- TRY AIRSET.COM FOR COLLABORATION/COMMUNICATION
- NEW BOOK GIVES INSIGHT INTO A MUSLIM-TO-CHRISTIAN CONVERSION
- EQUIP YOURSELF OR YOUR TEAM TO RAISE THEIR FULL SUPPORT
- NOT TOO LATE TO USE INTERNET EVANGELISM DAY
- LOTS OF FEEDBACK ON INITIATIVE 360
- FOR THE MUSICALLY GIFTED
- WEST COAST HEALTHCARE MISSIONS CONFERENCE
- NEW BOOK ON SUPPORT-RAISING
- NEED HEALTH INSURANCE FOR YOUR MISSIONARY?
- THE UNENGAGED PEOPLES OF NAMIBIA
- WOULD YOU CONSIDER SENDING A GIFT TO ENCOURAGE BRIGADA?
- THE BACKPAGE: MORE COOL TOOLS FOR MISSIONARIES
- CLOSING STUFF
- TRY AIRSET.COM FOR COLLABORATION/COMMUNICATION — Lately, a few of us have been trying out the collaborative site…
Granted, it’s not a perfect world, and it’ll only work for you if web access is fairly cheap, but it’s got a lot going for it:
*** It’s free (if your web time is “all-you-can-eat”). :-)
*** It allows easy access to a file storage area. Use it to pool your team’s strategic planning and/or policy documents.
*** You can log in via the secure (https:) gateway, which should especially appeal to those in sensitive lands. (on the far upper-right is a link titled “Secure”) What’s more, in talks with insiders at Airset, I learned that all user data is stored encrypted in their database so even in the unlikely event a hacker managed to breach their firewalls and dump their database they would only get encrypted files.
*** Those in the USA with cell phones (e.g., mission agency-types) could especially profit from the sms distribution-list approach. They sell a mobile client for “smart-phones.” That would *really* be cool for those who live by their PDAs.
*** The collaborative calendar would help those with trouble merging their personal life (kids’ soccer games) with work life (meetings).
*** Sharing contacts should help those who previously were working only in separate flat file databases like Microsoft Outlook.
*** Work groups should appreciate the ability to share tasks and other lists — and update them corporately via the web.So give it a try. No credit cards needed. Word for the wise: Be sure to check first before assuming that others will want to receive SMSes. Don’t make the same mistake I did — *ask* permission before entering cell phone numbers. AirSet will try to SMS them without you even knowing it.
- NEW BOOK GIVES INSIGHT INTO A MUSLIM-TO-CHRISTIAN CONVERSION — Torn between his desire to please his family and his belief in Christ, a Fulani youth has to make a choice. Does he understand the impact it will have on his relationships, his community, his future? Will he be able to hold on while others try to make him let go? Based on a true story, “Mamane’s Journey” gives a first-hand perspective on the value of Christian missions today. The pre-publishing price available until May 15 at
- EQUIP YOURSELF OR YOUR TEAM TO RAISE THEIR FULL SUPPORT — Raising support doesn’t have to be a terrifying ordeal and it doesn’t need to take two or three years. Kingdom Come Training can help you to make raising support a joy-filled ministry that blesses the church and connects believers with a primary purpose for their existence, being the expression of Christ to the nations. KCT provides training with live, interactive video conferencing. If you have a group of six to eight participants, KCT will send a professional video conferencing unit that plugs into high speed internet. If you can’t join with a group, they will send you a laptop with professional webcam and video conferencing software so you can join with others in live, multipoint sessions that work as if you were all in the same room together. The training takes an hour and a half a day, four days a week for three weeks. The goal is to build confidence in communication and relational ministry skills that apply not only to raising support, but to all aspects of ministry. Give Jerry a call in the USA at (503) 314-7211 or log on at
http://www.kingdomcometraining.com
or email jerry(at)kingdomcometraining(dot)com [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
- NOT TOO LATE TO USE INTERNET EVANGELISM DAY — 29 April is this year’s worldwide Internet Evangelism Day. The purpose is to demonstrate to Christians the big potential to use the Web for effective outreach. It’s probably too late for mission teams or churches to build special programs, but it’s a great time to sample what’s already out there. Use this as one possible starting point:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/index.php
(Thanks Tony!)
- LOTS OF FEEDBACK ON INITIATIVE 360 — I keep getting feedback regarding those “Backpage” items dealing with the dissolving of Initiative 360, Caleb Project, and ACMC. To be fair, several responses have underscored the time and prayer that the board invested in their decision-making process, much of which was behind closed doors, just as we imagined. I continue to emphasize with everyone how important it is to grant grace to leaders in the midst of difficult transitions. That applies both to staff leadership and board leadership.
- FOR THE MUSICALLY GIFTED — Now you can get a “Global Consultation on Music and Missions 2006 Audio DVD”, which includes all the spoken presentations plus Atilano Muradas in concert. You can purchase this disc by credit card at
- WEST COAST HEALTHCARE MISSIONS CONFERENCE — It’s happening August 3- 4, 2007, the 4th annual conference in Pasadena for those interested in healthcare, missions, or touching lives through medicine. Conference tracks include Clinical Practice, Urban Health, Student opportunities, International needs, Short-term Healthcare Missions, and Psychology. CME/CEU hours are offered. 25 outstanding faculty including Time Magazine Healthcare Man of the Year, Dr Peter Okaalet. Pre-conference (August 2) focuses on Restoring Wholeness to At-Risk Children. For more information:
or call: (626) 584-5339.
- NEW BOOK ON SUPPORT-RAISING — Dr. Paul Johnson, with over 20 years of experience in teaching and consulting missionaries, tells his own story of struggle. But that’s just the first chapter. He also explodes the myth of living by faith alone, and presents a Biblical basis for financing a Christian worker, a practical model, and practical ideas spinning off that model. The title of the book is “More Than Money, More Than Faith; Successfully Raising Missionary Support in the Twenty-first Century.” It is available through Amazon.com, at Barnes and Noble, and at the publisher’s own web site: Pleasant Word. At Amazon.com, type in the first three words of the book title in the search box. At Pleasant Word, go to “Book Store.” Paul Johnson’s e-mail address is: paulswro_johnson(at)wycliffe(dot)org. Paul can be reached at 1-800-362- 4253 – California time – business hours 8:30 to 4:30.
- NEED HEALTH INSURANCE FOR YOUR MISSIONARY? — A good international health insurance plan for the career worker that excludes coverage in the USA and Canada is now available. Excluding coverage in the USA and Canada can reduce rates by as much as 33%. The plan can also exclude maternity coverage which reduces the rates another 30%. If you are working in or near a country that provides good health care, an insurance plan excluding coverage in the USA and Canada could provide substantial saving. For more information contact jeff(at)gninsurance(dot)com or call 480/813-9100. [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .] Toll free in USA: 866/636-9100. Or visit
- THE UNENGAGED PEOPLES OF NAMIBIA — This month is an exciting time as six Christian workers will be traveling to Nambia to visit the areas where the Forgooten Peoples live. Please remember to pray for them. Pray for their safety in travel. Most of all pray for the guidance and leading from the Lord, as they seek to target areas of possible work. Pray for the possibility of future work and planting of the seed of the Gospel in the homelands of the Nama/Damara, the Herero, the Mbalantu and the Namibian Coloured. Pray that hearts will be open to receive the Good News. Pray for God to call workers either as volunteer teams, short-term workers or long term missionaries to live and work with these unengaged peoples for prayer visit
http://www.forgottenpeoples.info or contact
forgottenpeoples(at)telkomsa(dot)net for more information.
- WOULD YOU CONSIDER SENDING A GIFT TO ENCOURAGE BRIGADA? — Would you consider setting the pace for others? Maybe if you send a gift of $50 to Brigada, others will follow. Just click on “Sponsor/Donate” 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. (Team Expansion is a 501(c)3 incorporation so for USA citizens, your checks made out to Team Expansion are tax-deductible.) 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. And thank you in advance for helping.
- THE BACKPAGE: MORE COOL TOOLS FOR MISSIONARIES — #1: Beat jet lag (Sleep East, Party West, Gear up to sleep, Herd your kids) #2: Get your own mosquito tent (for malaria-infested areas) #3: Insist on AC adaptors that don’t require converters/transformers #4: Rent or buy a “worldphone”, satphone, and/or sat modem #5: Pack by checklist, pack light #6: Use roller bags #7: Bring a filtered water bottle
Add to that list… #8: Carry a thin notebook & a pen, write everything down — Get in the habit of making good notes. The notebook has to be thin enough to stick in your shirt pocket or hip pocket, so you always have it with you. Do a section for finances. Write down every expense, make note of every currency exchange, including the commission and the exchange rate. Do another section for language learning. Jot down words you want to learn to say, words you can’t quite understand, whole text phrases you want to memorize, etc. Depending on the stage of your work, you might want other sections for interviews & cultural lessons, another for prayer requests & praises & devotional thoughts, another section for contacts & addresses & people with whom you’d like to follow up.
#9: Use a moneybelt — Desperate people do desperate things. Until the entire world is completely satisfied with every basic human need, you and your belongings will stil be a target. Keep your credit cards & your cash in there.
#10: Try a photographer’s vest — I realize this might or might not be your style. But at least consider it. Get breathable cotton, with 15 or more pockets. It becomes a walking, incognito extra carry-on. On one occasion recently, a cultural “insider” had said he could only take 2 people with him into a Muslim area. I volunteered to stay back and let two others go, but he insisted that I could too, in addition to the other 2 visitors, because he said, as he threw a glance at my vest, “He’ll look like a professional journalist anyway.” My camera fits in one pocket, while in others, I can insert a lightweight mini-tripod, a small flashlight, hand sanitizer, passport (in a protected, waterproof pocket), some artificial tears, and everything else you like to carry along. You should be able to find these online for $50, and in a large camera specialty store for $70. Obviously, the advantage of the latter is that you can try them on. Stick to khaki. The black vests seem a bit too paramilitary for my tastes.
Watch next time for more cool tools for travel and missions.
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