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In this issue….

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WHAT IN THE WORLD IS BRIGADA?

Brigada Logo Brigada, pronounced “bree-GAH-dah” (rhymes with armada), is the rough equivalent of a “brigade” — in Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Albanian and even Filipino! The idea is to stand side by side to pass buckets of hope for those most in need of Christ’s eternal message! Check out nearly 5 years of weekly back issues at https://brigada.org. See recent back issues and links at http://www.eGroups.com/list/brigada-today. Brigada Today is compiled by Doug Lucas DLucas@teamexpansion.org, Louisville, KY.
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MEET YOUR BRIGADA FRIENDS AT BRIGADAFEST 2000

Brigada Logo Register online right now for BrigadaFest, Feb. 3-5 in Louisville, KY. This very focused get-together will serve as a venue for uniting those who have a vision for reaching specific people groups. We’re providing meeting rooms for tracks focused on various people group outreaches, along with logistics for meals, housing, secure registrations by web, security, audio-visual equipment, etc. The works! The cost is $60 (if you register before Dec. 20). Register online by going to: http://www.teamexpansion.org then clicking on “Register for BrigadaFest”. For more information – or if you don’t have web access to register online – write the Registrar, Angela, at akeeran@TeamExpansion.org. The event is being jointly sponsored by:
  • Interdev (Partnership Development tracks),
  • Caleb Project (Advocacy Training tracks),
  • Southeast Christian Church (host)
  • Friends of Bosnia and other unreached peoples tracks
  • Team Expansion (a catalyst for PACE Projects),
  • Brigada (well, . . . you know who we are! :-) )

    After registering, send a message to brigadafest-subscribe@egroups.com to receive occasional updates starting this week. And if you’re interested in interceding especially for the event, send a message to brigadafest-prayer-subscribe@egroups.com where the prayer meeting has already begun! Thanks to Terry BorkTerry@aol.com for serving as a prayer coordinator for the event.

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    BRIGADA FAMILY MAKES A SPLASH SHOWING THE JESUS FILM

    movie camera According to one supplier of the Jesus Film (Keith), in the last 10 months he’s sent out about $250,000 worth of Jesus videos, about 2/3 of which came as a result of the Brigada family jumping on board with requests and follow- up. 92% have gone to the 10/40 window or 10/40 peoples. Keith wrote yesterday, “So, thanks for the chance. Many many conversions have resulted and literally hundreds of thousands have been exposed to the gospel. Amazing, huh?” I’d say. Thanks to Keith and his team for making the outreaches possible! Unfortunately, at least until Jan. 2000, his funding grants have dried up. Maybe after January we’ll be able to jump on board again! :-) 3 cheers for Keith and his group! thumbs-up
    (Please don’t write for more details at this time. If he receives new funding, we’ll be sure to announce it here.)

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    DISCOUNTED BIBLES & BIBLE RESOURCES

    Bible Looking for great prices in the USA on Bibles and other Bible resources? Leslie’s found a spot for you to try. Check out Bibles At Cost, http://www.biblesatcost.com, or email them at biblesatcost@sprintmail.com. In the USA or via Net2Phone, call 800-778-8865. According to Leslie, “These folks want to get the Word out! Their prices on Life Application Bibles, New Living Translation, Student and Kids Bibles are the best I’ve found anywhere! They also carry WordSearch and interactive Bible software for kids.”

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    30 DAYS MUSLIM PRAYER FOCUS YIELDS GODLY OUTCOME!

    praying hands The 30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus continues to receive amazing testimonies from around the world. It was reported in a Reuters article that the last Ramadan was the most compassionate in 7 years. Many hundreds of prisoners were released from prisons in Palestine and Morocco as an act of forgiveness. “God has finally bestowed His mercy on us,” said Zeinab, a housewife from central Algiers. The dates for Ramadan are from 8 December 1999 to 6 January 2000. Will you too join millions of Christians in prayer for the Muslim world?

    The 30 Days booklets are available in a variety of languages from some 40 offices around the world as both Adult and Kids version. And, taken from the original booklets, an e-mail version is also available. Designed to be easy to read and prayed through each day, the 30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus is truly one of the greatest global prayer movements of our time.

    To receive the e-mail edition (especially designed for those who don’t have access to booklets), send any e-mail to join-30-days@XC.Org.

    To get a list of the nearest 30-Days distribution centre near you, check http://www.hfe.org/news/30dlist You can also click on “30 days” at http://ramadan.everypeople.net for more information. (Thanks Mike!)

    Please pass this info. along to your friends, newsgroups, newsletters or add it to your web-site. Let us believe God for mighty things as we join together to focus on Him during this prayer time for the Muslim world, Dec. 8 – Jan. 6, 2000. (Thanks Ron, for all the info!)

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    LONG DISTANCE WARS

    telephone We continue to see long distance services duke it out for the lowest rates per minute in long distance and calling card time. Maybe the lowest I’ve seen so far comes from a company called ATN. 13.9 cents a minute, with 6 second billing. NO service charge or monthly fee. The card is free. Pay only for usage. Not a debit card or prepaid card. A true calling card. All calls to and from your home or office (including 800 numbers) only 6.9 cents a minute. You can sign up in the USA by calling 888-487-4732 toll-free. If you tell them EC Code 10689, the guy who tipped us off to this service (Dennis) probably gets a bit of credit. :-)

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    GLOBAL GLIMPSE FOR THE PERSECUTED

    world globe Millions of believers will be praying for the persecuted church on November 14 as part of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. China continues to be one of the countries with the largest number of persecuted Christians. House church leaders there interviewed in August and September confirmed that the situation for unregistered Christians is extremely tight and increasingly difficult. Reasons include the recent crackdown on the Falun Gong cult, tight security surrounding the 50th anniversary celebrations of October 1, and the government’s renewed emphasis on spreading atheism. In Shanghai, many house churches have temporarily ceased meeting, or have sub-divided into even smaller cell groups and confirm that many Christians in the country’s interior have been arrested. In spite of arbitrary persecution, the house churches continue to grow.
    (Source: Compas Direct 1999 via International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church website: www.persecutedchurch.org or IDOP@xc.org. For information on Compas Direct email compassdr@compuserve.com)
    Global Glimpse is compiled occasionally by John Hanna, Caleb Project, Littleton, CO.

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    HOW TO USE UP INTERNET BANDWIDTH IN THE NAME OF AFGHANISTAN

    It keeps coming back, again and again. The request for prayer is noble… and honorable… and important… but the petition at the end is what makes it a bit questionable. The text says, “PLEASE COPY this email on to a new message, sign the bottom and forward it to everyone on your distribution lists. If you receive this list with more than 200 names onit, please e-mail a copy of it to : [sic] (Please send after every 200 names) Even if you decide not to sign, please be considerate and do not kill the petition. It is best to copy rather than forward it.” Unfortunately, there’s never an email address to forward it to. And if there were, what good would it do? What are we supposed to think — that by emailing Internet petitions to the government of Afghanistan, they’re going to stop mistreating women? I’ve been told they don’t even want to turn over prisoners for whom there are sworn warrants in international courts — why would they listen to emailed petitions? Once again, I’m afraid we’d better re-read the Brigada OPC protocol. When you receive an email asking you to forward it, make sure it has a VERIFIABLE ORIGIN, a VERIFIABLE PURPOSE, and a VERIFIABLE CLOSURE (OPC). By following this simple approach, many “email viruses” could be nipped in the bud… at least in the Brigada family. To get a copy of the full Brigada OPC protocol, send a message to opc@brigada.worldchurches.org. You’ll receive a one-page email via an autoresponder with more information about the OPC protocol and a list of websites where you can check to see if the alleged virus or other announcement is really a hoax. And, in case you were wondering, no, Bill Gates doesn’t have software that pays you if you forward any emails. :-) “A Lump of Coal” is a lie, there’s no free trip to Disney world, and, as far as we know, nobody’s liver has actually been harvested from an iced-down body in a bathtub. :-) Whew! Who thinks these things up?! :-)

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    APPLIED CROSS-CULTURAL MUSIC COURSE

    musical notes The SIL Ethnomusicology Department is teaching their Applied Ethnomusicology course (MUMIN 590) during the short winter term at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, January 10-14, 2000. This course provides the philosophy and tools for cross-cultural music ministry and can be taken by missionaries without formal musical training. Areas covered include teaching other missionaries about music and missions, music ministry program planning and strategies, music workshops, project management styles, working within the context of a mission and strategies for dissemination of indigenous Christian music. Cost is $374 plus a $30 one-time application fee. Class books and materials cost $30.

    If you’d rather shoot for summer courses, all three of the SIL ethnomusicology courses will be taught this summer at SWBTS in Ft Worth, TX: Applied Ethnomusicology – June 19-23, 2000, Analysis of Non- Western Music – July 10 – August 9, 2000, Field of Ethnomusicology/Anthropology of Music – July 10 – August 9, 2000 For more information contact: SIL Ethnomusicology Dept, ethnomusicology@sil.org.

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    SEARCHING FOR LIFE INSURANCE

    Adams & Associates International has been appointed administrator for an Overseas Missionary Life Program through Kiln Life Insurance Corporation of London, U.K. Many Missionaries have difficulty obtaining life insurance because of their geographical location and occupation. This program is available to any member of a mission sending organization or independent missionary who is living and working outside the United States. For complete details, please contact Adams & Associates International at aai@aaintl.com or in the USA or via Net2Phone, 800-922-8438.

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    TO SUBSCRIBE — To subscribe to BRIGADA TODAY, send email to brigada-today-subscribe@egroups.com.

    TO UNSUBSCRIBE — Send email to brigada-today-unsubscribe@egroups.com. (Subject and text are ignored.)
    IF IT DOESN’T WORK — Write Don & Judy, our Customer Services Managers at help@brigada.org. Yahooooo for volunteers!!!

    COPYRIGHT — This issue of Brigada Today is Copyrighted © 2001. However, permission is granted to freely redistribute these materials, including those available through email autoresponders, provided that such redistribution is to those who will help the Good News of Christianity to reach the unreached. But please include this phrase: “For a free subscription of Brigada‘s weekly missions publication, write <brigada-today-subscribe@egroups.com>.”
    IMPORTANT: To copy or reproduce Brigada Today for any other reason is illegal and is not permitted.

    DISCLAIMER — Please note that there’s no way we can possibly screen all the text on all the web sites or items we recommend. We try to check them out first… but if we miss something, please don’t assume that the opinions on those sites are identical to those of the Brigada family of networks. “Eat the corn, leave the cob!” ear of corn
    For subscription questions or problems, write help@brigada.org.

    SUBMITTING CONTENT — To submit content or ideas to Brigada Today, first please get a copy of “Guidelines for submitting items to Brigada” Then, once you’ve composed your item in keeping with those guidelines, send your item for Brigada Today to DLucas@teamexpansion.org.
    Thanks to for hosting the Brigada mailing list.
    Emphasis is placed on items relating to unreached peoples and challenges faced by those reaching them cross-culturally.

    not symbolPLEASE DON’T SUBSCRIBE US TO YOUR LIST — It’s always better to ask before manually force-adding anyone to your list-serve or mailing list. Recently, tons of well-meaning people have been subscribing Doug to their lists. Since he often travels overseas, he doesn’t join many of those, for obvious reasons (like being charged big-time for overseas access). So as a general rule, please don’t bulk-mail us! See the note above if you’d like to submit items for Brigada Today. Thanks for understanding. Bottom line: We will never create Brigada Today items from bulk mail. Bulk mail gets deleted immediately — sorry. Nothing personal. We suggest you apply the same standard to everyone. Ask first!

    OPCWARNING ABOUT FORWARDING EMAILS — Please, before forwarding any kind of request (even if it says “please send this to all your friends”), please check to make sure it has a VERIFIABLE ORIGIN, a VERIFIABLE PURPOSE, and a VERIFIABLE CLOSURE (OPC). By following this simple approach, many “email viruses” could be nipped in the bud… at least in the Brigada family. More information about the full Brigada OPC protocol is available. Thank you.

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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
    *Brigada Website: Bob Mayhew, WebServant@brigada.org
    *Brigada Customer Service Manager: help@brigada.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!