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News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
[Pass this issue to a friend! To subscribe, see instructions at end.]

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In this issue….

* VIRUS ALERT!
* FREE WEB SPACE
* GOT A TENTMAKING/AGRICULTURE STORY?
* HAVE CARTOONS, WILL SURF
* ADVANCE FOR APRIL, READY FOR RETRIEVAL!
* GLOBAL GLIMPSE FOR THIS WEEK
* REMEMBER THAT “HAVE CAMERA, WILL TRAVEL” GUY?
* NEED A TRAINER???
* MYANMAR CONFERENCE, PROMISE FOR FUTURE!
* WATCH FOR LAPTOP THEFT!
* TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY

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VIRUS ALERT!
Thanks to John Hanna, who forwarded a note originally by Mary Dickens, warning us to watch out for a virus named PKZIP300.ZIP. By its looks, it would appear on the outside to be an upgrade to the compression program, PKZip. But on the inside, it erases your entire hard drive. Bottom line: practice safe computing. Don’t unzip or execute programs until you’ve checked them with a virus checker and don’t take candy from strangers. :-) Thanks John.

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FREE WEB SPACE
Among the providers of free web space these days is a network called GEN. Apparently, if you’re a nonprofit wanting free space, you must have an official membership of at least 200 individuals and must be willing to distribute a GEN brochure to each member at least once. Profit companies can buy a yearly membership (or monthly) with powerful features such as unlimited Web pages, unlimited hits, and unlimited autoresponders at no extra charge. For more information, contact Jim Spelman, jims@lfa.com, (614)784-0247

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GOT A TENTMAKING/AGRICULTURE STORY?
Share it! Send it to Ken Smith at KSmith@gati.wa.com for inclusion in the next issue of the Tentmakers International Exchange (TIE) quarterly newsletter, OpportuniTIEs.

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HAVE CARTOONS, WILL SURF
Looking for just the right graphic for use in your missionary newsletter? Got a graphic you’d like to share? Now, thanks to Caleb Project’s John Hanna, you’re in luck! Caleb Project released, this past week, a new Mission Mobilization Cartoons and Art page on the World Wide Web. Visit them at http://www.goshen.net/calebproject/toons.htm and find GIF files you can use in your newsletter, church bulletin, or just hang on the wall. Examples include

* godso.gif: For God So Loved… Shouldn’t You (a pastor embraces missions)
* hand.gif: All Races in His Hands
* needhim.gif: They Need Him… He Needs You (a call to prayer)
* expand.gif: World Christian Movement has been Expanding (graph)
* ignoranc.gif: Ignorance isn’t Bliss, it’s Hell (face & flames)
* kingall.gif: Jesus is King of all Races
* needknow.gif: 2000 Years Later, the World Still Needs to Know
* nowait.gif: Reaching for the Unreached, because they can’t wait for ever
* racefin.gif: The Goal is to Finish the Great Commission
* super.gif: Missions: Only Super-human Christians Need Apply …NOT
* carey.gif: William Carey: Reaching Continents (Portrait)
* taylor.gif: Hudson Taylor: Reaching Countries (Portrait),
* townsend.gif: Cameron Townsand: Reaching Languages (Portrait)

Caleb Project thanks David Transue from Mountain Top, PA for his artistic donations to the missions community. Check ’em out!!!

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ADVANCE FOR APRIL, READY FOR RETRIEVAL!
Don’t miss this month’s issue of ADVANCE. Just send in the one-line message to hub@xc.org that reads…
get brigada advance.9604

Here’s a summary:
THE GOSPEL FOR EVERY PEOPLE — Billy Graham’s global television broadcast; day of prayer and fasting for Tibet; the advance of the Kingdom in Cambodia; strife-torn Sri Lanka and Bangladesh; the underground church of North Korea; misery in Iraq; elections in Iran; renewal in the West; Project Light in India.

THE PERSECUTED CHURCH — Two believers killed in the Philippines; Russian pastor kidnapped in Chechnya; Kuwaiti believer taken to court; gospel radio stations in Romania; torture, kidnappings, slavery and rape in Sudan.

SPIRITUAL FORCES OF DARKNESS — Central Intelligence Agency endangers missionaries; Christian fundamentalist rebels in Uganda; 1 million children oppressed in Asian sex trade; 10 million Asian AIDS victims by 2015; $25 billion for Africa.

REJOICE! — Tookenis turn to Christ; 100 new believers in Peru town; Czech church meets occult resistance; 4,200 independent churches in China; a Pentecost harvest every four days; 215 new Arab believers in Israel; gospel progress in the former Soviet Union.

NETWORKING — pocket-size World A prayer cards; CrossConnect assists missions and Christian organizations; KGAP conference discusses global prayer strategy; resource kit for day of prayer and fasting for Tibet; tentmakers world congress; World Evangelical Fellowship materials list; unreached peoples mini-profiles; International Aid catalog of missionary resources; USCWM offers “Reaching Hindus and New Agers”; Muslim awareness seminars; Missionary Training Programme; International Reconciliation Coalition for Indigenous People; a convenient, easy way to tap into WWW 250 search engines; more Web sites.

Thanks Mark!!!

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GLOBAL GLIMPSE FOR THIS WEEK
Middle East: An Egyptian Muslim young woman accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior and was given a Bible to read. She tried to hide it so no one would know that she was reading it. She went to a cedar chest in her mother’s bedroom and put it underneath all the clothes, but, to her amazement, she found another Bible already hidden there. Her mother was a secret Believer, and so thankful that after years of praying, her daughter came to the Lord.
(Source: The Kelley’s Chronicles (newsletter), March, 1996, 102401.231@compuserve.com).
Global Glimpse is by John Hanna, Caleb Project, Littleton, CO.

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REMEMBER THAT “HAVE CAMERA, WILL TRAVEL” GUY?
Well, Mike Scott wrote this past week to say, “I just wanted to thank you for the appearance in Brigada regarding photography. Due to Brigada I will be traveling and helping out mission agencies all over the world with photography.” The thing is, the guy’s a glutton for punishment!!! He’s still willing to travel with additional mission teams to do a ministry of photography for the team. Remember, his travel expenses can be built into the group’s budget, or he’ll try to raise them on his own… just write him at Mogulracer@aol.com. Thanks Mike Scott!

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NEED A TRAINER???
Ken Williams wrote to say,

“I’m really enjoying Brigada! Appreciate what y’all are doing for the Kingdom. I’m Ken Williams, with Wycliffe Bible Translators for nearly 39 years. My wife and I translated the N.T. for the Chuj people of Guatemala, then served as a counselor for 22 years. My current assignment is to help provide training for other missions. I live in Colorado Springs. I (and others I’ve trained) provide workshops for missionaries and missionary leaders, here in the Springs and elsewhere. We put on five-day Workshops in Interpersonal Skills twice a year here, and sometimes in other locations. We also have workshops for those working in missionary care, and for missionary trainers.
… God bless you, Ken Williams, Ph.D.”

If you’re interested, contact Ken at 74552.1702@compuserve.com. Ken, we’ve used one of your training videos from Wycliffe for years! God bless!

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MYANMAR CONFERENCE, PROMISE FOR FUTURE!
Thanks to AD2000 & Beyond for the continuing efforts to mobilize missions throughout the globe! For the latest in what Luis Bush and the group are doing, download the update on the recent Myanmar conference (March 25-30) and see what a traditional missions-receiving country can do when it gets involved!!! Just send email to hub@xc.org with only the following line in the body of the text:
get brigada ad2000-myanmar

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WATCH FOR LAPTOP THEFT!
Overheard this past week on a Brigada sub-conference (on brigada-projects-training) was this caution: Laptop owners beware!!! They’re after you!!! One scam involves watching you just after you put your laptop on the conveyor belt. A partner thief steps in front of you, setting off the metal detector. During the delay, another partner picks up your computer bag on the other side and that’s the last of it! Also beware when in crowds. Thieves are apparently opening your case up “pick-pocket style” and walking off with the laptop!!! The other message here, folks, is to back up data!! Often!

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

TO UNSUBSCRIBE (Yikes!!!!) 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!