19970302 Brigada Today

Now with 5006 participants!!! We hit 5000 with two weeks to spare! (before our 2-year-old birthday)!!!!!!!!!!!
News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
[Pass this issue to a friend! To subscribe, see instructions at end.]

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In this issue….

* HALFWAY TO VICTORY!
* OR ARE WE HALFWAY AFTER ALL?
* WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
* HOW DO WE PAY FOR ALL THESE CONFERENCES?
* HELP WANTED: MODERATORS NEEDED TODAY!
* HOW DO YOU GET STARTED WITH THE VISION?
* THANKS TO THOSE WHO GAVE COMIBAM INFO
* PRAY FOR ALBANIA!
* NEED FREE EMAIL?
* HEADED TO CENTRAL ASIA?
* WANT FREE FAXING???
* NAMES NOT INCLUDED
* GLOBAL GLIMPSE
* FUN FACTS . . . TO KNOW AND TELL
* WORLD BOOK GETS INTO THE ACT
* MORE MISSION OPPORTUNITIES
* … AND PEOPLE GROUP PROFILES
* ARE YOU WILLING TO SELL NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS TO BRIGADA PARTICIPANTS?
* WEB-WATCH
* WE NEED TRAVEL AGENTS!
* TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY

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HALFWAY TO VICTORY!
It was the 25th of August, 1995. Brigada Today and the whole Brigada family of networks was still a toddler, having launched formally on March 21st about 5 months earlier. The item was titled, “FROM THE ‘LET’S GET SERIOUS ABOUT VISION’ DEPARTMENT.” The text went like this: “Ya know, I always thought that if a person was highly technical, highly skilled, highly process oriented, then they would probably be pretty scared about bulging growth. Not so with Jonathan Marsden, who manages the technical end of CrossConnect and, as such, helps with Brigada technical projects. When I asked him this past week about how he felt about Brigada growing past the 800 mark, I was surprised to hear him say he wasn’t satisfied. ‘I won’t be happy until we have 10,000 people on board, with hundreds of conferences about least reached people groups and cities all over the world.’ Wow. When I grow up, I want to be like that. :-)”

Jonathan still works hand-in-hand with us, making sure Brigada email conferences have the very best chances of succeeding technically. His wish came one step closer to fulfillment this past week, when participation in Brigada’s “top level” conference (the one that sent you this edition of Brigada Today) soared above the 5000-mark.

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OR ARE WE HALFWAY AFTER ALL?
So while in the middle of all this gushing :-) and remembering . . . the question rose in my mind . . . “How has the original dream changed, if at all?” Well the original concept was to try to organize a kind of “totem pole” around which those with a love for lost peoples and common interests in reaching them could gather. Today we have roughly 70 conferences . . . 11 of which center on some unreached people group or family of groups. Brother. We’ve been in business for two years now . . . and, . . . sure we have lots of people involved (5000, thank you Lord!) But to have only 11 conferences on least reached peoples… (along with lots of others about other things) . . . well, . . . I’m not sure we’re accomplishing our vision together. Brigada was designed to allow a researcher to enter an imaginary “entryway” or “front door/foyer” area and then quickly ascertain what level of interest or commitment already existed toward those concerned about reaching out to a particular group. The fact that we have only addressed 11 of several hundred or even thousand groups is, frankly, rather humiliating. It’s great that we have 5000 people… but what about the TASK!?

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WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE
So… where do we go from here? I wish we could recover some of that initial vision. Here’s one way to make it happen. I could go ahead and spawn all 1739 conferences for the Joshua Project 2000 List of Unreached Peoples. [Pick yourself up off the floor, Jonathan. :-) ] Once someone became interested in managing a conference for a particular group, he or she would send a message to that conference saying, “I’ll volunteer as moderator for the conference on such-and-such-a-people.”

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HOW DO WE PAY FOR ALL THESE CONFERENCES?
Minor glitch: That person would need to acquire an xc.org address to get the authority to moderate . . . something that now costs about $52/year. (Hey — MAFxc has to pay for this equipment and the staffing to run it some way! I don’t work for them . . . but they sure earn their keep with the Brigada conferences that we already have!) Secondly, that person would need to commit to sending at least one message per week for a minimum of one year. That one message would give some kind of prayer pointer, request, reminder, or update on that particular unreached people. (receiving Brigada Today could be the reminder) Finally, that moderator would need a bit of time. Time to handle subscriber questions, and an occasional problem with a subscriber who has changed email addresses without unsubscribing first. (We’ll call those people, “Bounce-a-grammers”, since they end up causing the notorious “bounce-a-grams” back to a conference moderator . . . “this guy no longer exists” type messages.) And all these 1739 conferences would be created as “open” to subscribers (so individual subscribers wouldn’t have to be screened) but “modified” as to messages (meaning that individual messages sent to the conference would bounce to the moderator, rather than go to the conference; that’s the only way the conference could be ‘secure’ in “creative access” countries).

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HELP WANTED: MODERATORS NEEDED TODAY!
Anyway – here’s the deal. Will we be able to find 1739 conference moderators who will chunk down $52/year each and “stand in the gap” as a volunteer to moderate a conference? I’m not sure anyone knows the answer to that question right now. But we’re about to find out. These people should probably not be on-site workers (because they are often in sensitive situations in restricted access . . . or creative access . . . countries), nor should they be people who find it hard to answer the email they already receive. (They need to either have the time . . . or be able to manage their time well!) These 1739 moderators won’t be paid (at least on this planet), nor will they probably become very famous. (But they probably will be in the center of what’s known about outreach to a particular people group.) What they will get a chance to see is the formation of a virtual network, a “task force,” for finishing the task among a particular group.

Should these moderators be experts on that group? Not necessarily. They do need to possess a vision for reaching them though.

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HOW DO YOU GET STARTED WITH THE VISION?
What do you do if you’re willing to be one of those moderators… or if you know one??? Send a message to hub@xc.org with only these words in the message text:
get brigada moderator-application

You’ll receive information on how to proceed. It will arrive in your in-box in moments. Full information will be contained in that message. You need not write any person until you’ve read that file. And thanks for your partnership!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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THANKS TO THOSE WHO GAVE COMIBAM INFO
What a great bunch of readers! Tons of people sent Comibam information. To get the official press release, send email to hub@xc.org with only the following words in the text of the message:
get brigada comibam97

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PRAY FOR ALBANIA!
Just when we thought Albania was open to the gospel, all this unrest kicks up all kinds of dust . . . and now all kinds of missionaries are leaving! The Southern Baptist Prayer Line is accessible in the USA at 1-800-395-pray and it, along with tons of other sources, asks that we pray fervently that this conflict will cease. Please bow your heads and join in…. “Lord, we don’t understand the economic difficulties being experienced now by tens of thousands of people who have lost so much. But please help them to resolve their difficulties in a non-violent manner so your messengers there can resume their work. Their families have been jerked out of school and life as they know it… and the unrest is hurting Albanians and expatriates alike. Please bring peace… and Peace that passes all understanding to Albania. Thank you Lord. Amen.”

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NEED FREE EMAIL?
Don’t forget about Juno! ONLY FOR THE USA, send your mailing address to signup@juno.com to get more info. Or check out their web site at http://www.juno.com/. You can also call 1-800-799-JUNO (tell them “Extension F” and when they ask for your “personal response code”, tell them this was a referral). Warning: No web browsing capability provided.

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HEADED TO CENTRAL ASIA?
Here’s an urgent need for a traveler from the ‘States, preferably from the Colorado Springs area, to carry air tickets to “Bishkek or AA.” I have a hunch that if you could even get these tickets to anywhere in Kyrgystan or Kazakstan you’d be loved for the rest of your life. If you can help, write 76171.1463@CompuServe.com and copy Debbie@ad2000.org at the AD2000 & Beyond Int’l Office. Thanks!

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WANT FREE FAXING???
Then you need to send a message to tpccover@info.tpc.int and look at the list of places where you can pull it off. I guess contents of the message are ignored. Also write to tpcfaq@info.tpc.int for the frequently asked question file. Looks like quite a successful experiment. Not always successful, apparently, but hey… how can you complain if it’s free!?! :-) This would work from anywhere in the world to anywhere else in the world (so long as there’s coverage in that area). Cool.

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NAMES NOT INCLUDED
So… by popular request . . . we’ll probably start trying to get in the habit of not including names for those who make contributions to Brigada Today. Too many folks wanting to anonymous out there. :-) So… for those who occasionally send in reports or requests… make sure you tell us if you’d like your name to be included! :-) And thanks, _____ ______, for bringing that to our attention! :-)

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GLOBAL GLIMPSE
God has cared for the Saluan people in Indonesia from the ancient days. One ancient Saluan story recounts how the One-Who-Formed-Our-Fingers had made a beautiful place and told the man and the woman that they must not eat the fruit of one tree. A snake came and enticed the man to try the fruit. When The One-Who-Formed-Our-Fingers returned, he knew right away what had happened. He chased the man away from the beautiful place and said, “From now on … the sweat will drip off your jaw… because you will have to work to get food.” Another ancient Saluan story told of a flood that covered the mountains. These stories provided an excellent starting point for evangelism.
(Source: Cecilia Brown, and Feb. 1997 Impact, Institute for Creation Research, P.O. Box 2667, El Cajon, CA 92021 (via Brigada-Orgs-MissionMobilizers))
Global Glimpse is compiled each week by the multi-talented John Hanna, of Caleb Project, in Littleton, CO.

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FUN FACTS . . . TO KNOW AND TELL
What a disappointment this week… when I learned that Sherlock Holmes never said “Elementary, my dear Watson.” Woe is me. :-)

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WORLD BOOK GETS INTO THE ACT
Wouldn’t you know it! Right when I make a mistake and refer to World Book when I meant to say Encyclopaedia Britannica, World Book jumps in with their offer!!! :-)In the USA, call 1-800-426-7235, ext.5209, or from anywhere in the world, look at http://www.pc.ibm.com/multimedia. Two CD-ROMS for $59.95. Actually, that’s not a bad price!!! Plus, they’re giving a $20 rebate to anyone who already owns a competitor’s multimedia encyclopedia . . . or, I presume, encyclopaedia! :-)This deluxe edition has all of the text from the 22 volume print version, plus a complete atlas and 225,000 word dictionary, and a 30 day money-back guarantee. Thanks for the tip, ____ ___ ! :-)

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MORE MISSION OPPORTUNITIES
This just came in from Hope For Europe Online. “Thanks to Kerstin Hack (AIMS), Jeff Fountain (YWAM) and others we have listings of several mission opportunities beginning now throughout 1997. It’s called “An A-Z of Short-Term Mission Trips”. Because of its size, we have broken it down into 3 separate files. It is sorted by country, alphabetically, so
file 1 = Albania to England
file 2 = France to Romania
file 3 = Russia to Vietnam.

To receive these, just send an email to HUB@XC.Org and in your message body, write only the following:
get hfe-online goye1.txt
get hfe-online goye2.txt
get hfe-online goye3.txt
end

The HUB computer will send these (approx. 5 A4 pages each) right to your in-basket. There are over 75 countries listed and several missions organizations to get you or people in your church started …

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… AND PEOPLE GROUP PROFILES
Another thanks to Kerstin Hack (AIMS, Germany) who has compiled many people profiles. There are long, comprehensive profiles in either English, German, French or Dutch as well as shorter (one or two page) condensed profiles. As this was also a huge file, we have broken it into two on HUB@XC.Org; the first is a list of the long profiles, the second is the list of short profiles available from the AIMS office in Berlin [for a very inexpensive price – probably barely covers the costs of copying]. Anyone regardless if they are “subscribed” or not can “get” these lists of profiles, just write to HUB@XC.org with the message body reading:
get german-mission-mobilisers profile1.txt
get german-mission-mobilisers profile2.txt
end

profile1.txt is 16 A4 pages or about 35 kilobytes, profile2.txt is half that, representing groups from all Continents. Thanks much, Ron!!!

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ARE YOU WILLING TO SELL NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS TO BRIGADA PARTICIPANTS?
We’re searching for vendors who will list their notebook computers at value prices for Brigada subscribers. Don’t cheat yourselves… (we want you to stay in business! :-)) but please do give Brigada participants the very best bargains you can. Please send a summary of your price list (Brand names and models/primary specs only) to DLucas@TeamExpansion.org with the subject line “LAPTOPS”. (Your list won’t be processed correctly unless it says LAPTOPS in the subject line.) Help us get the word out. Send this message to a computer-dealer friend! Thanks! The list will be made available to all next week . . . so please respond by next Thurs. An acknowledgement of receipt will be returned automatically – but not a very personalized one. :-)

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WEB-WATCH
Check out http://www.vocc.com if you’re into gizmos. This site tells you how to have one toll-free 800/888 number that is your: home, office, fax, pager, cell phone, & it is also your E-mail notification. Guess this is good only in the USA. Also, Patrick Johnstone [did you hear how it got silent all of a sudden??? ! :-) ] saw our recent note about finding world political readers (yes . . . he does read Brigada Today, thank you Patrick!) . . . and urged us to look at the CIA List of Govt. leaders http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/95fact/index.html, as well as http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/chiefs/chiefs-toc-vi w.html> and also http://www.geocities.com/athens/1058/rulers.html and even http://www.lg.ehu.es/~ziaorarr/00index.htm. Now we know what Patrick does in his spare time! :-)

Check out http://smiley.logos.cy.net/bdecie/ for a list of all kinds of holidays around the world. Thanks ___! :-)

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WE NEED TRAVEL AGENTS!
That Brigada-travel-bids thing has gone bizerk! Yikes! We could easily use 100 more travel agents there. It’s been the busiest Brigada conference on line for the past 8 weeks running!!!! Help! If you know of any travel agents . . . especially those willing to write tickets for Europe or from Europe, please please have them send email to hub@xc.org with only this text in the message:
Subscribe brigada-travel-bids

This is an idea that has really caught on… but it’s understaffed at the moment. If you sent a request and didn’t get a response, call your favorite travel agent and ask him or her to get online.

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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

And visit Brigada on WorldWide Web: http://www.xc.org/brigada
[Note: this URL is soon to become https://brigada.org.]

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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!