20051030 Brigada Today

In this issue…

1. CROSS CULTURAL MISSIONS TRAINING IN DOWN UNDER
2. ARE YOU GETTING 2 BRIGADAS?
3. MISSION NETWORK NEWS
4. COMPUTER ASSISTANCE COMING TO THAILAND
5. RESISTANT PHILOSOPHER
6. LEGAL & TAX INFO FOR RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS
7. CONFERENCE PLANNED: “PARTNERSHIPS THAT TRANSFORM”
8. LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO POST YOUR PICTURES?
9. COMPUTER ASSISTANCE
10. PRAISE THE LORD FOR PARTNERS
11. THE BACK PAGE: LONGING TO SEE MORE “DIRK & ALs”
12. CLOSING STUFF

1. CROSS CULTURAL MISSIONS TRAINING IN DOWN UNDER — Are you interested in Cross Cultural Missions Training? Wilcannia River of Life is hosting an Effective Aboriginal Ministry Seminar/Convention in Wilcannia, NSW, Australia from November 22nd-27th inclusive. Training in all aspects of ministry, especially amongst the Australian Aboriginies. For further information, log on to: http://www.wilcanniariveroflife.com or contact Pastor Scott Lamshed wilcanniariveroflife(at)bigpond(dot)com
2. ARE YOU GETTING 2 BRIGADAS? — No worries. It’s easy to fix. Just take note of which one arrives first. (The originating address will either be YahooGroups or Googlegroups.) Unsubscribe from the *slower* service by using the unsubscribe information in the “Closing stuff” below. You shouldn’t have to see 2 of those come in each month. These dual Brigadas resulted from our switch over to GoogleGroups, which helped dozens, if not *hundreds* of Brigada subscribers start seeing Brigada again. (For some reason, it seems that YahooGroups sometimes *loses* or stops sending to certain addresses.) The loose end is — pick the service you want to lose [the 2nd email you receive?], then follow the instructions in the “closing stuff” below to unsubscribe. Thanks!
3. MISSIONS NETWORK NEWS — Mission Network News is now available in four languages. MNN is a mission news service. Their goal is to share headline news with a twist. They always answer the question, “How is God using this to draw people to Himself?” MNN wants to get people out of the pew and involved in Great Commission outreach. While MNN is on the air on more than 900 radio stations in 31 countries in English, Romanian and Russian, they also have a website where the radio broadcast scripts are translated into Romanian, Russian and now Spanish. These translations will allow even more Christians to be encouraged to get out of their comfort zone and more involved in outreach. It helps Christians stay plugged in to missions so they can pray more effectively, give to key ministries and go on mission trips either short term or full time. If you’d like to see a sample of MNN’s translations go to http://www.MNNonline.org/translations
4. COMPUTER ASSISTANCE COMING TO THAILAND — A small team will be in Chiang Mai, Thailand January 20-30 with the aim of providing computer assistance to workers visiting the city for conferences being held in the area. Arrangements are in place to help a couple of conferences, although the team could handle 1 or 2 more. Conference coordinators should contact David at ithelp(at)crosscape(dot)com(dot)au [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
5. RESISTANT PHILOSOPHER –Every culture has its philosophers and thinkers. On a research trip to the Mbalantu people (Of Northern Namibia In Africa), two believers encountered a man named P. He would not listen to the Gospel. He bombarded them with questions and opposition to their presence. Pray that the Lord would open P.’s eyes to the truth and save him. His influence could be used to bring many Mbalantu to Jesus. Pray for the Lord to build prayer support and call missionaries for the Mbalantu, an unengaged people. To adopt the Mbalantu people for prayer or for more information, please visit http://www.forgottenpeoples.info or email sf_swac(at)altonet(dot)co(dot)za [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
6. LEGAL & TAX INFO FOR RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS — The latest issue of Nonprofit and Church Legal Trends Memo is now online. Some items: How much private benefit can you have before your organization is no longer exempt? Non-clergy employees of religious organizations can sue for civil rights violations. Religious school can fire a teacher for advocating abortion. Supreme Court ruling might lead to more eminent domain land grabs of tax-exempt organizations. Volunteer Protection Acts are not a complete shield from liability. INS improperly denied a religious organization’s application for a religious worker visa. Some ministry expenses must be allocated to non-taxable housing allowance so are not 100% deductible. A part of each paid subscription goes to Brigada. Check out more at http://www.npchurchlaw.com or email info(at)npchurchlaw(dot)com [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .] Make sure you type “Brigada” in the “How did you hear about us” field.
7. CONFERENCE PLANNED: “PARTNERSHIPS THAT TRANSFORM” — The 2006 COSIM conference has been scheduled for June 12-14, 2006 at the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. The theme is, “Partnerships that Transform: Here and There.” COSIM stands for Coalition on the Support of Indigenous Ministries. The conference, which is COSIM’s tenth annual, has this vision: Help participants understand how the practice of cross-cultural partnerships between ministries in the West and those in the developing world can bring biblical transformation, individually and corporately, to to all the partners involved. Details about registration and costs are forthcoming. To learn more, download a one-page fact sheet at: http://www.cosimtnet.org. Or write to werner(at)mission1(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
8. LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO POST YOUR PICTURES? — I’m still partial to Snapfish: http://www.snapfish.com It’s easy, it’s free, and USA viewers can order copies of the pictures with all the ease in the world — at the low-low price of $12 cents each when you have them shipped from the site. There are no editing controls, but you could edit before you upload. What’s more, if you live in the U.S., you can do a one-hour service with your neighborhood Walgreens and pick them up locally. There are plenty of other services out there (most of them charge a small fee), but to me, none surpass the smooth ease of use that Snapfish provides. Since it was recently acquired by Hewlett-Packard, it seems destined to continue its legacy and move forward into the future with promise. And if you don’t live in the USA, you can still enjoy a great picture-posting site.
9. COMPUTER ASSISTANCE — A small team will be in Chiang Mai, Thailand January 20-30 with the aim of providing computer assistance to workers visiting the city for conferences being held in the area. Arrangements are in place to help a couple of conferences, although the team could handle 1 or 2 more. Conference coordinators should contact David at ithelp(at)crosscape(dot)com(dot)au [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
10. PRAISE THE LORD FOR PARTNERS — Thanks to the anonymous new partner who send the gift of $30 to help us stay at this. This donor gave similarly last year. We appreciate those who undergird our expenses and thus propel Brigada forward into the future. Want to be a part of those who invest in the future? Just click on “sponsor” in the top menu (to use PayPal or a credit card), or just send a check payable to Team Expansion to: Team Expansion (Brigada secretary), 13711 Willow Reed Dr., Louisville, KY 40299. 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 be anonymous.
11. THE BACK PAGE: LONGING TO SEE MORE “DIRK & ALs” — Lately I’ve been enjoying the movie, _Sahara_. The plot’s interesting (though far out), the characters make it a fun ride, and the comedy/timing is, at times, hilarious. But maybe what attracted me most to the movie is the great relationship between the star and his right-hand man (Dirk and Al). For some reason, it feels like the “Lone Ranger & Tonto” duos have become all too few and far between these days. Dirk & Al recover it. How ’bout you? Got a chance to create that “Bonny & Clyde” partnership with someone? If so, don’t pass it up. Work on it today… and enjoy the camaraderie. Want to see a fun example? Rent “Sahara” and use it as a key part of your next team meeting or luncheon. Note the way the actors have different gifts, different styles of thinking. Remember the place where Al says “I just wondered when we’re going to modify our decision- making paradigm”? I laugh and laugh . . . because that *soooo* typifies the struggle with some people (maybe a visionary leader like Dirk) when they try to march forward in spite of the fact that the team doesn’t have all the information, is short on resources, and is, in fact, kind of clueless as to how to really accomplish the mission. When the team member (“Al”) questions the direction, Dirk responds, “Seems like it’s working pretty well for us so far.” Love it.