News and Notes about the Brigada Network
Compiled by DLucas@TeamExpansion.org
IN THIS ISSUE....
*NAVIGATION MAP -- 7 new conferences launched!!!
*IDEA DEPARTMENT -- Prepare a "key file"
*GROWTH GROUPS -- Top level adds another 20 participants in one week!
*WHAT'S THE BEST EMAIL TO USE WITH BRIGADA? -- Some services surveyed
*BRIGADA PARTICIPANT OFFERS FREE BIBLE STUDY -- Titus is on its way!
*TOOL OF THE WEEK -- "Light the Window" will set fire to your group!
*FILE OF THE WEEK -- The unreached peoples of the 100 Gateway Cities
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NAVIGATION MAP -- Remember that you can determine the name of any conference by starting at the top and left and working over. To subscribe to any of the conferences below, just send email to hub@xc.org with the word "subscribe" followed by the conference name (include the hyphens in the conference name, but lose the quotes in "subscribe" and, of course, drop the numbers in parentheses that follow the conferences below).
CONFERENCE (#PARTICIPANTS)
--------------------------
Brigada (58)
|-albania-durres (14)
|-argentina-laplata (13)
|-colombia-bogota *
|-ecuador-guayaquil *
|-orgs-missionmobilizers (15)
|-teamex (79)
|-peoples-arab *
|-kazakh (3)
|-latam *
|-prayer-mobilizers (9)
|-prayer-requests *
|-projects-brigada *
|-cells *
|-lex96 (10)
|-security (3)
|-pubs-globalprayerdigest (5)
|-missionfrontiers (4)
|-ukraine-kharkov (3)
|-uruguay-montevideo (17)
* Conferences marked with an asterisk are brand new this week!
IDEA DEPARTMENT -- Want to save time? Prepare a special "key file", made up of the Brigada conference names and/or commands that you are likely to use most often. Participants using a word processor such as Winword can then prepare a macro that automatically opens the file for 'read-only' reference, then use the Tools-Customize option to put a 'hot button' on the tool bar that executes the macro. In this way, with the touch of a button, you'll bring up your "key file", allowing you to select and copy conference names then paste them into your email application to eliminate all that manual typing each time around.
GROWTH GROUPS -- Have you noticed that we're growing??? Last week, "Brigada Today" celebrated 58 users in the top level conference of Brigada. Now, just 7 days later, that figure has climbed to 76 and is still growing! And we haven't actually announced the service publicly yet. Probably on Monday, we'll be sending faxed announcements to hundreds of missionaries, mission executives, and church leaders. Many are not on email at this time. Their ramp to Brigada will be steep and they might need your help to get started. If you see a new Brigada user struggling to get going, please lend a helping hand. And if there's someone you know who should be on board to network with others, please let them in on the concept!
WHAT'S THE BEST EMAIL TO USE WITH BRIGADA? -- Any email application will do. As long as your service can send and receive messages to/from the INTERNET, you'll be in great shape. However, some applications do seem to mesh with the INTERNET more effectively than others. (Please note that this has =nothing whatsoever= to do with Brigada in particular. We're describing general features of the communications service itself.) For example, America Online is basically a good choice for Brigada users, since you'll have 10 hours of "free time" each month and unlimited messaging to the INTERNET without paying a dime extra. However, AOL has, during the past few weeks, experienced days where their gateway to the INTERNET has operated so slowly that INTERNET messages sometimes required up to 3 hours to arrive... even from point to point within the USA! During =one= day last month, there was such an increase in traffic that messages spooled to storage hard drives and weren't even delivered until the next morning! (This is definitely the exception, rather than the norm; most AOL traffic to and from the INTERNET takes about 5 minutes!)
But American Online isn't the only service that will provide trying times for Brigada users. We've recently seen INTER-nauts refer to Compuserve as Compu$pend :-) (Thanks Rob Slade!). Compuserve charges 10 cents per message for each message users =send= through its INTERNET gateway =and= charges the same for messages received! =However=, note that users get a flat base rate of 90 such messages =free= each month. So, if you're receiving a "Brigada Today" each Friday, plus an average of 2 or 3 other INTERNET messages per day, odds are your Compu$pend bill will still be the normal flat rate of $10/month. However, if you start sending/receiving 10 INTERNET messages per day, you might want to switch or add a service that lets you work more affordably.
There =are= other alternatives. Those with heavy INTERNET work loads might consider using Netcom, a true INTERNET hook up, complete with its own "NetCruiser" graphical interface, the service of choice for Brigada participants Steve Burris and Eddie Elliston, both of Fuller Theological Seminary. Though the service is $20/month, there are no charges for INTERNET messages and off-peak time is unlimited (40 hours peak time provided free). Once Netcom upgrades their email software to allow for off-line composition of messages, this will probably be the top INTERNET service in the nation. (Those interested can dial 408-983-5950 for more information; and yes I do use Netcom but no they don't give me any kind of premiums for recommending them :-).)
In the end, the choice must be yours. If you're new to the INTERNET, but already have an email service-provider, it's probably better to wait a month or two to gauge the cost of your present setup. If you're just getting started, and want the cheapest start-up costs on INTERNET, go with America Online (800-487-0588). If you're determined to try Compuserve and use discipline when sending and receiving to the INTERNET, call 800-487-0588. In addition to these, the 'big three', you might scout around locally to see if there are other providers in your area that offer an even better alternative.
BRIGADA PARTICIPANT OFFERS FREE BIBLE STUDY -- Thanks to Warren Dowd (wdoud@bga.com), who is offering a free correspondence course verse-by-verse Bible study. Write Warren directly if you're interested. He reportedly has more than 900 signed up, ready to begin Titus in the next few days.
TOOL OF THE WEEK -- This week's special tool for mobilization is "Light the Window", a new video produced by CBN, distributed by Christian Information Network (11025 State Highway 83, Colorado Springs, CO 80921 -- Compuserve: 73422,3471; INTERNET: 73422.3471@compuserve.com or call (719) 522-1040). "Light The Window" tells the story of Praying Through the Window, a global prayer movement sponsored by the United Prayer Track of A.D. 2000 & Beyond. To fulfill the Great Commission, the Praying Through the Window campaign is asking that prayer would be focused on the nations of the 10/40 Window and the Gateway Cities within these nations. By viewing the video, you'll learn how you can join the millions of Christians who are part of this worldwide prayer movement. It's first class and comes (on the same tape) in two different lengths (11 min. and 27 min.). A more official press release is slated for March 24th, but you can order from Bev Pegues at CIN today. The tape is copyrighted by CBN. Please tell her you read about it on Brigada!
FILE OF THE WEEK -- You've seen the list of 100 Gateway Cities, but have you seen it cross-matched with unreached people groups in those cities??? Neither had World Vision's Unreached People expert John Robb... so he asked Southern Baptist researcher John Gilbert to prepare one. Because both these men are involved in helping fine-tune Brigada, we saw early copies of the list as it was being readied for publishing. This interesting approach takes the new fascination with a city-by-city look at the globe and combines it with the proven focus of viewing the world through 'people group' eyes. For each city, John Gilbert has listed the 3 or 4 priority unreached groups which live there. And now, Mark Wilson, who is one of the two coordinators for the 100 Gateway Cities Project, has shared the final list and made it available to Brigada users (thanks to Mark, John and John for using Brigada!). To obtain your own copy, just send email to hub@xc.org, placing the following line in the body of the email message:
subscribe brigada
get brigada 100-gateway-cities-peoples
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The list will come running into your email in-basket in about 5 minutes.
NEXT WEEK -- An interview with two of the fellows who give on-site service to the computer server that handles all of the Brigada conferences. They share their vision for the future... and that's where we're all headed!
[Did someone forward this note to you and not give you instructions as to how you can start receiving "Brigada Today"? Simple. Just look above to the item, "FILE OF THE WEEK". Follow the instructions to get the file and you're in business. You'll get the file =and= start receiving "Brigada Today" in your own in-basket automatically, each Friday morning. Questions? Write DLucas@TeamExpansion.org]
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