Last week our family spent some time out at camp preparing for our upcoming inaugural retreat. (You can read more about that here) In the process, managed to snap some interesting pictures. On the way to camp we saw this fiberglass cover from an old telephone booth (once ubiquitous in Brazil, now virtually nonexistent), which…
Several months ago our camp development team decided that the time had come to schedule a teen retreat. We’ve been building the camp, little by little, since late 2011, and now it is time to put this resource God has given us to good use. When we made the original plans, we were counting on…
My reading got off to a great start this month, then slowed down towards the end. Still, some solid offerings. Exercise of Power by Robert M. Gates Other than books I read for ministry study and sermon prep, I have no real method for the choosing of reading material, other than to maintain a diverse…
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. According to my parents, when I was a toddler I developed an obsession with firetrucks. I have no reason to doubt this, although my tastes have matured greatly since then. I’m…
This one gets filed under both “Camp” and “Church Plant”, because it marked a milestone in both ministries. Pastor Francivaldo and I had the privilege of baptizing four believers, bringing them into membership at Ebenezer. That is the main story. The cherry on top was that this one done at the Mount Zion Baptist Camp,…
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Here in Maranhão excitement is building among our churches as we prepare for the first teen retreat at the Mount Zion Baptist Camp, scheduled for November. Excitement,…
It’s been a busy couple of weeks here in Maranhão, Brazil. Here are some snapshots of our activities, culled from our Instagram account. A church retreat at camp (more on that at a later date) yielded this photo… View this post on Instagram A post shared by Andrew Comings (@andrewcomings) Speaking of camp, how would…
At the beginning of the month one of our sister churches held their annual conference, and invited me to come and speak to their Saturday night session. These annual conferences are a major event in the lives of our churches, and they pull out the stops. This year was no different, although we are still…
The year was 1822, and Dom Pedro – the newly-minted emperor of the newly-minted nation of Brazil – had two major problems on his hands. His first headache involved the northern cities of Salvador, Belém, and my own beloved São Luís. While the south of Brazil was firmly in the camp of the Brazilian independence…
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. For our around-the-table reading, our family just finished up the Mark Twain classic, Tom Sawyer. One of the iconic scenes of that book, of course, is when the title character dupes his friends into whitewashing a fence for him. Using techniques that any self-respecting used car salesman would…