As this Brigada heads out the door, it’s just a few days until Christmas. What a crazy year (again), right? A super-typhoon on an island in the Philippines (one of our best friends works there), a mass evacuation from Afghanistan (some of our best friends labor there), and — oh – then there’s the pandemic (many of our best friends are currently recovering from Covid-19; I bet yours are too). Drug overdose deaths are up 30%. Conflict abounds. And, dare we say, hope seems to be in short supply – in the world.

But for those who believe, there is still Good News.

Just a few nights ago, while studying the Bible with a half-dozen Afghans, Pakistanis, and Koreans, we were focusing on Luke 2. It was so fun to see people from multiple languages engaging about this timeless story of hope. One participant highlighted Luke 2:10, in which the angel says, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” Think about it. In many ways, those three words sum up the Christmas story – and they also remind us of why we all serve this Great Commission mandate. As this year draws to a close, we are reminded all the more of your advocacy and partnership for the work of Team Expansion throughout the world. Thank you for your shared vision for “good, great, and all!” Remember — never, ever lose hope.

This past week, friends of Brigada became our heroes. No, we didn’t reach our goal. But gifts throughout 2021 now total exactly $8,900. Would you consider joining their number – in Jesus’ Name – for the sake of the Great Commission, to help encourage, inform, and empower Good News of Great Joy to All People? If so, just click to https://brigada.org/empower-brigada. There are just a few days left in 2021 to chip in to our costs of running a dedicated web server, paying Amazon Web Services for email delivery costs for thousands of recipients every week, and to help cover the costs of our part-time assistant, Gail. Would you want to consider it on behalf of someone who can’t? Or maybe ask your church missions committee if they would consider chipping in something from any left-over funds from the end of the year? If so, we’d be very grateful. Our annual goal for the last 20 years has been $17,000/year. We have a long ways to go.