In this issue…

  1. WE APPRECIATE SPONSORS AND PARTNERS!
  2. GREAT NEW EXCEL SUMMARY OF MISSIONS CONFERENCES, BOOKS, ETC.
  3. CHRONOLOGICAL BIBLE STORYING (CBS) RESOURCES
  4. WHY DO FEW MISSIONS USE THE WEB FOR OUTREACH?
  5. SHORT FILM AWARDS FOR DIGITAL EVANGELISM CLIPS
  6. DONOR TRACKING SOFTWARE
  7. CROSS AND CRESCENT CONFERENCE
  8. PAYPAL PROPOSES SETTLEMENT TO USERS
  9. TRY MAKING A FULL IMAGE OF YOUR HARD DRIVE
  10. MUSIC VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
  11. ELIJAH COMPANY MISSIONS TRAINING
  12. CLOSING STUFF

  1. WE APPRECIATE SPONSORS AND PARTNERS! — “I love Brigada. It has helped me connect many times. Thanks so much, All for Him,” from an Anonymous Brigada participant in Alabama, USA. Thanks for the encouraging words *and* the $50 gift to help us underwrite the cost of a Brigada-sponsored secretary! Read more of this donor’s testimony about Brigada by reading this issue on the web and clicking here. ” I really appreciate your site. I find it very useful and have used your links quite a bit,” from missionaries in SW Alaska, who sent $25 toward our secretary here. Thanks! Another great friend added another $25 and here’s a great note from a worker in South Africa in regard to our item on software for the MAC. You’ll recall the free program we mentioned and the way it performed pretty much the same function as the $4400 alternative. “Bob” wrote, “HUGE GRIN. Thanks, Doug — I (and my Mac PowerBook) enjoyed the chuckle and will enjoy the $4,400.00 savings.” Hope Bob and all our Brigada participants can enjoy that and more in future issues of Brigada Today! Want to join the above donors in making possible a real secretary for Brigada? Just use some of the money you saved on one of our items! :-) Go here to give via PayPal or credit card, or just send a check payable to Team Expansion to: Team Expansion (Brigada secretary), 13711 Willow Reed Dr., Louisville, KY 40299. Thanks! As always, be sure to let us know if you’d like us to promote any particular service or ministry, or if you’d prefer your gift by anonymous. Remember, your gifts and sponsorships are the only way we can pay our Brigada-sponsored secretary. Also, remember that once we reach our goal for the year, we’ll no longer seek partnership gifts or donations. So if you’d love to get rid of these ads at the beginning of each issue, give generously and enjoy the rest of 2004 ad-free! :-) By the way, we still have a ways to go. So far, our friends have given $3,818.20 and somewhere we have to find $16,140 for our secretary’s salary. Can you help us reach that goal in the next 4 1/2 months?

  2. GREAT NEW EXCEL SUMMARY OF MISSIONS CONFERENCES, BOOKS, ETC. — Catch Chip’s new summary of the latest and greatest websites, books, resources, and conferences you need to attend in order to stay up on missions. Thanks to Karen, his secretary, for the great job she did organizing the material. Get it by right-clicking here, then choose “Save target as…” and save the file on your hard drive. It’s a virus-free Excel spreadsheet with several worksheet tabs at the bottom. Thanks again Chip – and thanks to all who responded to him! That’s the magic of Brigada!

  3. CHRONOLOGICAL BIBLE STORYING (CBS) RESOURCES — Interested in CBS? So was Jaime … and the Brigada family chipped in with replies. Check out these sites and partners:

    http://EpicPartners.org

    http://www.siutraining.org/training

    http://www.oralbible.com

    http://www.peopleteams.org/miao/storying1.htm

    http://www.newwway.org/articles/10steps.htm

    http://disciplethenations.org/index75.html

    http://www.wycliffe.org/Epic/home.htm

    http://resources.imb.org/index.cfm/fa/prod/ProdID/1140.htm

    http://wayuu.welcome2cbf.org/default_files/page0007.htm

    http://chronologicalbiblestorying.com

    http://FJseries.org

    Paul(at)FinalApproach(dot)net – training events

    (Thanks for a great job, Jaime!)


  4. WHY DO FEW MISSIONS USE THE WEB FOR OUTREACH? — Although almost every mission agency has a website, these are usually publicity pages aimed at the respective Christian constituency and potential supporters. Very few actually use the Web for outright evangelism. This article analyzes possible reasons for this strange situation, and suggests a way forward: http://www.gospelcom.net/guide/resources/mission-agencies.php

    And to advocate the Web as a good medium for evangelism, there is a free 1300-word article available for reprint in print media, or to syndicate into any website by Javascript insert.

    http://www.gospelcom.net/guide/resources/outreach.php


  5. HORT FILM AWARDS FOR DIGITAL EVANGELISM CLIPS — If you enjoy producing digital movies, then there is a new opportunity for you. Submissions for the 2005 Short Film Awards have begun. Send your digital film (up to 3 minutes) in one of four categories: Plan of Salvation, Faith, Hope or Love. Multiple entries are welcome. Numerous great prizes, and finalists will be voted upon by visitors to the site. There is no cost; entry fees are covered by a sponsorship by eMediaLINK. Deadline for submission is December 1, 2004, so don’t delay. Get more information:

    http://www.lifeway.com/emedialink


  6. DONOR TRACKING SOFTWARE — Why do donor tracking software packages cost thousands of dollars? We don’t know either! CMS, Contribution Management System is reasonably priced and support won’t break the bank. Features include: track donations, keep an unlimited number of list designations, utilize CASS Certification information, profit from flexible reports, export data and make your own reports. We look to the users of our software for ideas to improve the software. How important is it to have software do what you need it to do and at a reasonable price? For more information visit our web site:

    http://www.missionarytechteam.org/Software/index.htm

    or email JWood(at)techteam(dot)org. [replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .] The web page has additional contact information.


  7. CROSS AND CRESCENT CONFERENCE — This conference is held throughout the world and is taught by leading scholars from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. The purpose of the conference is to train Christians to understand Islam, relate to their Muslim neighbors, and share the Gospel biblically and contextually with them. It will be held at College Church (Wheaton, IL) in Commons Hall on Friday, October 8, from 7:00 – 9:30 p.m. and Saturday, October 9, from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. To receive a brochure and registration information, go to

    http://www.college-church.org/media/img/media13-329.pdf

    or e-mail missions(at)college-church(dot)org [replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]


  8. PAYPAL PROPOSES SETTLEMENT TO USERS — If you opened a PayPal account between October 1999 and January 2004, you may be entitled to a payment from a class action settlement. To know if you qualify for a settlement log onto the following site:

    http://www.settlement4onlinepayments.com/faq.php3

    Or you can email Class Counsel at: paypalsettlement(at)settlement4onlinepayments(dot)com [replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .] Or you may contact the Claims Administrator at the following address: Claims Administrator, In re PayPal Litigation, PO Box 9000 #6248, Merrick, NY 11566-9000 USA. (Many thanks to the user who proposed this approach.!)


  9. TRY MAKING A FULL IMAGE OF YOUR HARD DRIVE — Thanks to Scott, a pactec guy, who reminded us that we can use R-Drive software (about $45) to make a mirror image of your drive, complete with your program installations and patches. Check it out!

  10. MUSIC VOLUNTEERS NEEDED — Christian music volunteers are needed to teach in a summer music institute in Haiti July 23-August 2, 2005. This one week institute is held each summer to provide music training for Haitian music leaders and potential music leaders for churches and for church planting. The camp is focused on composition of Bible story songs in Haitian Creole using indigenous Haitian musical styles. These songs are used with Chronological Bible Storying in evangelism and church planting throughout Haiti. For more information write:

    dianahaiti(at)skycasters(dot)net [replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .] For more information about this camp go to:

    http://www.geocities.com/dianayiti/index.html

    To view information about the Chronological Bible Story Songs Project go to:

    http://www.geocities.com/dianahaiti/MusicMissionsinHaiti.html


  11. ELIJAH COMPANY MISSIONS TRAINING — This training presents a wide range of issues for anyone going or sending. Special emphasis is on the spiritual and relational aspects of cross culture team work. Trainers are experienced long-term workers from various contexts. The next training camp will be in Virginia from October 28-31, 2004. For a more detailed description write to

    info(at)elijahcompany(dot)org [replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]

    As an alternative, see the web site at

    http://www.elijahcompany.org