In this issue…

  1. GOOGLE FROM YOUR CELL PHONE OR PDA
  2. CHECK OUT YOUR PRIORITIES
  3. 24 MISSIONS LESSONS FOR CHILDREN
  4. CYBERMISSIONS TRAINING
  5. WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT HELP
  6. REPORT ON DONOR MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
  7. BEST CAMCORDER
  8. ADVOCACY NEEDED?
  9. VOICE OVER IP STILL A GOOD DEAL
  10. DETERMINED TO EVANGELIZE TO STUDENTS
  11. THANKS TO OUR FAITHFUL DONORS…
  12. YOUR HELP MAKES BRIGADA GO AROUND THE WORLD
  13. IDENTIFY THE SPECTRUM, THEN CHOOSE YOUR SPREAD
  14. CLOSING STUFF
  1. GOOGLE FROM YOUR CELL PHONE OR PDA — Lately I’ve been trying out Google’s SMS service. It works through text messaging from your cell phone. First things first — make sure you won’t be charged per SMS. (Many accounts now have unlimited SMSes.) Then just send whatever query you would have typed in at Google.com — only text message it to this number: 46645. Your results will come back momentarily. Grab a movie timetable, a phone listing, an address, convert currency, … the results are practically endless. Best of all, it’s totally free (if SMSes are free on your cell account). Learn more at:

    http://www.google.com/sms

  2. CHECK OUT YOUR PRIORITIES — I know you’ve probably tried out the Steven Covey stuff before, but every once and awhile, I find that it’s helpful to review it. Now, they have so many helps online, it’s pretty much a new day for their stuff anyway. Start at… http://www.FranklinCovey.com then download the application (try it out for free for a month). Then walk through the library… http://www.franklincovey.com/fc/library_and_resources Get in the habit of using the application so you’ll be forced to think in terms of “mission”, roles, and goals again. After the 30 days, figure out your own system again using whatever tools you wish, but with renewed appreciation for the “top-down” planning approach.
  3. 24 MISSIONS LESSONS FOR CHILDREN — Backpack Missions is an easy, exciting, and effective strategy for teaching Great Commission principles to children in any church. Backpack Missions is comprised of simple mission object lessons presented by a world trekking backpacker character, “Backpack Andy” [or personalize with your own name] who teaches a missions lesson using objects taken from his backpack. Backpack Missions is drop-in mission education and awareness covering international and North American missions. Some Southern Baptist-specific elements can be easily adapted to your own affiliation. Provided free by the North American Mission Board online at http://namb.net/backpack
  4. CYBERMISSIONS TRAINING — The next series of distance learning courses for using the web and IT for evangelism are set for July- September: Cybermissions 101 (Theory) – Monday July 17th 2006 Cybermissions 102 (Practice) – Monday September 18th 2006 Cybermissions 103 (Internet Cafes) – Monday September 18th 2006

    http://www.cybermissions.org/training/

  5. WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT HELP — LongviewNET http://www.longviewnet.com provides web site development and management services for ministries, missionaries, small businesses and organizations. The folks behind LongviewNET are themselves missionaries who use proceeds from LongviewNET to help underwrite their own personal ministry support as a tent-making effort to serve others for the cause of Christ. LongviewNET is a full-service solution provider: web sites, domain names, blogs, hosting and more. Mention Brigada when you enter into an agreement for web site development and management with LongviewNET and 20% of your agreement amount will go directly to Brigada!
  6. REPORT ON DONOR MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE — Wondering which donor management software packages came to light in our recent survey? John, at The Mission Station, wrote, “There were a total of 15 respondents. Some use(d) more than one package. No one package had more than two users. There were a total of 5 respondents using HomeGrown packages (including MS Access/Excel) on both DOS and Windows platforms. The package currently in use with 2 users was TntMPD for Windows. The packages that had a single user were Logos, Fundraiser Software, Donor Manager, DonorQuest, NewViews, Church Missions, Blackbaud’s Raisers Edge, Quick Books – Non-Profit, and Quick Books – Standard. All the single packages also ran on Windows platforms of some form.

    There were 4 respondents who indicated that they were presently evaluating Quick Books – Non-Proft, but had not come to any conclusions yet. Overall, the homegrown applications were not well viewed, yet had some customized features that were missed with other “out-of-the-box” packages. The applications that received favorable recommendations were Fundraiser Software, Donor Manager, DonorQuest, ChurchMissions, Raisers Edge, and TntMPD. Finally, the cost of these packages ranges from FREE to over $3000.00 USD.” John will make sure all of these are incorporated into his Missions Database for all to access at: http://www.missionaries.org

  7. BEST CAMCORDER — Got an opinion about which camcorder gives the best value for the money . . . quality, versatility, compactness, still and video in one. What do you think? Just send your note to: brigada-feedback(at)googlegroups(dot)com There’s no need to join the egroup. It’ll accept your email without being a part. Later, we’ll sum up the responses there and report back in Brigada.
  8. ADVOCACY NEEDED? — Brendan would like some feedback on the viability of establishing a new missions advocacy ministry to promote small, lesser known international missions ministries. Is there a need for this type of ministry and/or are there others out there already doing this on a general (i.e. inter/non-denominational) basis? Please send your thoughts to Brendan advocate(at)pobox(dot)com
  9. VOICE OVER IP STILL A GOOD DEAL — For those willing to experiment with Voice Over IP, Oliver says the frontier is still a good deal. He’s been exploring it for almost a year… He concludes that free calls are more limited now — about 300 min/week and the 10 free EUR are valid for 120 days. He suggests using them on destinations which aren’t free. He also advises that the country lists change without notice, so beware. He says these sites all basically list different deals for the same country:

    http://www.netappel.fr/fr/index.

    html http://www.voipbuster.com/en/index.html

    http://www.voipcheap.co.uk/en/download.html

    http://www.sparvoip.de/de/customerservices.html

    http://www.internetcalls.com/en/index.html

    http://www.voipdiscount.com/en/index.html

    http://www.webcalldirect.com/en/index.php

    http://www.poivy.com

    (Thanks Oliver!)

  10. DETERMINED TO EVANGELIZE TO STUDENTS — The Student Christian Organisation (A Malawian locally based interdenominational organisation – SCOM) has seen a tremendous membership growth over the years. Focused to preach the gospel to secondary/high school students, it was established in 1962. Started with only a few members, now membership has grown to thousands and while conferences were held by few individuals now attendance is in hundreds. The organisation has now managed to establish a weekly devotional email called ‘FEED THE FLOCK’ to all interested subscribers. To subscribe send a blank email to feedtheflock_admin(at)christianemailservice(dot)com with subscribe as the subject. You can also access through the web at

    http://trinityzone.org/scomministry/devotions.html . To learn more about the background and the activities of SCOM visit

    http://www.surrender.nl/scom

  11. THANKS TO OUR FAITHFUL DONORS… — We’re grateful to DialAbroad… http://www.dial-abroad.org/brigada.htm for sending $71 this past week to boost our work. Again, if you’ve thought about changing phone services, or if you have to move and pick a carrier anyway, please consider Dial-Abroad as a prime option. They’ll give you the best deal . . . and help Brigada too.
  12. YOUR HELP MAKES BRIGADA GO AROUND THE WORLD — Want to help Brigada spread the news about missions resources, unreached peoples, outreach conferences, and the latest trends in missions all around the world? Just go to

    https://brigada.org

    and click on “sponsor” in the top menu (to use PayPal or a credit card), or if you prefer, 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. In any case, thanks for considering Brigada in your estate giving, your monthly church missions fund, and/or your own personal giving for this calendar year.

  13. IDENTIFY THE SPECTRUM, THEN CHOOSE YOUR SPREAD — Have you noticed how broad the spectrum is getting when it comes to local churches and missions outreach? For missionaries, the landscape has gotten pretty complex lately. Some churches have gotten to the point that they no longer will support “independent” (individual) missionaries. They want all their missionaries to be affiliated with an organization that will help them stay on task and accountable, financially and otherwise. Meanwhile, there are still other churches who almost resent the role of an agency. (They are, in effect, gradually becoming their own agency.) In between is a complex continuum of all the blended mixtures.

    So what’s a missionary to do? Well for what it’s worth, here’s my take: First, when approaching any new situation, you have to use the same principles that you were taught to use when you crossed into another culture. Second, my own opinion is — it’s not our role to try to *change* the church to fit our own opinions (in the same manner that it wasn’t our role to change the culture to fit our expectations). The key is to have a relevant message . . . a relevant *mode* for each context. Once you become irrelevant, you’ve lost touch with that portion of the spectrum. (So get relevant.)

    Next week, we’ll address the spectrum faced by Brigada participants working in local churches. Shew. They face a jungle too. We all do. So be careful out there.

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