August 31, 2007

The Train Wreck in Rio

Many of you have probably heard about this. The following is an excerpt from the Fox News report:

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil ? A speeding train carrying hundreds of commuters slammed into an empty train near Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, killing eight people and injuring more than 80, officials said.The commuter train was traveling at nearly 60 mph when it slammed into the rear end of an empty six-car train maneuvering slowly from one track to another, the Supervia company that runs the train said.Some passengers aboard the commuter train had to be freed by rescue workers using blowtorches to cut through the twisted wreckage.

Please be in prayer for the the wounded victims, the families of those who died, and our missionaries who are working in Rio.

Posted by Andrew at 7:48 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

August 27, 2007

Caption Challenge for 08-27-2007

Posted by Andrew at 3:15 PM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

Book of the Week: How to Shoot a Feature Film for Under $10,000

If you, like me, have an idea that you think would make a good movie, this is the book for you. In simple layman's terms, Bret Stern goes over the ins and outs of the film making process.

The book is laced with humor, and--while needlessly vulgar in places--it is an easy, enjoyable read.

Please note that I am not recommending this book for reading during family devotions. I do believe, however, that Christians have been sorely lacking in communicating through the medium of film, and this how-to manual may just whet your appetite. In my case, I bought the book in order to raise the level of the little TV spot we produce here in Brazil. It served this purpose, and much more.

Posted by Andrew at 11:01 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

Sights of Belem: The Governor's Mansion

I was surprised to find two Victorian mansions in the heart of Belem.

This one--which was built by a former governor of the state and which has been appropriately dubbed "The Governor's Mansion"--was open to the public.

They don't make iron gates like they used to!

A little Victorian gazebo...

...and an outdoor garden.

An old train car...

Which now serves as an ice-cream parlor.

I had a talk with the former owner.

It was rather one-sided.

Posted by Andrew at 8:54 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

August 25, 2007

Unrequited Love in the Internet Age in Brazil

The following is a hilarious music video in the Brazilian sertanejo (country) style. The chorus says it all...

I am going to delete you, and exclude you from my Orkut.
I am going to block you on MSN.
Don't send me any more scraps, e-mails, or Power Points.
You exculde me also, and add him!

Posted by Andrew at 12:50 PM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

The Sights of Belem: The Fort

Like most of Brazil's major coastal cities, Belem began as a fortification. The ruins of the fort have been preserved, and also house a small but impressive museum. Photos were not allowed in the museum, but they were at the fort.

Yours truly, sitting on one of the cannon. Moments before getting yelled at by a guard for sitting on the cannon.

View of the ocean.

Cannon in a row. At least more of an effort to preserve them is being made here than on Alc�ntara.

Civil War era guns on display inside the fort. In the background can be seen the buildings of the old section of town.

Coat of arms on one of the cannon...I will assume it is Portuguese.

While walking over these grounds and seeing what was left of a once-great empire, the following verses came to mind:

Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

Psalm 146:3-9

Posted by Andrew at 9:48 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

August 21, 2007

The Sights of Belem, the Bosque

I am going to be posting more details of the youth conference later, but I thought that for now I would post some of the photos I took on a whirlwind tour of downtown Belem Saturday morning. I am going to divide these up into posts showing the individual points of interest.

Our first stop was an "environmental park" called "The Bosque". It was a very impressive place--mixing elements of a botanical garden and a zoo. It was like a slice of jungle in the middle of the city.

This is the entrance to the park.

This map gives and idea of how big it really is. You could conceivable spend all day seeing all there is to see.

One of the big attractions was the manatee--peixe boi in Portuguese.

There were colorful birds everywhere.

One of the more interesting places was a semi-indoor aquarium, where we had to literally step from stone to stone.

The water below us was full of exotic fish. No piranha...I think.

The park boasts many streams, lakes, and ponds, and many picturesque bridges...like this one.

My fearless (and very patient) guide was Ari, one of the young people from the church.

Next post...The fort.

Posted by Andrew at 8:40 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

August 17, 2007

First Impressions of Belem

I have not had much opportunity to get out and see the sights of Belem as of yet. Nevertheless, I do have a few first impressions.

1. Belem is HUMID! Being only eight hours (by car) from the Equator might have something to do with this. I noticed this as soon as I stepped out of the airport:

2. Belem is a sprawling city. The landscape seems to be quite flat. Here is a picture of the neighborhood I am staying in:

Last night I got to go to the Equatorial Baptist Theological Seminary--a Southern Baptist school here in Belem where my hostess teaches part-time.

Stay tuned...more pictures and updates to follow.

Posted by Andrew at 9:59 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

Presentation

I have been messing around with Zoho, and decided to try out their feature that lets you publish presentations online. The presentation below is one I will be showing tonight to accompany the message I am preaching (it's in Portuguese). The title of the message is "Taking the Red Pill".

It works! Also...perhaps I should explain...the pictures of Alicia Silverstone in the middle of the presentation are there to illustrate the relationship between the Greek word kosmos and our cosmetics (cosmética in Portuguese).

Posted by Andrew at 8:46 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

August 16, 2007

In Belem

I arrived in Belem at eight this morning, waking up just in time to see the mighty Amazon pass below the wings of the plane as we descended to the airport. As we drew nearer to the runway, I saw huge ships at dock, one capsized boat in the water, one ancient craft rusting on the shore, and many other interesting sights. I can guarantee that this trip will generate many photos and video clips for the site.

Hopefully, it will also generate much fruit for the Kingdom.

Posted by Andrew at 3:04 PM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

August 15, 2007

The Real Takes a Dip

Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil's currency weakened past the 2.0-per-dollar level for the first time in three months as losses in global credit markets damped demand for riskier emerging- market assets.The real fell for a second day, losing 0.7 percent to 1.999 per dollar at 9:17 a.m. New York time. Earlier, the real slid to as weak as 2.0140 per dollar, the first time it breached the 2.0- per-dollar level since May 15.``Everyone is waiting to see how deep the crisis really is and how far it will reach, so obviously it's time to stay away from risk,'' said Mario Paiva, a currency strategist in Rio de Janeiro at Liquidez Corretora, Brazil's second-largest foreign exchange brokerage.

Bloomberg.com: Latin America Interesting development in the international exchange--with a big impact on American missionaries in Brazil. Stay tuned...

Tags: brazil, brazilian, real, currency, exchange rate, andrew comings, baptist mid missions

Posted by Andrew at 11:02 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

Inspiring Video

Embedded Video

A good friend just sent me this video. It is "hands down" one of the best I have seen in quite some time. (I am testing out some of the Flock browser's video uploading features, so this post may look kind of weird for a few minutes.)

Posted by Andrew at 9:15 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

Blog Issues

Over the past few months the software I use to run this blog (Moveable Type, for those who care) has gotten consistently more buggy. This is especially evident in the comments department. In editing out the tremendous volume of spam that comes into my blog, I inadvertently deleted several legitimate comments.

MT is coming out with it's 4.0 version, and in about a month I hope to make the switch--as well as switching to a new server. If MT4.0 proves to be more of the same, I will probably transfer to new software. Until then, you may notice a few hicups in the blog. We are working on it.

I am also having difficulty with Firefox, and am presently using IE, so software I used to edit pictures on the blog is not available. Once again, we are working on it. Hopefully we will be back at full operating status before long.

Posted by Andrew at 7:00 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

August 14, 2007

Lord What Tangled Theological Webs We Weave...

This truck is parked near the home of one of our area pastors (it does not belong to him). The words across the top proclaim "Jesus Loves You". Not sure where Spider Man fits into that. Perhaps the message is "Jesus loves you, but Spider Man will get you if you mess up."

What do you think?

Posted by Andrew at 7:15 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

August 8, 2007

Book of the Week: Bringing Up Boys

The birth of our second son made me take pause and invest some time in reading about the skills necessary for parenting--especially for parenting boys. For those in my situation who are feeling a similar need, this book should be at the top of the list.

No matter what you think of Dr. James Dobson, he has hit the nail on the head with this work. He very skillfully and accurately paints the picture of what parents in today's culture face (and the picture is NOT pretty), and then provides biblical, practical insights into how to raise boys into men in the middle of it all.

His chapters on the origins of homosexuality and cultural predators are especially thought-provoking.

If you have sons or grandsons, I would read this book. If you know of anybody with sons or grandsons, I would urge you to get this book for them to read.

Posted by Andrew at 9:41 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

August 7, 2007

Caption Challenge

Been a couple of weeks, but I finally have the breathing space necessary to post this.

Posted by Andrew at 5:39 PM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

August 4, 2007

Great Preaching

The messages brought by Missionary Tim Reiner and Pastor David de Lima Gino were a blessing to all of us. Here Tim Reiner brings his first message: "The Necessities of the Backslidden Brother". He also spoke on "The Necessities of the Suffering Brother".

I am currently in the process of putting mp3s of the messages up at the camp website. If you happen to understand Portuguese, you will be greatly blessed by listening to them.

Posted by Andrew at 9:45 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

AIBRECE

The Ceará Association of Regular Baptist Churches (AIBRECE is the Portuguese abreviation) met at the Iguatu Camp last week. One of the highlights for me was a meeting of the board of MAB (Brazilian Auxiliary Mission--of which I am a member) and many of its missionaries. Above is a picture we took of the missionaries present. The shorter man in the middle is Geraldo, a Brazilian missionary to Colombia. On the far right is Francisco Bezerra--the pastor we look forward to working with in Maranhão.
I was also encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response to a proposal that the men of the region schedule a date to come and work on several mainenance and upkeep projects at the camp. Today I will be attending a mens' meeting here in Crato to hammer out the details.

Posted by Andrew at 9:28 AM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //

August 2, 2007

Gangs of São Luís

clipped from www.ipsnews.net Most of them were 15 or 16 years old when they created the gang "Falta de Deus" (Lack of God), a name chosen because "we were all against Christ." Of the 25 members, 10 are dead and 14 are in jail. "I'm the only one still alive and free," says 22-year-old Elias da Silva. That is the case of Coroadinho, known as one of the most violent areas in São Luis. This made it a top priority for the state secretariat of citizen safety as part of its new method of fighting gangs, based on local plans designed as a result of dialogue with the local community, represented by a social defence council. Coroadinho, which is made up of 17 poor communities that are home to around 75,000 people, celebrated four months with no murders in June.

Posted by Andrew at 4:12 PM
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //