Editor’s note: back when we first bought the camp property, our working name was for it was “Acampamento Elim”. In re-posting this article almost thirteen years later, I’ve changed the title to reflect the actual name. Ever since before we arrived Brazil, we have been aware of the great need of our churches in São…
About an hour–by boat–from downtown São Luís is a little peninsula called Alcântara. Although seemingly unimportant when seen on a map, the history of this “finger” of land is intricately wound up in the history of São Luís itself. Back in the days of “King Cotton”, when the prosperity of Maranhão was wholly dependent on…
On one of my more recent ventures into downtown São Luís I happened to see a post card of a beautiful facade in a local bookstore. I had never noticed such a building in all my wanderings in the historical district. Later on that afternoon I found myself looking through a fence at an enticingly…
What follows are some pictures of the VBS last week at the Kerigma congregation. The lovely and multi-talented Itacyara (aka The Brazilian Bombshell) was in charge of the event. She had been planning it–together with several ladies from our church–almost since our arrival two-and-a-half months previous. On the last day there were over 60 kids…
A whirlwind schedule and limited internet connectivity have combined since the tenth of this month to form the perfect storm for non-communication. Result: mucho updating to do before sending out next prayer letter. We will start with my favorite set of photos from the past several weeks: the celebration of 11 years of marriage to…
Our youngest son turned four Wednesday, and, in accordance with an ancient and well-respected Comings tradition, we celebrated his birthday on Friday. The theme of the party was Batman, and the house…er…bat cave…was decorated accordingly. ____________________ Did you enjoy this post? Consider making a donation to our ministry in Brazil. As an Amazon Associate I…
A couple days ago I posted a tribute to veteran missionary Harold Reiner, who had just entered the presence of his Savior. The following video was recently posted on Facebook by Harold Reiner’s daughter-in-law. With her gracious permission I post it here. The video was made in 2008, so some things are a little out…
English class, that is. (She has plenty of the other kind too, of course.) Last week she took on the ministry of offering free English classes to the community on Sunday mornings. As the little congregation we work at has no morning Sunday School class, she holds them in the church building. This Sunday was…
Today I received word that pioneer missionary Harold Reiner had passed away. Ever since I met him in 1989, Harold has been one of my heroes. His son Tim had graciously invited me–then a seventeen-year-old kid who had never been outside of the country (Canada doesn’t count)–to spend two months with them in Brazil. Throughout…
Recently, in looking for some pictures of my adopted city, I came across this Flickr set of São Luís of yesteryear. I thought it would be a great way to kick off this series, aimed at showing you the beauty and old-world majesty of the city we love. The owner of the Flickr page, Manoel…