19990117 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….

FOUR YEARS WITH BRIGADA

Believe it or not, only one other person on our list of 8671 people can claim to have been a part of Brigada since the very beginning. He is Jonathan Marsden, of Redlands, CA, the MAF “techie” who assembled much of the early infrastructure to make Brigada possible (beginning way back on Jan. 25, 1995). Those first few awkward exchanges were brainstorming messages between Doug and Jonathan… and the rest, well, the rest is history. On March 21, 1995, Brigada officially opened publicly for business. By that time, 95 brave new subscribers had joined the family! Thanks to the tireless work of our WebServant volunteer, Bob Mayhew, you can view past issues of Brigada Today in the archives at https://brigada.org. He’s gone all the way back to the very beginning now… so you can even look at the initial proposal papers! Thanks Bob!

WEBWATCH: VIRTUAL TOURIST

Ever check out the Virtual Tourist? http://www.vtourist.com I needed info. on a country I’m visiting in North Africa next week and Virtual Tourist had everything from the temperature (real-time) to local newspaper, radio, and TV links! Tons of stuff. You can link to the CIA Factbook from there, and even zero in with detailed stuff on specific cities within your country. Great interface. Fast too.

KEEP UP ON SUDAN

Want to read more about the persecution that’s happening in Sudan? Try www.liaafrica.org. It’s put together by a mission involved on-site.

ACMC CONFERENCES ARE COMING!

For example, you can catch the Midwest regional conference on March 6, 1999, at Fairhaven Church in Dayton, OH. For more info., contact David 102100.2020@compuserve.com.

INDIA AFLAME WITH PERSECUTION

Did you see the wire services’ pickup on persecution in India? Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines, 58, and his 9 year old Philip and seven year old Timothy were burnt alive in their jeep when a Hindu crowd poured gasoline on the jeep and burnt them alive. Two other Australian sleeping in the church were able to run and escape the mad crowd. Locals say the police aren’t taking much action. Gulp.

According to one Brigada participant from within India, nearly 100 churches have been torn down and ransacked with many pastors beaten and kicked. Some nationals are calling on believers from throughout the rest of the world to rouse governments to action so that the killings would stop.

CATCH THE LATEST ON THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM

Just send a note to y2kmissions-subscribe@egroups.com and you’ll join other missionaries who are interested in dialoguing about potential problems with Y2K. Already on board are reps. from several large missions, including SIL, New Tribes, Mission to Unreached Peoples, YWAM, Northern Thailand Christian Mission, Mission Moving Mountains. The moderator, Dave dcrist@loxinfo.co.th, works in an agricultural outreach in Thailand. He fears that the so-called “developing nations” might take the biggest hit come Jan. 1st, 2000.

CHAT WITH THE DOCS!

Looking for some answers to your questions concerning health? You may want to check out this new web site: http://www.PhysiciansChat.com You’ll find their health library helpful, plus many other added features. There is even a doctor who will take the time to answer your specific questions; and all from a Christian perspective. Check it out. For more information, ask Carl Ckishbaugh@csi.com.

KAHUNA: THE REAL STORY

Whew! I feel redeemed! I got a great note this past week from an SIL consultant based in Papua New Guinea. He was formerly based at the East-West Centre in Hawaii. He must have invested an hour or more looking up backgrounds on the word, “kahuna” so he could properly document my alleged misuse of it (see “HAKUNA KAHUNA” from last week and “AD2000 IS ALIVE AND WELL” from the week before). Now granted… this might seem like no big deal to you maybe, but to Russ, the SIL guy — I mean he took it seriously! It was like he wanted to defend me to the world! He quoted from Hawaiian dictionaries (and documented everything and had even interviewed Hawaiian native speakers about the term. Bottom line: a kahuna was actually a member of the priestly clan within the Hawaiian social structure. In the Pukui-Elbert Dictionary of the Hawaiian language, which gives many sorts of kahuna, Russ even found references to “kahuna ha’i’olelo,” lit: speaking kahuna, or itinerant preacher, “kahuna pule,” pastor, lit: prayer expert; and kahuna a’o,” a teaching preacher, pastor. Thanks for the time you invested, Russ!

GLOBAL GLIMPSE ON THE DAY OF PRAYER

An estimated 200,000 local churches in 130 countries prayed for persecuted believers on Nov. 15, the 1998 Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. In Katmandu, Nepal, churches held a combined prayer gathering for their persecuted brothers and sisters. In Cambodia churches united in prayer for religious freedom there and elsewhere. On Serge Square in Stockholm, Sweden, a sea of candles was lit to honor all that have died for their faith and to remind passers-by that millions of people still are suffering for the faith. Five million African listeners of “Radio Habari” participated through radio broadcasts in the Swahili language.
(Source: Advance Newsletter, Copyright © 1998, Kainos Press https://brigada.org/advance/adv199812.html, MarkKelly@xc.org.)
Global Glimpse is compiled each week by John Hanna, Caleb Project, Littleton, CO.

VANCOUVER MISSIONS FEST REQUEST

George Verwer and Luis Bush will be Plenary Speakers at Vancouver’s 16th Annual Missions Fest on January 29-31, 1999. The theme is “From Every Nation…To Every Nation; the changing face of global missions.” Other featured speakers include Paul Negrut (Romania), Joanne Pepper (Canada, Ukraine), Russ Stendal (Colombia) and Mike Yaconelli (Youth Specialties, USA). This conference is sponsored by 135 local churches representing 26 denominations. Youth and children’s programs are an important part of the event. There are now 220 mission agencies that will have exhibits and will take part in the 110 mission educational seminars. Over the 3-days, organizers are expecting over 34,000 to attend. Those interested in additional information may contact the offices by calling (604) 524-9944, or email mfestvan@ansa.com. Most of the conference is posted on their website at http://www.ansa.com/mfestvan. This past week, organizers asked the entire Brigada family for prayer for the speakers, delegates, and programs.

STAY UP TO DATE ON THE HMF

Want to stay “in the know” on Heartland MissionFest ’99, slated for Feb. 25-27 in Tulsa, OK. To get occasional updates on workshops, speakers, schedules, send an e-mail message to hub@xc.org

that simply says,
subscribe hmf-update

THROUGH THE OPEN DOOR TO SE ASIA

Here’s your chance to be one of 50 people placed in SE ASIA for a guaranteed 2 years as an English teacher. YWAM Perth together with YWAM Singapore have been asked for as many English teachers as they can possibly send and have been granted 50 visas good for 2 years! A School of Frontier Missions and TESOL Seminar will be run in Perth with the express purpose of preparing people for this strategic opportunity to impact a large Muslim nation. For more information, contact Belinda schoolsoffice@uofnperth.edu.au or call +61 8 9221 1217 or browse http://www.uofnperth.edu.au.

“WHY ARE YOU DOING MISSIONS?”

“Are you awakened by an alarm, or by a calling?”

An up and coming computer manufacturer adopted that slogan last fall and, I must admit, I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. Of course, the slant they take is one you can guess. The full-page ad features a young computer jockey in khakis and a denim shirt home just in time to kiss his baby after a long day’s work, Micron laptop in a bag at his side. At the bottom is a subtitle, “Who are you doing it for?”

So from Micron we take a cue: “Do you get up in response to an alarm or a calling?” When the alarm goes off, do you hit the deck with expectation of the day? …or with a dread that makes you wish for nightfall?

I used to think that “right attitude resulted in right behavior.” But lately I’ve been realizing that “one-way processing” doesn’t always have to be the case. Sometimes our behavior can echo back, in a kind of feedback loop, and teach us something that helps us change our attitude.

So… I guess the lesson is simple… Buy a Micron computer. (Just kidding. I’ve never owned one… but people say they’re nice. Still … that’s not my point.) My point is this: if life has gotten kind of “stale” for you lately, maybe you need to wake up and smell the coffee. Maybe there is something to be said for “going through the motions,” if your motivation is strong enough to believe again.

In Somewhere in Time, Christopher Reeve became so convinced that he could travel through time, he dressed in old clothes, rented a room in an old hotel (with lots of history), and just . . . .”concentrated” on traveling through time. Now granted… when I first saw that love story, I tossed it off as a fairy-tale. But have you ever been so convinced that you’ve been jet lag, only to have some spoiled-sport quip, “Yes, I know it’s 8pm here, but that’s 3am my body time.” Sorta’ jerks you back to reality, doesn’t it! I always tell those people to just keep their reality to themselves. When I’m ahead of the game on jet lag, I want to keep it that way. I don’t want to face reality. I want to believe so strongly that it’s still “okay” to be awake, that I can even convince my body that the lie is true!

Well I’ve got news for you. It works even beyond jet lag.

Next time you feel like work is a drag, try investing yourself again. Next time you lose your “zeal” for language learning, or for your medical ministry, or even for Bible study, maybe it’s time to take a cue from Christopher Reeves. Maybe you won’t become a “superman,” but maybe God will wake up the original dream within you. Start stepping through the behavior that used to light your imagination and pray that God will reawaken it. Invest in children, take time with the elderly, listen to a story from a downcast “poor in spirit” street-person. Who knows… maybe you’ll wake up to more than an alarm the next day. Maybe you’ll go “somewhere BACK in time” and rediscover your original dream. And that right behavior just might rekindle your right attitude!

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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!