19950702 Brigada Today

News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
Compiled by DLucas@TeamExpansion.org
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AS OF THIS ISSUE

We’re celebrating over 520 participants in Brigada’s top level network, reading Brigada Today! We’re also instituting a separation character between items, at the request of a user who wanted to be able to more easily sort individual “stories.” To get a list of all Brigada’s family of conferences, send a message to hub@xc.org with only the following word in the text of the message:
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JOIN US IN CELEBRATING JENNA’S RECOVERY!

Thanks to all who prayed for Jenna Otis, daughter of Sentinel Group’s George Otis. As you’ll recall, Jenna was found on the bottom of a swimming pool on July 3, in critical condition. She wasn’t breathing and had turned totally purple. They began CPR but didn’t hold out much hope. However, at the hospital — as people around the world began praying — she began recovering quickly. Moments ago , I spoke with one of George’s co-workers at Sentinel Group in Lynnwood, WA and he confirmed that now MRI and Catscan tests show not even a speck of brain damage. In fact, she’s not only up, walking and talking, but is now scheduled for release today and is probably already home!!! Hey — please do me another favor and pause just now to thank God for His power in answer our prayers.

SPECIAL PRAYER REQUEST FROM LUIS BUSH, INT’L DIRECTOR OF AD2000 & BEYOND

This past week (July 4), we received this prayer request from Luis Bush, Int’l Director of the AD 2000. Please lift it up… and look at the model that LSA countries are putting together! Also, note the news of another international conference on the near horizon:

“These are unusual days in South Africa. After twenty years out of any official sports competition South Africa not only participated in but hosted the Rugby World Cup last month. People came from an estimated countries of the world. However, not only did they participate and host in the World Cup they won the world cup. South African president Nelson Mandela put on the World Champs rugby shirt of the chief scorer. Blacks, whites and coloreds displayed a oneness without historical precedent. What has been a country divided had become a country united.

“However, unity is not only being displayed around the vision of rugby, Christians in South Africa are rapidly unifying around the vision of South Africa as a country committed to world evangelization. The events of this week more than confirmed this in my own mind. My wife Doris and I have the joy of being here for this special occasion.

“This morning I met with the leader of this week’s conference, Willie Crew. We discussed some wonderful expectations for the future out of South Africa. He meets with his executive committee tomorrow and believes that this will be confirmed. Please be in prayer for God’s anointing on all the activities of this week, for Willie, the core staff, the volunteers and for God’s leading as the executive committee meets tomorrow to consider the possibilities for 1997. Please pray for me, that I might communicate God’s heart and His mind. I am scheduled to speak 14 times the remainder of this week.

“Over six thousand are expected to gather in Pretoria for Love South Africa* [(see note below)] ’95 (double the number last year). A city march through Pretoria is planned for Saturday. 10,000 are expected. Over 2000 will be leaving the conference to fan out throughout neighboring countries to carry the life transforming message of Jesus Christ for three weeks.

“…The executive committee meets tomorrow July 5th [to decide] as to whether to host GCOWE ’97, a gathering expected to include some 1000 international leaders from some 100 countries of the world. Hosting will involving paying for internal costs of food and housing and transportation in South Africa.

The executive committee will consider gathering of a total of over 100,000 students in two stadiums; one in Cape Town (50,000) and one in the capital of Pretoria (50,000) to challenge them to world evangelization.

The executive committee will consider a prayer walk at the Southern tip of Africa where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic ocean come together to pray for the continent of Africa and the continent of South Asia.

Participants would be encouraged to mobilize teams and churches for October 1997 Praying Through the Window III to send on-site teams to each of the 2500 or so significantly large (over 10,000 individuals) least evangelized peoples of the world to involve at least one team to every people (2000 teams) and at least 30 million Christians around the world.

The executive committee will consider to hold a special AD 2000 & Beyond Movement sponsored gathering of an estimated 200 to 300 mission agency executives from around the world who will be presented the information on the 2500 or so significantly large (over 10,000 individuals) least evangelized peoples of the world to discuss how these can have a church planting movement initiated by December 31, 2000.

The strategy meetings would be held in the capital of Pretoria, near Johannesburg. International participants would then be transported by overnight train to Capetown (called by some–the most beautiful city on earth) for a time of inspiration, a prayer walk, and a gathering for the mobilization of students.

By the year 2000 LSA are expecting that each of the 24 African countries south of the Equator will have their own conference. They are setting the pace for planning of an AD 2000 Day of Celebration for who Jesus is and what He has done in building His church among every people in Southern Africa and link together with them by satellite. In other continents a similar continent and global satellite link up is anticipated.

What is Love Southern Africa (LSA)?

LSA is a seven year strategy, begun in 1993, to determine who are the unreached or least reached in southern Africa and to give them the opportunity to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ by the year 2000. Part of a worldwide movement committed to completing the task of world evangelization by the year 2000 (the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement), LSA was birthed when God gathered a group of South African missions leaders into relationship.