20000312 Brigada Today

In this issue….

AT LAST: WORLD CHRISTIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA IS HERE!

Edited by David B. Barrett, George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, this new edition of the classic reference source – a comprehensive overview of contemporary Christianity – offers a fuller comparative scope, pays greater attention both to the other world religions and to the secular realm, and describes more fully the range of Christian attempts to relate to both.

Volume One: detailed empirical overview of global Christianity.
Volume Two: survey of religious life in 238 countries covering political, social, economic, and denominational features.
Volume Three: global data – miniprofiles of 10,000 religions, 12,600 ethnocultural groups, languages, regions, cities, extensive index, resource guide, and full-color reference atlas.

Mention that you saw it in Brigada and ask for the special introductory offer until 3/31/2000 of $70 off the US$395 price. Published by Oxford University Press. In the USA, call toll-free 800-451-7556; in Canada, dial 800-387-8020. Elsewhere, use 212-726-6453 or write intlsales@oup-usa.org or browse http://www.oup.com. This is the book by which all other reference sources are judged. I just ordered mine. I told the order-taker to get ready for the 10,000 person rush! And by the way… they offered no discount to me beyond the normal Brigada introductory $70 off. At least you know I don’t get a “cut” for every book sold.

FLASH! Thanks to Brigada participant Bruce Camp who might have just saved you some money. He recommended that we shop for the World Christian Encyclopedia at http://www.bestbookbuys.com and, sure enough, one vendor has it at $279 + tax, postage paid. That’s a better deal than the one offered by Oxford Press. If you’ve just ordered, maybe since these are pre-publication orders, perhaps the folks at Oxford Press would allow you to cancel your order and you could save $45 off the price we mentioned by buying from www.bigwords.com. I’ll try that tomorrow. Again, the exact location at bigwords.com is: bigwords.com/search/index.cfm?BIGVERB=book%20zoom&ISBN=0195079639

STRATEGY COORDINATOR TRAINING 2000

A Strategy Coordinator is someone who bridges the Harvest Field (UPG) and the Harvest Force (Church) to develop Church-planting movements (CPM)among the UPG. The SC’s basic work premise answers the question: “What needs to be done for a CPM to take place among my people.” rather than “What can I do to plant a church among these people?” The Training involves 20 8-hour days of interactive class time where a high premium will be placed on Q&A, Discussions, Debates and Intercession. In addition, there are 4 major written assignments to ensure the successful transformation of a missionary into a SC. These are :

UPG Profile and Mobilisation Brochure
List of Networking Present and Potential Partners
100 Options to engage this UPG
A Master Plan for reaching, training and developing a church-planting movement among this UPG

Successful trainees will be awarded 10 credits towards a Masters, MA, DMin or PhD in Inter-cultural Studies from Bethany School of Missions (The Training Arm of Asia Pacific Mission, Ltd) in Singapore. Write Frank SCANet@writeme.com or call 65-9682-4493.

KITAB BOOKS FOR MUSLIMS

Kitab Books has a catalogue filled with evangelistic and apologetic materials for Muslims as well as some written by Muslims. The catalogue is huge. Write Kitab.uk@domini.org.

“NO CLOSED DOORS”

Intent (formerly U.S. Association of Tentmakers) has slated its annual Conference as “Intent 2K – No Closed Doors” for June 1-4, 2000 at the Billy Graham Center Wheaton. Speakers include Bob Blincoe of Frontiers, George Miley of Antioch Network, Tim Philpot of CBMC Int’l, Joe Suozzo of Christar, & Joseph D’Souza of OM. The first half is for veteran tentmaking “Practitioners”. The Explorers Conference (for those looking into tentmaking), starts with dinner June 2 & runs till mid-day June 4, & includes workshops. For more information contact Intent in the USA at 630-848-6033 or by emailing LSKendrick@Intent.org or browse http://www.intent.org.

SUMMARY OF ADVANCE!

Here’s a quick summary of the March 19th issue of Advance. To receive the whole issue, just send a message to advance-2000-03-19@brigada.org

Cote d’Ivoire’s Toura people; the Mestizos of Peru; the Uighur of northwestern China; 18-fold church growth in China; an Iranian trains Christian workers to reach his countrymen; 260 unreached people groups with no one to tell them; the Zerma of Niger

Two believers imprisoned in animal cages; persecution in Turkmenistan; Fulbe believers in Nigeria persecuted; Pakistani Christian sentenced to prison; European human rights court to review Soner Onder’s case; Romanian lawmakers withdraw religion law

Medical technician testifies he helped kill babies at Planned Parenthood abortion facility; 4-month-old baby shot to death in Bogota; Mexicans make pilgrimage to Mayan shrines

580 prisoners in Benin pass up meal for “Jesus” film; Buddha painter saved in Mongolia; God answers chief’s prayer for agricultural worker; broken jade Buddha turns woman to Christ; West African chief pleads for missionary; church-planting movement emerging in unreached people group in China; Christian worker puts life on the line for team members; 16- year-old’s prophetic word saves man from suicide

The “Jesus” film for children; “The Waiting World” video series; the Buddha’s prophecy of the Messiah

TAJIK PRAYER DAY

Keep on praying for the Sarikol [Sair-i-coal] Tajiks [Ta-jeeks] of Western China. This unreached people group has no known Christians, and none of the Bible has been translated into their language. There are only a few workers trying to minister to the Tajiks and they prayed together all day on Tuesday, March 21st. Please keep on praying that the Holy Spirit will have the freedom to move among the Sarikol Tajiks to bring them to salvation. Also pray that they would soon have a copy of the Scriptures in their native language. We often talk about “planting seeds”, but when it comes to working with the Tajiks, we are still in the business of “moving rocks” so that the soil can be prepared for planting. This can only happen through PRAYER! If you would like more information on the Sarikol Tajiks, browse http://www.strategicnetwork.org

CHILDREN’S MISSION EDUCATION

Last call for all teachers who work with children 3-12 years old! Don’t miss this best-ever training for children’s mission education. The International Children’s Expo 2000 will equip you to give kids a heart for missions, prayer and ministry. Choose from 60 top-notch workshops and tables full of terrific resources you won’t find at your local Christian bookstore! Featured speakers are Cheri Fuller, author of “When Mothers Pray” and “When Children Pray” and international speaker and author, Bob Sjogren, Director of Destination 2000. Dr. Richard Allen Farmer, Dean of The Chapel at Taylor University in Upland, IN, will lead worship. For a brochure call 888-345-6276 in the USA (or via Net2Phone) or write jill.harris@juno.com. Go to http://www.21stcenturykidsconnect.org/IntlExpo.htm for further information.

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER “LIVE”

Since 1775, the U. S. Congress has annually set aside national days of prayer for the USA. On Thursday, May 4, 2000, believers across the land will seek God for the great needs of the USA as nation, as well as its cities and towns. The National Day of Prayer Task Force exists to help equip you. You can find more info. on the web at http://www.ndptf.org. Pay particular attention to the seventh annual Nationally Broadcast Concert Of Prayer (NBCOP).

CALLING ALL 10/40 WINDOW AND CREATIVE ACCESS BRIGADIERS!

For years now, missiologists have argued over the effectiveness of various evangelistic and church planting strategies among the unreached. For example; Is tentmaking more effective than a historical approach? Are micro-enterprises more effective in reaching people than schools or hospitals? Is learning more than the trade language necessary? Though each person has an opinion and personal data to support their opinions, yet the truth is these opinions are very subjective. Thus, a survey has been put together by the TMQ Research under Don Hamilton, at the U.S. Center for World Mission. The purpose of the survey is to gather data from those serving in creative access nations and study what if any objective lessons can learned about training, life, work, ministry among the unreached. If you are living in the 10/40 Window, please participate in this survey. If you have expatriate friends who live in the 10/40 Window, please share this opportunity with them. Participants do not need to give their name, location, or organization/mission/company. Surveys should be submitted by June 1. This allows time for surveys to be carried in and out of restricted places. The more input the more objective the results will be. Results will be published in early 2001 and made available to anyone. To down load the survey, you may obtain the passwords from tmq@antioch.com.sg. To learn more about the survey please go to TMQ’s website at http://tmq.antioch.com.sg.

A DOZEN LINKS ON PARTNERSHIP

Grace has been at it again!

Here are her top 10 links on the topic of forming partnerships:

A New Mission Role for a New Era http://www.missionfrontiers.org/1999/10/dirset.htm
Diplomatic Savvy for the Sake of the Unreached http://www.missionfrontiers.org/1999/10/dirset.htm
Keys to Effective Partnership http://www.ad2000.org/adoption/Coop/Partner/Pidkeys.htm
BEYOND AD2000: Models for Consideration / New Wineskins http://www.ad2000.org/re80402.htm
Partnering for the New Millennium http://www.missionfrontiers.org/1999/10/dirset.htm
Partnership and Unity http://www.missionfrontiers.org/1999/10/dirset.htm
Partnership Really Works http://www.missionfrontiers.org/1999/10/dirset.htm
Partnerships Benefits of Cooperation http://www.ad2000.org/adoption/Coop/NetIntr/NPIntBen.htm
Strategic Resource Partnerships http://www.missionfrontiers.org/1999/10/dirset.htm
The Partnership Life Cycle http://www.ad2000.org/adoption/Coop/Partner/Pidlife.htm
The Synergy of Partnership http://www.missionfrontiers.org/1999/10/dirset.htm
What is it like to be a Partnership Facilitator http://www.missionfrontiers.org/1999/10/dirset.htm
What Shape of Partnership? http://www.ad2000.org/adoption/Coop/Partner/Pidshap.htm
Why Partnerships? http://www.ad2000.org/adoption/Coop/Partner/Pidwhyp.htm

NEW WEB JOURNAL FROM LUIS PALAU

From the sounds of this title, you’d better go to this site before you click on any others!!!

First Priority is a brand-new Web journal on evangelism. http://www.ichristian.com/firstpriority/ There you can also request their half-page “This Week’s First Priority” e-mail updates.

VBS TEAM NEEDED IN HAWAII

COMMIT Ministries is still accepting applications from High School and College students to form their “Vacation Bible School to the Outer Islands” team, July 7-August 14. This group will help conduct productive VBS summer programs for five outer-island churches in need of their help. The cost is $2185 and includes RT airfare from major West Coast cities, most meals, lodging (camp style), Inter-island airfare, ground transportation, adult supervision, and training. Deadline for applications is June 1. Contact Jeff commit@juno.com for more information.

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTORIES

Does anyone know of online (or electronic format) directories of church workers who have “IP-based” technologies in use today? The Association for the Development of Religious Information Systems is seeking to compile a directory of users of CUSeeMe, ICQ, InstantMessenger (any flavor), Net2Phone, Netmeeting, or any similar technologies used to more efficiently connect the workers on the field with their sending organizations. Please send either directory addresses, files or individual contact info to adris@home.com. The data will be displayed at http://members.home.com/adris.

IRANIAN ELECTIONS

What do Christians living in Iran think about the recent elections? Read all about it on the website for the Persian Speaking World: http://www.peopleteams.org/psw. Team PSW is seeking to be a blessing to 100 million Persians anywhere in the world and especially those living in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Iran. For more info, write gci@pobox.com.

SWAHILI LITERATURE OUTREACH

UPESI is a free single-sheet evangelistic paper in Swahili, and is available free to anyone working in that language area. Beryl Shannon, the editor, would value the help of anyone really fluent in Swahili for checking of articles. For more info, contact BJShannon@soon.org.uk.

BRIGADA: WHAT’S IT TO YOU?

As I’ve mentioned before, Brigada celebrates two birthdays. One comes around January 25th each year (the day communication began via the Brigada family of networks) and the other comes March 21st (the day we “went public” with Brigada Today). I started to write a kind of summary of the past five years and then I thought . . . hey… maybe if I asked, someone out there would write a one-paragraph testimony or summary of what Brigada means to him/her. Then we could clip some notable-quotable comments for next week’s issue — which might then serve as a tool for those who would like to explain Brigada’s potential. Besides, I’d like to know it myself!

So… if you’ve got a testimony or a challenge (what you’d like Brigada to tackle in the future) or if (in some teeny-tiny small way) Brigada has helped you, please send a note to DLucas@TeamExpansion.org with a subject line that starts: [brigada]. If anyone sends anything [then we’ll know they read until the last drop!

], we’ll clip excerpts for next week’s issue.

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

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