In this issue…

  1. SCOTT’S “BEST READS OF 2007”
  2. FLORIDA TENTMAKING COURSE STILL HAS ROOM
  3. TAKING THIS SURVEY WILL HELP MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
  4. EQUIP YOUR MISSION TO BETTER PROTECT KIDS FROM CHILD ABUSE
  5. TAKE PART IN GLOBAL LEARNING CENTER SYMPOSIUM
  6. GET READY, GET SET, THEN GO
  7. HOSPITALITY CENTER ADDS MINI RV PARK
  8. ANOTHER RESOURCE FOR RAISING SUPPORT
  9. FUTURE MISSIONARY FELLOWSHIPS
  10. MOMENTUM MAGAZINE TO FEATURE “STORYING”
  11. WE FEEL SOOOOOOO LOVED AND APPRECIATED!!! :-)
  12. FOUR FINAL DAYS FOR 2007 GIFTS TO ARRIVE: WILL YOURS BE ONE?
  13. THE BACKPAGE: THE DARKER THE SKY, THE BRIGHTER THE GALAXY

    1. SCOTT’S “BEST READS OF 2007” — Back again by popular request is Scott Shaum, of Barnabas, Int’l, with his “Best reads” of the year.

      See his “Best reads” article at:

      https://brigada.org/articles/best-reads-2007.html

      Learn more about the organization with which Scott serves at

      http://www.barnabas.org

      or email him directly

      Barnabas International sshaum(at)barnabas(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with . then reassemble the address onto one line]


    2. FLORIDA TENTMAKING COURSE STILL HAS ROOM — Did you know that GLOBAL Opportunities is celebrating its 10th year in running intensive, hi- impact tentmaking courses? Read on their website what course alumni have to say and then register for the next course in Florida, Feb 20-24 2008. Many say that no tentmaker should leave without this training, and if you are between tentmaking jobs, you should go and refresh your vision by attending. Focused on the core principles and skills for being effective, this course is designed for those considering tentmaking (using profession as mission), those wanting to promote tentmaking, and mission leaders wanting to build a tentmaking component into their agency. Every year, hundreds go overseas as ESL teachers, but how many are equipped to share their faith? If you are considering business as mission, the course provides the key ministry principles you need to be effective. Check out their course outline of 30 plus sessions at

      http://www.globalopps.org/ltn/LTN2008.htm

      You can also contact Dave directly at 239.243.0881 or email him at david(at)globalopps(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with . and reassemble the address onto one line.] GO will donate $5.00 to Brigada for each student that registers from this ad… so if we could just raise up 400 people for this course, we’d be *set*!!! Please go! :-)


    3. TAKING THIS SURVEY WILL HELP MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT — A UK based ministry called Aid for Trade wants to develop on-line training for microenterprise development. They have put together a brief on-line survey to try to discover the needs for this type of assistance among people on the field. It takes between 12 and 15 minutes to fill out. If you have an interest in Business as Mission and few minutes to help out, please go to:

      http://www.internationalsurveys.info/aidfortrade

      to fill out the survey in a secure on-line environment. By the way, they’ll even provide a summary of the results to us here in a future Brigada. Also, if you know of other resource people in this area, they’d appreciate you connecting them with those “in the know” in this arena.


    1. EQUIP YOUR MISSION TO BETTER PROTECT KIDS FROM CHILD ABUSE — In Sept. 2006, leaders from 12 mission organizations met together to explore ways to work together on best practice standards in child safety and abuse response. The result was an intermission Child Safety Network. A second meeting was held in May 2007 involving leaders from 22 organizations. The third Child Safety Meeting is scheduled for February 13-15, 2008 in Rockville (suburb of Richmond), Virginia and is open to new organizations as well as those already involved. The seminar is for leaders of mission agencies and faith-based NGOs and for those with this area of responsibility within their agency. For more information and to register, see The Child Safety and Abuse Response Networking Workshop website at:

      http://intre.org/event/info.php?site=46

      The deadline to register is January 23, 2008. Email further questions to child-safety_intl(at)sil(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with . and reassemble the address back onto one line.]


    2. TAKE PART IN GLOBAL LEARNING CENTER SYMPOSIUM — The annual Global Learning Center Symposium, hosted by Grand Rapids Theological Seminary is February 6-8, 2008. This year’s theme is “21 in 21: 20-somethings and 21st Century Mission.” Through a variety of events, they’ll be exploring what it looks like to engage the emerging generation in global mission. Dr. Bill Taylor of the World Evangelical Alliance will be a plenary speaker as well as some 20-somethings themselves. Check out:

      http://grts.cornerstone.edu/resources/glc/symposium

      or e-mail

      glc(at)cornerstone(dot)edu [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with . and reassemble the address onto one line.]


    3. GET READY, GET SET, THEN GO — The Center for Intercultural Training (CIT) provides a complete, cross-cultural training program in 9-10 weeks that includes culture prep, language acquisition, and team and relationships skills. A shorter program is also available that includes culture prep and language acquisition. Training is available for the entire family during this upcoming spring term (begins February 13). Bible Intensives are offered during the summer months. A Debrief and Reentry module is also offered twice annually. For more information, call 800.887.1786 in the USA or visit

      http://www.cit-online.org


    1. HOSPITALITY center — closed

    2. ANOTHER RESOURCE FOR RAISING SUPPORT — As the first wave of missionaries came through Kingdom Come Training partnership development courses in 2007; they became increasingly aware of the need to give ongoing assistance to people raising support for ministry. For 2008 they’ve announced the Support Assist Team. The “Team” consists of KCT and those who take the training via live, interactive multipoint videoconferencing. KCT provides the training plus ongoing encouragement, coaching, consulting and practical support. The rest of the team stays in touch, reports progress, shares prayer needs and reports back on what works what doesn’t. Everyone celebrates when someone reaches 100% support. It all gets coordinated through e-mail and the KCT website. Give Jerry a call at (503) 314-7211. 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 . then reassemble the address onto one line] or browse to

      http://www.kingdomcometraining.com


    3. FUTURE MISSIONARY FELLOWSHIPS — During the next 60 days, discussion groups will be meeting at 16 locations across the USA both to learn about and critique the idea of pre-candidate fellowships before introducing them broadly in the USA (the concept has been tested and developed in Korea since 2001). To learn more about this ministry concept see the website:

      http://www.seeoursite.org/pcf/

      There you’ll find the list of cities hosting these discussion groups. If you would like to participate in one of the discussion groups please write to: pcfquestions(at)gmail(dot)com [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with . then reassemble the address onto one line.]


    4. MOMENTUM MAGAZINE TO FEATURE “STORYING” — The January/February 2008 issue of Momentum will focus on Orality. Justin is looking for… – resources for teaching orality – dates for workshops, conferences, etc. – statistics related to orality – articles surveying orality ministries in particular regions – a chronology of the development of orality ministry – frequently asked questions you have encountered – short (1-2 page) case studies written in a popularized style

      If you can help with those or other possible ideas,

      editor(at)momentum-mag(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with . then reassemble the address onto one line.]


    5. WE FEEL SOOOOOOO LOVED AND APPRECIATED!!! :-) — Thanks to these visionary friends that have, through their partnership, propelled Brigada Today into 2008:

      $100 from a new friend in Tallahassee $25 from the good people at Florida Personal Injury Law

      http://www.fortheinjured.com/

      $100 from a friend in Menlo Park, CA $100 from Perspectives Atlanta, GA $50 from long-time subscriber Diana, author of Adventures With PawPaw children’s books designed to introduce children to other countries and cultures, on the web at:

      http://www.adventureswithpawpaw.com

      $100 from Mission Mobilisers International Inc. in Australia

      http://www.mobilise.org.au

      $25 from Reignbridge, featuring Fawn’s book “Power of Honor” $25 from a great friend in the UK $250 from a Sunnyville, CA couple. Shew. How can we say thanks enough? $50 from Women of the Harvest. Please check them out at…

      http://www.womenoftheharvest.com

      (Whoa… great website. Pubs, retreats, resources, well-organized, sharp! Clean… Even if you’re not a woman, check it out to learn from it! :-) )

      $25 from Mission Indep. Bap. Church in Chicago. $25 from a faithful friend in Colorado Springs $300 from Youth With a Mission, Lebanon, PA… Whoa. Praise God. $50 from new friends in Massachusetts $100 from a faithful friend in Sweden $500 from great new friends in the UK! Woooo-hoooo! :-) $200 from Peninsula Bible Church in Cupertino, CA! Amazing. $50 from Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship, Birmingham, AL $25 from Somerset, KY $25 from West Chester, PA $35 from Ukraine $100 from a member of the Board of Missions, Cumberland Pres. Church. $100 from Mission Nannys; take a look at their growth…

      http://www.missionnannys.org

      Up to 2001, only 22 volunteers had been sent out. Since then, the number has jumped to 90 with 14 going out last year alone. (They’re looking for more women volunteers 18-75 willing to go in 2008, by the way. Families need domestic assistance, homeschooling help, etc. for 3-6 months. Check the web or email bettysullins(at)juno(dot)com [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with . and reassemble the address onto one line.]

      To all these folks and to all those who pray for Brigada, thank you for a *fantastic* last week! Only 4 more days to go for 2007 gifts. (Recall that we’re counting for 2007 gifts that come in through Jan. 10th.)


    6. FOUR FINAL DAYS FOR 2007 GIFTS TO ARRIVE: WILL YOURS BE ONE? — Whoa… So, with the $2360 that has come in since last edition, we stand at (drum roll) $13,918.90 for the year, just $3231.10 away from reaching the budget we had published in January, 2007! So … if you were holding out on writing that $3000 check, just to see who else gave… :-) now would be a great time to give. :-) Or… even if you only had in mind a PayPal donation of $25. It would *still* be a great time. We’re also just $1177.10 away from matching last year’s finish. Who would have believed it!!!

      For those who mail in checks, we’re waiting until Jan. 10th… (because one could have written out a check on Dec. 31st, mailed it, and we might not see it for a few days). So … to be fair… we’ll count PayPal gifts toward 2007 needs all the way up through Jan. 10, 2008. As a result, all is not lost! :-) Even though we’re only standing at $11,558.90, we still have time to try to make our 2007 budget needs of $17,150. To pull this off, we only need exactly 50 more people, groups, or churches to step up to the plate. Just *one* courageous soul would need to give $1000, 3 more would need to give $250, 14 more for $50, and 32 more gifts of $25 in order to meet our 2007 needs. Here’s the summary chart to meet those 2007 ministry needs:

      1 more gift of $1000 3 more gifts of $250 14 more gifts of $50 32 more gifts of $25

      Gulp. The final yard. Would you pray with us that everyone who *can* *will* step forward? Thanks. By the way, if you decide to send a check on the 10th, just date it Dec. 31st, then drop us an email to let us know it’s coming. No need to express mail it or anything. Anything arriving, unannounced, after the 10th, will be treated toward 2008’s ministry needs. Thanks again for the amazing energy boost!

      Just click on “Donate“. You can make a gift from your PayPal account or from any major credit card. Or if you prefer, you can 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.


  1. THE BACKPAGE: THE DARKER THE SKY, THE BRIGHTER THE GALAXY — I recently had the chance to drive to the top of a very tall & remote mountain (13,796 feet above sea level). I was amazed by the views it afforded, especially at night, when it grew very dark. And I do mean *dark*. (Since we were hours from the nearest city, it was a case of *extreme* darkness.) Stars were everywhere. I wrote in my journal, “I don’t deserve to behold this majesty. It’s so quiet up here, except for the stars… and they seem to be *singing* glory to their creator!” No matter which direction I looked, I could see deep space objects with the naked eye. And when I looked at any given point in the sky with my binocular, I would see *dozens* of galaxies, clusters, and nebulae in seemingly every field of view. What impressed me most was how *clear* these objects were. You see, when it comes to astronomy, the darker the sky, the more visible the dimmest glows.

    I’ve noticed a similar phenomenon with missionaries. For example, in times of great financial need or hardship, the smallest gift can appear as a very bright spot in an otherwise very dark month. So please don’t ever forget — your gift of prayer and finances can be *the* difference- maker in inspiring your favorite worker to keep shining brightly in areas of bleak spiritual darkness. Thank you for your support & sacrifice for those working around the world. Thank you for making their work possible through your partnership and vision.

    To those serving internationally, there is one more meaning that occurred to me. Sometimes it is in the midst of hardship that we come to experience the glow of God’s love & care most prominently? Yes, you’ve left family, friends, and grandparents. So in the midst of this darkness, we pray that God can cause a glow in your heart like you’ve never felt before… as long as you’re looking for him and giving him *place*. Give God place in your own heart. Search for him. He’ll glow for you again too.