Now with 4962 participants – Incredible!!!! What are you all doing out there!!! Can we hit 5000 by March 21st (our 2-year-old birthday)???? Duh!!! You all grew by 110 in one week!
News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
Visit Brigada on WorldWide Web: http://www.xc.org/brigada
[Pass this issue to a friend! To subscribe, see instructions at end.]
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In this issue….
* YOU GUYS NEVER CEASE TO AMAZE ME
* [DRUM ROLL PLEASE] – FEATURING THE LATEST/GREATEST DATA PROJECTORS
* FROM THE “GET WITH THE PROGRAM, DOUG” DEPARTMENT
* YES VIRGINIA – THERE IS AN EMAIL-TO-MAIL SERVICE!!!
* LOOKING FOR A TOP BANANA TROPICAL HEALTH COURSE?
* CALLING ALL SHIPPERS
* ACMC & TEAM EXPANSION ON THE MOVE
* DO WE ANSWER EVERY LETTER?
* IF YOU GET A COPY OF AN FCC PETITION P.M. 2493
* CONFERENCE-WATCH
* HUB-CAPS
* IN THE WORKS FOR NEXT WEEK…
* PRAY FOR INDONESIA
* ON THE HUNT FOR COMIBAM
* SUPPOSE A UN WORKER WANTS TO BE NETWORKED WITH OTHER TENTMAKERS…
* SPEAK WITH YOUR HANDS (ASL) OR WISH YOU DID???
* AND NOW FROM THE HOME OFFICE, THIS WEEK’S ‘DID YOU KNOW?’
* WEB-WATCH
* ADVANCE! IS ADVANCED
* CHURCH ADOPTIONS – LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
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YOU GUYS NEVER CEASE TO AMAZE ME
Thanks to everyone, one and all, that has shared a Brigada Today with a friend. We are within 38 addresses of hitting the 5000 mark in time for our March 21st “two-year birthday.” One reader wrote, ” Thanks for running the article about the missions data base CD in Brigada Today a few weeks ago. The response was absolutely overwhelming. The first day I got about 90 Email inquiries, and they are still coming in, now about two a day. I have shipped about 125 CDs to countries all over the world, probably over 50 different countries, Brigada has an impressively wide distribution. Responses that I’m getting back now are that are that people that got the CDs are using them, enjoying them, and in particular are thanking us for providing this tool to bless the world missions effort at such a reasonable price.” And remember the appeal for helpers for Patrick Johnstone? The contact person wrote back this week to say that he had received email messages from “a number of VERY good prospects” in response to the appeal.
Thanks for the power of working together as a family that’s concerned about the welfare of the nations!
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[DRUM ROLL PLEASE] – FEATURING THE LATEST/GREATEST DATA PROJECTORS
It’s there for your “getting”. Just send a note to hub@xc.org with only the line
get brigada data-projection
in the text of the message. I think you’ll be helped by these key resources… and if, after reading, you’d like to add others, just send away! Thanks again for taking time to contribute, everyone!
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FROM THE “GET WITH THE PROGRAM, DOUG” DEPARTMENT
Again, sorry I was snoozing last issue – when you use “get” commands, don’t forget to preface the desired file name with the name of the conference in whose archive the file is stored. Thus, my errors “Get german-insurance” & “get hussein.970222” should have been:
get brigada german-insurance
get brigada hussein.970222
Don’t forget to send these to hub@xc.org and not to brigada@brigada.org (i.e., don’t just send those commands as a reply to this message). If you do that, you get the “Wrath of Revis Ann!” :-)
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YES VIRGINIA – THERE IS AN EMAIL-TO-MAIL SERVICE!!!
Last week we mentioned Wayne, the Brigada participant who wished for a more cost-effective way to perform email-to-mail conversions (see Feb. 21 issue, #6) “TIME TO RE-VISIT EMAIL TO MAIL CONVERSION PROGRAMS”). Well Wayne, to my absolute surprise (and in praise to the Lord!), there is an answer! … It’s Mission Prayer and Praise Publishing and the operative guy – the main man – is Bill Behrmann mpppub@connecti.com. Bill asks for a one-time fee of 25 cents up front to type the name into a program he’s got and from then on (can you believe this guy?), he asks that you only cover the cost of the stamp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) (Get this. He even apologized that he asked for the cost of the stamp! “I have only my SS and what I earn at a part time job. Therefore we cannot also cover the postage as we would like.”) So what you’d have to do is send the guy a check, so he’s got some money on deposit, and then, “Have at it!” As you use up your money on deposit, you’d just have to keep replenishing it as you go. This is an incredible ministry for international folks who would like to do small informative mailings to targeted individuals here in the USA. And Bill even said that if you provide the names on diskette, he would consider dropping the cost of the one-time 25 cent charge (I’d suggest you avoid taking him up on that! :-)). What a guy. Thanks Bill!!!
There were a few other replies . . . but none that matched Mr. Bill’s ministry. If Bill gets overworked, kyleharris@xc.org would do it… but couldn’t afford to do it at Bill’s price! Lewis Hudson lhudson@bellatlantic.net would also fall into that situation.
But the “Treasure Hunter’s Award” actually goes to Les Tilka clfcebu@cebu.weblinq.com, who went out on the web and searched for 90 minutes to find us a more, shall we say, automated approach…. at http://www.mgl.ca/~estern/snailmail.html. This sounds like the way to go if you want something really organized and long-lasting. Charge is $1.20 for a one page letter by using a First Virtual Account or $.90 if you prepay your account. Cool. Thanks Les!
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LOOKING FOR A TOP BANANA TROPICAL HEALTH COURSE?
So is Elizabeth B. Sharplin 75222.402@CompuServe.COM. Send her a tip if you know of a top notch course somewhere and, Elizabeth, in a couple of weeks, please send us a summary listing, okay? Thanks!
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CALLING ALL SHIPPERS
And Loren Tucker ROSCOE777@aol.com is moving overseas and would like a list of shippers who will give great value and low price. Please email Loren directly and, Loren, please let us have a peak at the list and we’ll post it here for all to see!
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ACMC & TEAM EXPANSION ON THE MOVE
ACMC (Advancing Churches in Missions Commitment) is moving its headquarters office from Wheaton IL to Atlanta GA. David Meade wrote, “We exist to help Christian congregations mobilize their resources for effective involvement in world evangelism. The strategic move to Atlanta aims to dramatically improve service to those churches, agencies, and individuals in ACMC’s membership. Our vision is to build a network of missions-active churches large enough to actually influence the entire Protestant church in America toward global outreach. As we move to Atlanta, we’re going to need prayer, key office personnel, and some technology to gear up. We’d be happy for anyone interested in helping fulfill this vision to contact us at: ACMC Transition Team / P.O. Box 3406 / Peachtree City, GA 30269; or just e-mail me at 763771.2066@compuserve.com for David Meade, Transition Team Leader. Tel 770-631-9900.
At the same time, Team Expansion is on the move from Cincinnati to Louisville this summer. Team Expansion http://www.teamexpansion.org exists “to partner with local churches to send and sustain teams of interdependent missionaries to plant indigenous churches among the unreached.” If you can help them fulfill the vision of prayer, key office personnel or technology in the Louisville area, contact Personnel Coordinator Chris Bushnell ChrisBushnell@xc.org. Fax 513-244-8430. Thanks!
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DO WE ANSWER EVERY LETTER?
We used to. But not any more. Literally hundreds of emails come in weekly to or . If you don’t receive an answer, it’s not because we don’t love you. :-) It’s because we’re trying to survive with a family, an on-the-side soccer passion , and a paying job with a mission organization. :-)
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IF YOU GET A COPY OF AN FCC PETITION P.M. 2493
… or anything related to it, just burn it. It’s old news…. just push that little button that’s shaped like a garbage can and watch the thing smolder. So … whatever happened to Madalyn Murry O’Hair anyway? And… in general, you can also always check http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html before warning people of viruses and hoaxes like this. If you’d like to see this documented, order up a copy of our “help file” on this petition by sending a note to hub@xc.org with only the words,
get brigada 2493-hoax
in the text of the message.
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CONFERENCE-WATCH
Interested in an April 3-5 conference on Evangelizing Muslims at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, TX? Write wmc@swbts.swbts.edu for more info. Looks like quite a speakers’ slate at a very affordable price!
Or how ’bout the “CRIMEAN CONFERENCE/SYMPOSIUM (MAY 21-24) AND MEDICAL UNIVERSITY LECTURES (MAY 19-21)” in Simferopol, Ukraine. Apparently, some top Russian philosophers from Moscow and St Petersburg have agreed to come. One is Christian, two are prominent atheists. For more information, contact Georges Carillet carillet@wildwind.com.
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HUB-CAPS
This past week, MAFxc upgraded their server, good ‘ole “Hub@xc.org”. The outcome? Tons more effective service and the possibility for all the more service and features in the future. Thanks Jonathan, Rex and Bob!!!! I still find it hard to believe we can operate Brigada Today for $52/year and inform nearly 5000 people each week of some of the best pieces of missions mobilization news and resources in the world [that we can find :-) ]. If you’ve been thinking about getting an email forwarding service (so that no matter how many changes you make to your email carrier, your address will always be the same… like… YourName@xc.org), may I suggest that you support the home team and pay up the $52/year to MAF. Then you can open up these email conferences and send out updates for your mission organization, your soccer team :-) your basketball club, your bridge party, your… [list goes on]. For more information or a free brochure, write helpdesk@xc.org. Seek ’em Rex. By the way… I don’t work for MAF. But they sure make Brigada possible.
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IN THE WORKS FOR NEXT WEEK…
Guess what! Brigada’s finally getting its own domain! The name will change, but the service will just keep getting better. http://www.xc.org/brigada will change [probably next week] to https://brigada.org. We’ll alert you when it happens so you can change your bookmarks. You do set bookmarks for Brigada’s web site, right? :-) (By the way, the site is still going to be carried by MAFxc. They’re just registering the domain for us with Internic… another service by your friendly folks at MAFxc. For more information… write Rex at HelpDesk@xc.org. Start your own web site! It’s about $100 set-up and $160 per year afterward. Probably one of the best prices you’ll find in the entire country.) (Now – I can’t wait ’til they add Microsoft’s free Front Page ’97 server extensions so our feedback forms and hit counter and search mechanisms will work! :-))
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PRAY FOR INDONESIA
Will you bow for a moment now and pray for the nation of Indonesia? Some say they are being targeted by Muslim extremists now more than ever before, with some radical approaches. Pray that God’s light would be seen.
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ON THE HUNT FOR COMIBAM
So… who can tell us when the next Comibam event is scheduled to be held… maybe in Mexico??? David wants to know. Send to DLucas@TeamExpansion.org.
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SUPPOSE A UN WORKER WANTS TO BE NETWORKED WITH OTHER TENTMAKERS…
Where would he/she turn – so they’re not out there as “lone rangers”? That’s the question Chris Ford CHRIS@WORNET.MHS.CompuServe.COM asks. If you’ve got a tentmaking consortium or network that these guys can join, write Chris directly… and Chris, how ’bout sending us a summary list in a couple of weeks???
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SPEAK WITH YOUR HANDS (ASL) OR WISH YOU DID??? You could probably use HyperSign, a program with more than 2000 full motion videos of American Sign Language. Contact Inreach Ministries inreach@lr.net for more info.
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AND NOW FROM THE HOME OFFICE, THIS WEEK’S ‘DID YOU KNOW?’
From our ever faithful contact in Ukraine comes this tidbit….. I suppose you knew that in the movie, Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart never said “Play it again, Sam” ??? Yikes. Shaking my philosophical foundations of life.
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WEB-WATCH
Catch the Italian Evangelical Alliance at http://www.ipsnet.it/netpages/room386.
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ADVANCE! IS ADVANCED
The February/March 1997 Advance has been posted for your viewing pleasure. Just send a note to hub@xc.org with only this line in the text of the message:
Get brigada advance.970203
Here’s a summary:
THE GOSPEL FOR EVERY PEOPLE — India’s 52 unreached people groups with populations of more than 1 million; hundreds of West African people groups with little or no access to the gospel; 1.6 million “Jesus” videos; third largest Muslim country in the world torn by strife; China at critical crossroads.
THE PERSECUTED CHURCH — Believer imprisoned in Iran; Christian center near Cairo attacked; believer in Vietnam arrested; the Karen of Myanmar; Israel bill would affect believers.
SPIRITUAL FORCES OF DARKNESS — Fetal cell transplants; Sudan working to eliminate female circumcision; bombing of lesbian nightclub; milestones in genetic research; marketing RU 486 in United States; unwanted pregnancy as “intrusion.”
REJOICE! — Churches in Madhya Pradesh than double; India evangelist invited into mosque; 500 students commit lives to Christ; record 3.3 million Scriptures printed in China; 15,000 decisions for Christ in Honduras.
NETWORKING — Assistance for the family of murdered Iranian pastor; profiles of minority groups in China, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar; children’s materials for Praying Through the Window III; Operation Mobilization missions ship to visit four ports in the western United States; China ’97 … At the Crossroads; “God’s Simple Plan for His Church;” Eastern Europe and CIS video and film directory.
FRONT LINES — Our enemy.
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CHURCH ADOPTIONS – LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
Wow – this past weekend was great. We met in Dayton, Ohio, with a group of dedicated church leaders representing differing parts of the Body of Christ who are taking seriously the challenge to adopt a “piece of the least reached world!” At “Pit-Stop Dayton”, we presented new case studies in the constantly evolving PACE model. There was Cary Christian Church of Cary, NC, which has decided to adopt the Taimani, a church in North Carolina adopting a group in Mongolia, and a church from Louisville adopting a people group in Morocco and others who are so new, they haven’t even picked a group! This new surge of interest in local churches is an answered prayer for folks like Luis Bush, who has been leading in a vision to see “A church for every people and the gospel for every person by the year 2000.” While all the “nay-sayers” and arm-chair strategists sit around and debate whether or not that dream could ever be possible, churches like Kenwood Heights Christian Church in Louisville, KY, are setting about to make progress. They aren’t worrying about whether or not they themselves can reach the whole world – they’re just picking a piece of the world and they’re doing their part!!! I decided to motor on down to Louisville Saturday night, after the conference finished up, just so I could sit in the pews at Kenwood Heights and listen in on their spirit, and. . . . I wasn’t disappointed. They introduced their contingent (whom they had sent to the Pit-Stop with a mandate of finding out “next steps”) to the whole congregation, featured them in prayer, and the Sr. Minister even gave up his private column to them in this week’s church newsletter just to report on the event. Do you think the church is going to doubt his commitment to this project??? Not a chance. Are they rich? Nope. Are they huge? Nope (around 250, I’d guess). But are the committed??? You bet. And guess what. I note that they subscribed to Brigada within a few hours of arriving home from the conference! :-) Welcome Kenwood Heights! :-) [Churches and church leaders wanting to take part in the next Pit-Stop, set to occur in Littleton (Denver), Colorado, Apr. 25-26, may contact Robert Peterson rpeterson@ccu.edu to be added to the list of prospective delegates and receive more information.]
Next week – hear about the sharpest and greatest mobilization video yet… I’ve got to get a good price for you before featuring it….
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TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY, send email to hub@xc.org with only the following message:
subscribe brigada
TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send email to hub@xc.org with this line in the text:
unsubscribe brigada
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BRIGADA TODAY IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FOLLOWING TEAM OF REGULAR VOLUNTEERS:
*Global Glimpses: John Hanna, Caleb Project, jhanna@cproject.com
*ADVANCE: Mark A. Kelley, Kainos Press, 70420.1057@compuserve.com
*Brigada Website: Bob Mayhew, Brigada Volunteer, mayhew@xc.org
*Technical Development: Jonathan Marsden, MAFxc jonathan@xc.org
*Brigada Customer Service Manager: Revis Ann Massey, RevisAnnMassey@xc.org
*Brigada Coordinator: Doug Lucas, Team Expansion & Brigada, DLucas@TeamExpansion.org
*and many other occasional contributors too numerous to mention!
But thanks for working together! That’s the dream of Brigada!
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