20040104 Brigada Today

In this issue…

SPONSORS PAVE THE WAY FOR A NEW YEAR — Thanks to the sponsors that have paved the way into the new Brigada year! The anonymous sponsor that gives $10/month regularly, using the new “Subscribe” feature that he asked for, was back at it again this past week. (Thanks!) Thanks, too, to Info. & Learning Systems Int’l, producers of the “Countries & Peoples of the World” CD, who sent $461.25 more to express their appreciation for Brigada readers who have purchased the product. Yahooo! :-) And hats off to the anonymous couple in N. IN ($50!), the Irving Bible Church (also $50), the anonymous couple with Young Life Europe ($100)!!! We appreciate your help! Please consider joining these and others sponsors at: https://brigada.org/donate.html You’ll see one button for “Donate” (any amount, one-time), and another for “Subscribe” ($10/mo). These great sponsors help us get Brigada out the door and to your screen each weekend! (If you help the new Brigada Secretary, then she’ll help keep me on time. :-) Also, please remember, once we make our goal for the year [$16,021], we will no longer ask for sponsors.)

OPTIONS FOR SIMPLE MISSIONS DISPLAYS — Remember Mark, the guy that wanted to track down some options for creating simple missions displays? Well guess what: he followed through! To view his full report, click here. (Thanks Mark!)

RETREATS FOR PROSPECTIVE MISSIONARIES — “The Journey Deepens” is a weekend retreat to help prospects explore, discover and connect with how they could become a missionary in another culture. These weekends are for college students, professionals, and high school seniors who are willing to become a missionary but not sure if that is God’s will or how that could unfold. Each retreat of 100 participants and 10 experienced missionaries from multiple agencies is highly relationship with extended worship, small group discussions, personal reflection and much prayer. Discussions include the missionary call, support-raising, singles/families, etc. The next retreat will be April 2-4, 2004 in Davis, Oklahoma (between Dallas and Oklahoma City). The Journey Deepens is presented by MissionsFocus Int’l and co-sponsored by ACMC, Caleb Project, Perspectives and the U.S. Center for World Mission. Browse http://www.TheJourneyDeepens.com or email missionsfocus@askamissionary.com or phone 1-800-366-6641.

RESULTS OF THEIR DEMISE GREATLY EXAGERATED — It turns out that Interdev might not totally disappear after all. I heard this past week from a former Interdev Central Asia Team member that maybe she wouldn’t end up being a “former”! :-) She wrote, “The ministry will carry on, even though some formal office spaces have closed in USA, UK, and India. We still have offices—they’re just … in our homes, garages, or church corners. … The functions needed by Interdev Partnership Associates will inform the structure, and we will begin as a decentralized group, committed by covenant with one another, founded on our relationships, connected through a facilitation team! Rather than one central INTERDEV organization, INTERDEV Partnership Associates connects 16 Partnership Advisors, basing from 10 organizations, dispersed regionally across India, Indonesia, Africa, Philippines, USA, Canada, and UK!” Sounds great! Bravo to those forging on!

WHO ENCOURAGES MISSIONARIES? — Here’s a Brigada reader desperate to learn more about organizations and missions that minister and encourage missionaries around the world and in their home country. Would you write Felicia feliciabuc@earthlink.net with information on the group, what they do and offer, how long they have been ministering and any links that would prove helpful? She wrote, “Many churches and individuals are interested in ‘ministering to the ministers’, so they’d like to know who is already doing it and how well they are doing it. Individual organizations and groups within missions or any other ideas are welcome.”

NEED INFO ON UNREACHED PEOPLES? — Check out http://www.joshuaproject.net/index.php You can do all the following:
Get a complete picture of the unreached peoples and the unfinished task of the Great Commission.
View all people groups for any country.
View all countries for any specific people group.
View a people profile for any people group on the planet.
View Patrick Johnstone’s Affinity Blocs and People Clusters
Download free of charge a complete MS Access application and data for viewing data from numerous perspectives.
Download Joshua Project data in various formats or an up-to-date Powerpoint presentation on the status of World Evangelization.
Find specific ministry tool availability by unique linking into other sites
Submit updates such as: your ministry activity commitments, statistical updates (they want to hear about the errors!), URLs of other people profiles and more.
See a global summary and interesting people group facts.
Try various unreached peoples queries
View Patrick Johnstone’s Church Planting Progress Indicator
Get answers to frequently asked questions such as “Why the jump from 1,600 to 6,300 unreached peoples?”, “Why are there so many different people group numbers in the mission community?” and “Where else on the web can I find unreached peoples data?”
Get it all at Joshua Project.net!
MASTERS DEGREE IN PHILIPPINES — Azusa Pacific University offers a Masters in Social Science (with an emphasis in Servant Leadership) in the Philippines! The cost is 1/3 of on-campus prices. Fly to the Philippines and pay less for your flight and your courses than you would pay on campus for the same courses! 4 courses are taught each summer (June). For more information contact Melody kzkuka@jmf.org.ph, Box 1415 QCCPO, Quezon City, 1154, Philippines. 632-658-3807

FLY IN THE MICROSOFT MISSIONARY-LICENSING OINTMENT? — A recent Brigada item recommended purchasing licenses for Microsoft software through http://www.1computerbargains.com They are one source for the open charity licenses from Microsoft. A contact from one mission agency, however, has stated that their licenses can be used in the home office but not by their missionaries serving around the world. (They cited a Microsoft policy says that a license cannot be used by affiliates outside of North American. See http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/open/opencharity_faq.asp ) The same mission would love to know if Microsoft has indicated that missionaries working out from a USA office may use these licenses in spite of the policy wording. If you have info. on this, write Lester semdean@aiias.edu and he’ll report back to us in 2 weeks. (Thanks Lester!)

A RESOURCE FOR MENTORING — Most leaders want to mentor others but often don’t know where to begin. “Mentoring thru Intentional Relationships,” by Phillip Jeske, is a model that is designed to help someone intentionally mentor others. This 12 chapter, 250-page manual (printed or as PDF) is not only has an introduction to mentoring but also a tool with which to walk through key personal and leadership issues with someone else. Partnerships are also possible to translate the materials into other languages (currently English & German). For more info check out http://www.icmeurope.org/mentor.html or contact International Christian Ministries ICMcanada@cs.com

VANCOUVER MISSIONS CONFERENCE — Catch it Jan 30 – Feb 1, 2004, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Hundreds of agencies and tens of thousands of participants take part in the weekend. For more info check out http://www.mfest.bc.ca

CLOSEUP ON THE UNREACHED: THE NAMA/DAMARA PEOPLE — These unreached people can be found in central and southern Namibia in Africa. Among them is a young Nama mother who welcomed a presentation of the Gospel. She indicated a desire to have a personal relationship with Jesus. However, while surrounded by older Nama ladies who were unwilling to pray to receive Christ, she put off the decision. As she held her baby she explained that she is an unwed mother living with the father. In her mind she needs to “clean up” her life before accepting Christ. Pray for the Lord to build prayer support for the Nama/Damara, an unengaged people group. To adopt the Nama/Damara people for prayer or for more information, please visit http://www.forgottenpeoples.info or email swacsc@iafrica.com

TESOL TRAINING IN THE PHILIPPINES — If you feel the Lord calling you into missions and would like to use TESOL as a tool, check out these two intensive classes of five weeks each this spring. April 19- May 21 is in Manila, and April 12 to May 14 is in Davao with a practicum to an unreached people group. For more information and applications contact Melody at kzkuka@jmf.org.ph or Box 1415 Quezon City 1154, Philippines, tel. 632-658-3807.

CLOSEUP ON THE UNREACHED: THE HERERO PEOPLE — Among this African group (in central and eastern Namibia) is a 50-year-old man who has lived in the small village of Okatjoruu, Namibia all his life was open to hearing the Gospel. He follows the tribal religion of the Herero in ancestor worship. When asked about going to heaven when he dies, he said that the “ancestors will keep” him. He resisted accepting Christ. He said that he was too old to change and preferred to go the same way as his ancestors in death – wherever that is. Pray for the Lord to build prayer support for the Herero, an unengaged people group. To adopt the Herero people for prayer or for more information, please visit http://www.forgottenpeoples.info or email swacsc@iafrica.com

MISSION INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE — Mission to Unreached Peoples is looking for kingdom-minded people aged 18-30 who are interested in experiencing life on the mission field while being supervised by a long-term missionary. Placements are available in Eastern Europe and Asia, and last 3-9 months. Check out http://www.mup.org or email Pete PeteE@gatiwa.com, or call(888) 895-4657 or (509) 483-4792

NEW DISCIPLESHIP GUIDE — Winkie Pratney & Trevor Yaxley have teamed up their years of experience in evangelism and discipleship to produce “Ultimate Core”, an in-depth approach to discipleship designed for teens and twenty-somethings who want to experience and radiate the core of heart commitment to Christ. Covering topics from purity to spiritual gifts and evangelism, this is a great life manual for missions training centers. You’ll find more information and an excerpt at http://www.bethanyhouse.com To order, write orders@bakerbooks.com or call 1-800-877-2665 or dial (616) 676-9185.

SHARPENING YOUR INTERPERSONAL SKILLS (SYIS) — Catch this workshop in Toronto, March 22-26, 2004. It’s designed especially for missionaries and those in the local church who relate to missionaries on Home Assignments. This interactive workshop will increase your knowledge, attitudes and skills in relating to others. A 216-page work book is provided covering such topics as: Loving Listening; Confronting effectively, Building Trust; Helping others Grieve Well; Managing Stress and much more. For more information contact Robert at missionprep@sympatico.ca

ARE YOU CATCHING THE INTEREST IN ORALITY? — It’s swelling. For example, in about a week or so, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary In Fort Worth, TX, will host the “2004 Consultation on Orality, Literacy & the Oral Bible.” It’s very significant here that this conference is being co-sponsored, so to speak, by Wycliffe, Campus Crusade, YWAM, and the Int’l Mission Board. (In sheer numbers, those 4 organizations probably represent the geocenter of evangelical mission outreach.) As I interviewed personnel from the Jesus Film and Wycliffe this past week, I couldn’t help but take note of the fact that interest in the Oral Bible is at an all-time high. See this page… http://www.oralbible.com/ for more information. The idea is that many of the world’s remaining unreached peoples value *oral* tradition, as much or more than written. As a result, these organizations (and now a dozen others, as well) are setting bold goals to produce and utilize recorded *stories*. (They’re using the IMB’s term: “Chronological Bible Storying.”) Watch this trend… and the growing interest in addressing it. For example, the 4- way partnership above has now embraced a common strategy and sending approach, as can be seen at http://www.bibleless.org/involved/epic.html

THE BACKPAGE: LAUSANNE III? — Will it become Lausanne III? Only time will tell. You’ll probably recall the now-famous missions conference held in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1974. There, Ralph Winter announced his outlandish suspicion that there were *thousands* of groups of people “hidden” from the gospel. Out of that consultation came a movement of people that later came to bear the name of the consultation’s venue: The Lausanne Movement for World Evangelization. I was just a junior in high school, so I didn’t make that one. But I definitely enjoyed Lausanne II in Manila, in 1989. At that conference, Ed Dayton made sure every participant understood our changing world, the complexities of reaching out to urban masses, and the hazards of modernity. Now I’m wondering how this fall’s conference in Thailand will shape up. Billed not as “Lausanne III”, but rather as 30 smaller conferences running simultaneously, I’m curious about how things will play out. See http://www.gospelcom.net/lcwe/chartdia.htm for a timeline chart of the “big picture” of Lausanne’s various meetings. See http://www.gospelcom.net/lcwe/2004/issues.htm for a breakdown of the 30 issues. And http://www.gospelcom.net/lcwe/2004/brochure.pdf is a summary brochure. On behalf of Brigada, I’m supposed to participate in Issue #6, “Those who have never heard the name of Jesus.” Would you begin praying today for this conference, slated for Sept. 29 – Oct. 5, 2004 (in Thailand)? Let’s ask God to act in this way:
*** To reawaken His global forces to bold new steps for those who remain untold
*** To speak in a resounding way through veteran leaders, so that younger generation leaders will gain a clearer sense of purpose
*** To stoke the fires of passion for today’s churches and agencies, so the fire of world evangelism won’t die down until we completely finish the task of world evangelism! Thanks!!! Doug

0 Shares

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Subscribe to the Email Edition

The Latest Edition

Recent Comments