constantly have people come up to me and say "you must be Harold Comings' son." Then they go on to tell me about something Dad built into their lives. Just last week a man who has never met Dad told me what a blessing his "Meditation Moments" are.

Whenever someone says to me "You're just like your Dad"--whether because of some great spiritual insight, or because of some corny joke--it is a pround moment for me.

Dad has four sons, all of whom are living for the Lord and serving Him in some capacity.

All of this, of course, was made possible by the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a teenager at camp forty-five years ago.

Happy birthday, Dad.

Posted by Andrew at 1:32 PM // Comments: 2 //
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August 15, 2005

Caption Challenge

This week's caption challenge is dedicated to vertically challenged people everywhere.

The winner of last week's caption challenge is GoTennis, who contributed the following caption:

Dogwood

Should he so desire, the following prizes are available to him, as they are to all winners of the caption challenges:

1) A Gmail account
2) An invitation to Orkut
3) Free publicity for his/her website on this blog
4) A one-year pro Flickr account

Posted by Andrew at 1:23 PM // Comments: 13 //
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Skype

I just tested the Skype program, and it works great (Thanks, Nikki, for being my "guinneapig"). Skype is a program which lets you talk online for free. I will definitely be using this once we get to Brazil. If any Skype users out there would like to chat with me, leave me a message.

Posted by Andrew at 1:13 PM
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August 13, 2005

The Return of Tassie

My wife got back at about 9:30 pm on Thursday. I have posted quite a few of the pictures she took while in Brazil on the photo page. The above picture is of she and her siblings.

Standing
(left to right) Itacyara (Tassie), Iara, and Soraya

Seated
(left to right) Carlos, Julio, Paulo, and Alexandre

Posted by Andrew at 11:32 AM // Comments: 2 //
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August 11, 2005

The Great Brazilian Bank Heist

People have been coming up to me and asking about the big bank robbery in Brazil, so I figured I would post some information. You can click below for the CNN article.

UPDATE: Looks like they got 'em.

Continue reading "The Great Brazilian Bank Heist"

Posted by Andrew at 12:27 PM
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97.8%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right, we are now within less than $100.00 a month of our goal! That October 27th date is starting to look all the more probable.

You may not be able to tell it from this post, but WE ARE PUMPED!

Actually, I am pumped. My wife, who is currently en-route from Brazil has no idea about this yet. It should be a nice surprise.

Posted by Andrew at 12:21 PM // Comments: 3 //
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August 9, 2005

Caption Challenge

Pastor Jamie Depue, the winner of the Caption Challenge for two weeks ago has decided that, instead of choosing one of the available prizes, he will "bask in the joy of being chosen by the IPJ".

Here is this week's picture:

Just as a reminder, the prizes available to the winner are as follows:

1) A Gmail account
2) An invitation to Orkut
3) Free publicity for his/her website on this blog
4) A one-year pro Flickr account

The winner chosen by the Impromtu Panel of Judges for last week's Caption Challenge is (drumroll please) Shannarie, for this winning comment:

after being raised by a pack of dogs.. andre went on to be a pro tennis player

Posted by Andrew at 10:04 AM // Comments: 18 //
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Mikey and Tiger

While staying with the Langelli family in West Groton, Mikey hit it off with their kitten, Tiger. Two never seemed to tire of playing with each other. You can see more pictures by clicking here.

Posted by Andrew at 9:59 AM // Comments: 2 //
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VBS at West Groton

We had a wonderful time last week at West Groton Bible Church, speaking at their VBS. More pictures can be seen on our photo page.

Posted by Andrew at 9:55 AM
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August 7, 2005

Greetings from Ellwood City

We are having a great time with Pastor Langelli and the folks here at Park Gate Baptist Church!

Posted by Andrew at 3:59 PM
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August 5, 2005

Praise God

More support has come in, bringing us up to 92.9%!

Posted by Andrew at 11:16 AM // Comments: 1 //
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August 4, 2005

Quick Update

Just a quick note to let you know that things are going great here in West Groton, NY. There have been several decisions this week at VBS, for which we praise God. Please pray for much fruit during the last two days of VBS.

Posted by Andrew at 8:11 AM // Comments: 1 //
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August 1, 2005

Caption Challenge

Congratulations to Pastor Jamie Depue, who won last week's Caption Challenge. It was a tough call, but our IPJ (Impromptu Panel of Judges) came through in a pinch.

Here is this week's picture, dedicated to my Dad, who is currently enjoying a well-deserved vacation. Have fun!

Prizes

The winner of the Caption Challenge gets his/her pick of one of the following valuable prizes:

1) A Gmail account
2) An invitation to Orkut
3) Free publicity for his/her website on this blog
4) A one-year pro Flickr account

Posted by Andrew at 10:10 AM // Comments: 22 //
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Itacyara in Brazil

My wife just sent me some great pictures she has taken while in Brazil. Here she is with her two sisters and her grandmother. Check out the photo page for more pics.

Posted by Andrew at 8:46 AM
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