19990103 Brigada Today

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News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
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Brigada Today is “the missionary helper newsletter!”
Compiled by Doug Lucas <DLucas@teamexpansion.org>, Louisville, KY
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In this issue….

AD2000 IS ALIVE AND WELL

Last week’s mention of “WHERE’S THE HOOPLA ABOUT FINISHING THE TASK?” brought a response from the head cahoona!

Luis Bush wrote personally with this update. It appears that AD2000 & Beyond is alive and well!

Luis wrote, “Some major / key items in line with ‘a church for every people and the gospel for every person’ by the year 2000 and beyond; a brief snapshot!

Joshua Project 2000 peoples / only 250 yet unclaimed / special target efforts made
Joshua Harvest Vision (UPGs less than 10,000 in population) affirmed / new efforts underway
Ten (10) strategic North India states consultations / July ’98
Arabian Peninsula booklet issued mid-’98. Sold out!
Five (5) African regional consultations throughout ’98
Sudan / new national initiative launched amid poverty and persecution / September ’98
Praying Through The Window IV (PTTWIV) launched September ’98
Cyprus consultation participation / North Africa and the Middle East / March ’98
Dramatic commitments / interest building, non-Western national initiatives
Macro-peoples partnerships increasing / Partnership Task Force / InterDev
PTTWIV book completed by Floyd McClung / available February ’99
The Move of the Holy Spirit in the 10/40 Window book completed / available February ’99
Special edition of IFMJournal on AD2000 / February ’99
Heartland MissionsFest ’99 / Tulsa, OK, February ’99 – Luis Bush status update
Horn of Africa catalytic booklet in-process / available Spring ’99
Updated CD-ROM: Full resource kit for PTTWIV – and beyond!”

Luis added, “Many more items! See details on the AD2000 website: http://www.ad2000.org/.”

Thanks to those working in the International Office for AD2000 & Beyond… and to all the volunteers, and to Luis for taking time to respond!!!

* IMPORTANT *
PROTECT YOURSELF FROM A NEW VIRUS

Okay… I’m the guy who is normally telling you to please stop sending the bundles of email about some boy in Kansas who’s going to die unless you remail this message (and its 2 million headers) to at least 698 people. Those are “email viruses.” They thrive on well-meaning people who are using up bandwidth on the Internet by relaying dishonest, unverified propaganda. But in this case, we’ve got a real live documented “Trojan horse” virus called “Picture.exe”. Once again, all email viruses thus far, it has to be executed in order to do damage to your system. As long as you don’t automatically execute attached files you receive with incoming email, you’re still okay. This should be akin to your aversion to assume that you can taste a delicious-looking brownie some anonymous person left in your mailbox!

For starters, you can see the CNN Interactive news article about this virus at: http://cnn.com/cnn/TECH/computing/9901/08/trojan.idg/index.html That’s where Jason first saw it. I then went to Symantec’s Antivirus Research Center (or SARC, which is one of the best bookmarks you can set if you want to check out these viruses) at: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/picture-exe-th.html and Network Associates AVERT center at: http://www.networkassociates.com/about/news/press/1999/january/010899.asp By the way, you can use the Symantec site to upgrade Norton Antivirus and the NA site to upgrade McAffee Antivirus so it’ll pick up the virus automatically when it’s emailed to you.

If you don’t have an antivirus software monitor currently on your system, this little virus might be a tip-off to you that it’s probably worth picking one up. I like the McAffee product because for some reason it seems more straightforward to me to check incoming email (it’s all automatic) but the Norton product is supposedly just as good. Both are probably available via numerous web vendors (like http://www.warehouse.com/) and any computer vendor you can get to in your nearest big city. McAffee is available with Win98 and also in Eudora Pro.

Either way, you can check to see if the new Picture.exe antivirus has already affected your system. Just take a look (but don’t change) your c:\windows\win.ini file and find the “run=” line (usually the 2nd or 3rd from the top). If you see “note.exe” as one of the options, then you’re contaminated. Gulp. If note.exe isn’t there, check your “download” folder and make sure you don’t have “picture.exe” as a downloaded file. (If you do, erase it and don’t execute it.) Either way, get an antivirus checker that monitors all incoming email and then you won’t have to worry about it. A word to the wise…

Thanks Jason. This is another good reason to be involved in the Brigada family. All it takes is one of our family of 8600+ people and… instantly, we can all be alerted to something important like this. God bless you brother!

GOD’S STORY ON THE WEB!

The God’s Story Project translates and distributes the Bible video, God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity. This evangelistic 80-minute overview of the Bible, Genesis to Revelation, uses the chronological storytelling format to present Jesus as the Savior promised by God. The “world view” incorporated in this video results in a powerful film which both delivers the Gospel and has a continuing purpose as a discipleship tool. God’s Story unique design (of having the narration on one track and the visuals, music and special sound effects on the second track) makes it extremely cost effective to translate into other languages.

http://www.gods-story.org/ has audio stream of God’s Story in some of the languages, offers details on the video’s impact and lists the multiple languages already available and how to get them. Ministries may obtain many of the foreign-translation masters of God’s Story for unlimited outreach in non-commercial areas for $2,500. If a master is not available in a specific language, some individuals or ministries may have the expertise to assist Jeremiah in either the translation of a script or foreign narration, or both. In these cases, cost to the ministry can be dropped to as low as $1,400 for a finished master. For more info. contact project the director damiller@proinet.net.

NOTECARDS OR NOTEPADS FOR YOUR MINISTRY

Order any NoteCards or NotePads from Kingdom Graphics before March 10, 1999 and you can get one pad free for every 3 you order. Just go to http://www.kingdomgraphics.com/ and choose from a wide selection of Ministry Products. When you place your order just refer to this “Special E-Mail SALE offer … #305 ” in the “Comments” box on the order form … and tell them which free gift you want. Also . . . it’s a secure credit card web site. For more info. write Bert kingraph@navpoint.com.

WHAT DO YOU CALL IT??

Brian is trying figure out what the current trends are in missions terminology. In particular, what do you or your organization call deputation and furlough and why? Are there any other age-old terms in missions we should look at updating for the sake of the church? Send any comments or ideas to Brian brians@cefinc.org and he will compile a summary we can post.

NEW CALENDAR FOR GLOBAL MISSION EVENTS

Mark markorr@globalmission.org has just launched a new service for the global missions community. In order to help track events, he’s designed an interactive online missions events calendar. See it at: http://www.globalmission.org/calendar.htm. You are invited to post your events, as long as they are missions related, and have specific dates. It’s all done online, and the posting is immediate! All you need is a login and password, which is all free for the asking. Send Mark an email with your ministry name, purpose, and contact info, and he’ll issue a password within 24 hours. But first, see the calendar at http://www.globalmission.org/calendar.htm. It’s now ready to receive your event postings.

BECOME A TESOL TEACHER!

This 4 week intensive course will be held in the Philippines, with on-the-job-training among Muslim students at a local University. The dates are April 26 – May 21, ’99. The cost can’t be beat–only 600 US dollars which includes board, lodging, books, resources, teacher’s fees, and registration cost. The instructors are David & Vicky Scott, from Kona, HI. The course will equip you to teach conversational English to non-English speakers. A certificate from University of Nations will be awarded upon successful completion of the course. For more info. email dsharpe@cebumail.com or write to: YWAM; Box 26; 6045 Talisay, Cebu; Philippines.

FINALLY A SEARCHABLE BIBLE FOR WINDOWS C/E

Are you one of those frustrated palmtop or handheld Windows C/E users, still yearning for an online Bible in the palm of your hands that will let you “find” (like a concordance)? Try Laridian’s new choice, Palmtop Bible, at http://www.laridian.com/. I’ve downloaded a copy and will be trying it out over the coming week. Seems like a much faster, smarter offering than anybody has offered to date. Yahooo!

ANOTHER LOOK AT SHIPPERS

Every so often, we take another look at the best worldwide shippers for missionaries. Jayme job2310@juno.com needs one… so now is as good a’ time as any to ask! So if you’ve got a favorite, send the name, email address, and any distinguishing features to Jayme, who’ll compile a report for us later here on Brigada.

GLOBAL GLIMPSE FROM N. INDIA

Hundreds of tribal people in a section of northern India are becoming Christians through the efforts of evangelists. The area is known for violent tribal clashes. Religion Today reports it is the greatest revival we know of at this time. “You don’t get this kind of revival without persecution, and bloodshed, and martyrdom. One comes with the other. The workers trust God for their protection. They take the threats before the Lord in fasting and prayer and ask Him to protect them.” Christians have been beaten, tortured with razor blades, and thrown from a speeding train, and six to 12 per year are martyred. Persecution of Christians in India is reported to be at its highest level in 50 years. Mobs of religious fanatics have attacked churches and Christian schools, dispersed outdoor gospel meetings, and beaten evangelists in dozens of incidents this year.
(Source: Religion Today (http://www.religiontoday.com/), Nov 30 via AD2000.)
Global Glimpse is compiled by John Hanna, Caleb Project, Littleton, CO.

MISSIONSFEST WAITING IN THE WINGS

The Feb. 25-27 Heartland MissionsFest in Tulsa will focus on “Joshua Project 2000: the progress and possibilities” with keynote speaker Luis Bush. Over 50 workshops will inform missions-minded North Americans about AD2000 tracks including Business & Professionals, Worship & the Arts, Women’s Track, and Church Planting Among Muslims. Ron Rowland will introduce the dynamic database being developed for Joshua Harvest: All Peoples, All Persons.

Workshop speakers include Terry Law, Doug Lucas, Beverly Pegues, Bill & Amy Stearns, Neal Pirolo, Ross Patterson, Phyllis Kilbourn, Jill Harris, Lorry Lutz, Bill Waldrop, and Keith Wheeler. Co-sponsors include ACMC, AIMS, Caleb Project, and the U.S. Center for World Mission.

At the last Heartland conference over 2,000 participants came from 16 schools, 23 states, 100 churches, and 101 missions agencies. To receive a brochure or exhibitor/advertiser packet send your snail mail address to hmfinfo@usa.net, phone 1-800-366-6641, or visit http://www.allpeoples.org/hmf.

“CALL 4 MISSIONS” ANNOUNCES NEW LOWER RATE CALLING SERVICES

Okay – I asked for those who would come through on long distance rates that could beat the page I mentioned a couple of weeks ago… and maybe this one has. Get reports on the best foreign rates in seconds at http://LongDist.net/?talkxless. Samples: VoCall Prepaid Calling Cards:
$.27/Russia
$.10/Israel, Germany, France
$.45/China
$.14/Japan
$.19/Mexico
http://moneysaver.net/?talkxless Best US rates @ 6.9 cents/minute http://LD.net/6.9/?talkxless Three “Call Back” services: Net2Phone, GlobalTel, & KallBack. Visit their main page at: http://LD.net/?talkxless. Rick says “Call 4 Missions” is pro missions company. Most of the profit, goes directly or indirectly back into others mission programs, the bulk going to Jewish outreaches(Romans 1:16). E-mail Rick for more information if interested in Jewish ministries or services ablessing@juno.com.

FIRST ROX35 CHRISTIAN COMICS TRAINING COURSE IN 1999

ROX35 COMIX, a division of ROX35 Media, Inc., will hold their first 1999 Christian Comics Training Course from March 12-14 in Hong Kong. The course will cover Writing & Scripting, Cultural Considerations, Storymapping, Illustrating from a Script & Visual Storytelling, Comics & Communication, Editing/Art Directing,”Guerilla Marketing” ideas, and Comics as Part of an Overall Evangelism Strategy. The course will be led by Nate Butler, comics industry veteran, and Len Cowan, writer and missionary. For HK seminar information please contact Zoe Wan zoe@scgc.org.hk. For more information on ROX35 visit their web site at http://www.rox35media.org/ or email ROX35Media@xc.org.

IN CASE YOU WANT TO PLAY WITH A WEB TRANSLATOR

Try http://babelfish.altavista.com/. We’ve mentioned it before, but it’s worth mentioning again. It’ll translate a web page to French, Spanish, or Portuguese. Make sure you check the results with a human who speaks that language well though! Thanks Tim!

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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
Brigada Website: Bob Mayhew, WebServant@brigada.org
Brigada Customer Service Manager: help@brigada.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!