Now with 2109 Participants!
News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
[Pass this issue to a friend! To subscribe, see instructions at end.]
[Just 1 more editions ’til our one-year birthday! How many participants will we be able to muster by March 21st???!!!]

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In this issue….

* BRIGADA ON-LINE SURVEY
* GUIDE TO ISLAM IS GROWING!
* INVOLVED IN COMPUTING AND MISSIONS? HAVE WE GOT NEWS FOR YOU!
* ADVANCE READY FOR YOUR VIEWING!
* GEM’S WEB SITE HAS MOVED!
* “TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL” TAKE TWO
* THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL GLIMPSE
* JOSHUA PROJECT 2000 MOVES FORWARD IN SINGAPORE
* HAVING TROUBLE KEEPING YOUR CHARGE UP?
* FREE EMAIL HOOK-UPS
* MISSION 2000 — “VOW! WE HAD A FANTASTIC TIME!”
* HEARTLAND MISSIONSFEST ’96 INSPIRES 1,300
* TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY

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BRIGADA ON-LINE SURVEY
Let’s take a survey.
It’s fast.
It’s free.
It’s for you and me!
Using sophisticated online polling technology (actually, it’s quick and dirty conference technology that we’re adapting to online voting!), your vote can count! And it’s as simple as sending one message with two words!

*************** Here’s the question ****************

“Do you believe it’s possible, through God’s power, to see a church for every people and the gospel for every person by the year 2000?”

You’ve got three possible answers:
a) Yes
b) No
c) Yes but the data doesn’t suggest that it’s likely

To vote, just send a normal email message to hub@xc.org with just two words in the body text of the message. If you want to vote for choice “a”, your line would read:
subscribe brigada-vote-a

Obviously, if you’d rather opt for “b” or “c”, replace the “a” with your selection. But please do it now. All votes will be tallied at 3pm on Thursday, March 14th. Results will be reported in next week’s Brigada Today. Oh — in case you’re wondering, these are “dummy” conferences (no reference to the participants, of course :-) ), meaning that you’ll never receive any mail or conference traffic. A single acknowledgment message will confirm your vote… and you’ll be automatically unsubscribed at the close of the vote.. so no need to unsubscribe manually. It only takes a second… No one will call. Operators standing by. No obligation. You don’t have to give your credit card number. Send your message today.

And one more thing. Our technology won’t let you “stuff the ballot box”, so no funny ideas out there. :-) Only one “vote” per person is accepted regardless of how many messages you send. :-)

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GUIDE TO ISLAM IS GROWING!
Thanks to some great dialogue on Brigada-Peoples, we’re beginning to see some great guidance for those wanting to relate more effectively to Muslims. The whole discussion has been very sensitive and sensible. Grab it by sending email to hub@xc.org with only this line:
get brigada islam-guide

Got more input for the document? Send it to Brigada-Peoples and we’ll try to catch it and update the document accordingly.

While we’re on the subject, please remember to be very sensitive about what you say on the INTERNET. Remember, sending a message via Internet email is about the same as sending a post card. If we truly care about and love those of other faiths, of course, our motives will assure that we always uplift them and never say anything offensive. Also, be sure to be sensitive about mentioning names and places. Often, we can learn from an example without it having to be specific or personal in any way. Thanks.

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INVOLVED IN COMPUTING AND MISSIONS? HAVE WE GOT NEWS FOR YOU!
The theme for ICCM ’96 (International Conference on Computing and Missions) is “Building Bridges of Collaboration.” ICCM (June 7-11, 1996, in Abilene, Texas) is geared toward people involved with using computer systems for missions purposes. Session titles include: Computer Assisted Missions Education, Computer Assisted Communications for Missions, Computer Assisted Management of Missions World Wide Web Production and Management, and more. For more information, contact Tom Dolan at Dolan@Bible.acu.edu.

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ADVANCE READY FOR YOUR VIEWING!
Don’t miss this month’s ADVANCE, by Mark Kelly. Here’s a summary:
THE GOSPEL FOR EVERY PEOPLE — Turmoil in western Africa; the Moro National Liberation Front; Tibetan nomads face starvation; Billy Graham’s global television broadcast; Berbers; Hong Kong.

THE PERSECUTED CHURCH — Christian police officer murdered; believers massacred in southern Egypt; book store owners face imprisonment; Kuwaiti believer driven into hiding; believers in eastern Europe persecuted; Vatican accuses Sudan of torture.

SPIRITUAL FORCES OF DARKNESS — Birthplace of Buddhism; girls in Ghana given to voodoo priests; sex tourism oppresses children; starvation stalks 800 million people; Louis Farrakhan meets dictators.

REJOICE! — Believer stands on hot coals; atheist school teacher turns evangelist; God provides for Palaung believers; Chinese officials allow new Bible school to open; God’s spirit moving in Nepal; 1 million Palestinians see Jesus film; churches take stand against homosexuality.

NETWORKING — Report on children starved to death in Chinese orphanages; Caleb Project seeks information on people groups; International Bulletin of Missionary Research trial subscription; China issues computer network regulations; Global Opportunities; missions artwork and illustrations; free e-mail consultation on computer and medical concerns; a guide to effective tentmaking; Christian photographers.

FRONT LINES — God expects believers to press the battle until all his children have received their inheritance. We must be faithful to our lost brothers and sisters if we are to be found faithful to our Father.

To retrieve a copy for your viewing, send email to hub@xc.org with only this message:
get brigada advance.9603

Thanks Mark!

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GEM’S WEB SITE HAS MOVED!
First the stone moved, and now GEM! :-)The new address is: http://www.goshen.net/gem/gem.htm Justin Long writes, “Come check us out! In the move, we’ve fixed all the broken links, updated a great deal of the information and expanded new sections. Thanks to GOSHEN, we’ll be able to add new information on an almost daily basis! Come enjoy!” Thanks Justin!

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“TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL” TAKE TWO
No takers yet for that “air fare wars” conference mentioned in last week’s issue. If you’re interested in saving a bundle on air fare … and helping others do the same, please respond today to DLucas@TeamExpansion.org. Remember, to moderate this new conference, you’ll need an XC.org address ($52/year from MAFxc).

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THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL GLIMPSE
Evangelism Explosion celebrated its use in every country of the world at the end of 1995. Evangelism Explosion is a strategy for local churches to train and send out lay evangelists. At the beginning of 1995 37 countries still had no EE ministry, but with the unexpected addition of North Korea, today every nation has participated to some degree in the EE strategy. The training materials are available in more than 50 languages and are being used in 700 training clinics world wide.
(Source: (C) Mission Network News, 2/29 and 3/1/96, quoting Addison Soltau, VP at EE.
http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn )
Global Glimpse compiled by John Hanna, Caleb Project, Littleton, CO.

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JOSHUA PROJECT 2000 MOVES FORWARD IN SINGAPORE
(by Ed & Lai Kheng Pousson, Singapore) On February 26, 1996, a Joshua Project 2000 leaders’ meeting convened in Singapore. The half-day session drew 150 key leaders, including heads of major denominations and missions agencies in Singapore. The speaker, Luis Bush, international director of the AD2000 & Beyond Movement, presented the Joshua Project 2000 strategy. The participants then responded positively through small group discussions followed by corporate feedback, which seemed to indicate that the vision and principles of Joshua Project 2000 can and should be implemented here. A full day follow-up meeting of executive leaders of major denominations, churches, and missions agencies has been set for March 21 this year. The leaders will then consider how best to work together for a Joshua Project 2000 missions expression in Singapore, and to discuss the possibility of Singapore hosting a Southeast Asia Joshua Project 2000 consultation some time in 1997.

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HAVING TROUBLE KEEPING YOUR CHARGE UP?
Get Larry Bentley’s LarryB@XC.Org “How to use and restore NiCads”, from the Brigada-tech-support conference. Send this message to hub@xc.org
subscribe brigada-techsupport
get brigada-techsupport nicad.txt
unsubscribe brigada-techsupport

If you’d like to remain on board for more/similar discussions, drop the “unsubscribe” line (line 3) above.

Here’s another example of the kind of message they’ve recently passed there: In another bit of news, Science News reports Lawrence Berkeley National labs is developing an ultraviolet water disinfectant system for use in developing areas. Listen to these specs – up to 15 gallons/min, weighs 15 lbs, tabletop size, power consumption 40 watts (can be run from solar panel), will handle water from well or hand pump and run UNSUPERVISED. If you like that much, here is the good part – cost is estimated at $300.00 not $300,000 like you would expect from a government project, and operational costs are $0.02 per metric ton of water (2000 liters). The numbers of lives of children that could be saved with this are astonishing. For the price of music for a choir production, a church could donate one of these to a village! It’s not out of reach for a family here to provide for one. Pray they don’t just develop but actually get these out to the field.” We agree!!! Thanks Larry, for keeping us up on this kind of stuff!! (And thanks to my buddy Chris Bushnell for drawing my attention to this message!)

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FREE EMAIL HOOK-UPS
Have I got your attention??? Surprisingly, there’s apparently no catch!!! A buddy from SIL grad school wrote this past week (we’ll keep his name anonymous since he works in a sensitive area of the world) to alert us to Juno http://www.juno.com and Freemark. Their email services are free and they provide toll free access. In return for free email the companies put small rotating ad in the top of the window (these are Windows/Mac programs). There are some limitations (no attached files), so only simple text messages could be transmitted, but hey, the price is right! My buddy testified, “I’ve used beta version of Juno mail and it works fine.” Want to try it out and report back here? If you do, be sure to provide us with a more concrete email address or toll-free number.

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MISSION 2000 – “VOW! WE HAD A FANTASTIC TIME!”
That’s the way the reports are coming in from the 130 prospective mission mobilizers from Germany, Belarus, and the Czech Republic. “VOW !!! WE had a fantastic time.” :-) Jointly organized by YWAM and AIMS Germany, the Plenary sessions, 12 different workshops and 8 different regional workgroups (from Africa to Uzbekistan) taught on member care, non-residential missions, strategic partnership, mobilizing mobilizers, the 10/40 window etc. etc. – many topics were quite new to the participants. . A prayer team of 6 people had as their role to intercede and constantly lift the whole conference in prayer. The point all of them stressed again and again is that mobilizing for Missions is not a method, not a strategy, not a thing that can be done, but that the key of mobilizing is to pass on God’s vision – who wants to see all peoples of the earth come together at his throne to worship him.” In their “MISSION 2000 DECLARATION”, the delegates began, “We believe that God is calling a new German missions movement into existence, which will reach the unreached peoples of the 10/40 Window and beyond. It will be a movement which will originate out of churches which have committed themselves to reach the unreached peoples… We are thankful for world wide movements, such as the AD 2000 movement, the Lausanne movement and others that have been formed in order to encourage cooperative action. We want to join these movements and do our part, so that until the year 2000 (and beyond), a church planting movement has been formed in every people group and that every person on the earth has heard the gospel. …” (Are you catching this Luis? :-) ) ” Yahooooooooooooooooooooo! (Thanks to Kerstin for the great report! Vow!!! ) For more information, or a copy of the complete declaration, contact Kerstin Hack 100711.2622@compuserve.com.

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HEARTLAND MISSIONSFEST ’96 INSPIRES 1,300
At the February 15-17 Heartland MissionsFest held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over 1,300 participants came from 15 states, 20 schools, 100 churches, and 105 missions agencies. … A fire for missions ignited through George Verwer and other speakers! … Designed to inform, inspire and involve those interested in career missions, short-term missions trips or sending others, the three-day conference included 55 workshops. Topics targeted toward individual interests included a variety of workshops on long-term missions, short-term trips, serving as senders, international business, and international health care. Participants also connected with many of the 105 missions agencies that exhibited. … Other MissionsFests are scheduled in the coming year: September in Arkansas, November in St. Louis, and February 1997 in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Edmonton, Alberta. For more information contact John McVay at (800) 366-6641, Fax (918) 587-1953, or P.O. Box 50130, Tulsa, OK 74150, or E-mail hmf@xc.org.

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TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY, send email to hub@xc.orgwith only the following message:
subscribe brigada

TO UNSUBSCRIBE send email to hub@xc.orgwith this line in the text:
unsubscribe brigada

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BRIGADA TODAY IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FOLLOWING TEAM OF REGULAR VOLUNTEERS:

Global Glimpses: John Hanna, Caleb Project, jhanna@cproject.com
ADVANCE: Mark A. Kelley, Kainos Press, 70420.1057@compuserve.com
Web Wizard: Bob Mayhew, Brigada Volunteer, Mayhew@xc.org
Web Art: Patti Mayhew, pmayhew@discover.net
Technical Development: Jonathan Marsden, MAFxc jonathan@xc.org
Brigada Customer Service Manager: Revis Ann Massey, RevisAnnMassey@xc.org
Brigada Coordinator: Doug Lucas, Team Expansion & Brigada, DLucas@TeamExpansion.org
and many other occasional contributors too numerous to mention! But thanks for working together! That’s the dream of Brigada!