19991017 Brigada Today

In this issue….

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS BRIGADA?

Brigada, pronounced “bree-GAH-dah” (rhymes with armada), is the rough equivalent of a “brigade” — in Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Albanian and even Filipino! The idea is to stand side by side to pass buckets of hope for those most in need of Christ’s eternal message! Check out nearly 5 years of weekly back issues at https://brigada.org. See recent back issues and links at http://www.eGroups.com/list/brigada-today. Brigada Today is compiled by Doug Lucas DLucas@teamexpansion.org, Louisville, KY.

HAVE YOU TRIED BRIGADA‘S FREE TALK PAGE?

Check it out, especially if you have a fairly good rate on your web access rate. Just browse: http://www.egroups.com/VoiceChatPage?listName=brigada-today and you’ll see what we mean. Here’s a chance for Brigada Today participants to actually talk (instead of type)… and it’s free! Ed’s been there… and you can visit too. I’ll try to stop by myself from time to time . . . Lord willing, on Saturday, Oct. 30th) at 11pm Eastern time.

GET MISSIONS SERVICE & TRAINING PLUS A DEGREE!

Frontier Service Corps, an exciting new missions training program sponsored by the U.S. Center for World Mission, is a 1-2 year program beginning August 2000. It has four components:

SERVICE at the Center.
PRACTICAL TRAINING for overseas service through experiential learning.
OVERSEAS MISSIONS among unreached peoples in the 10/40 Window for 9 weeks each summer.
STUDY to receive an M.A. or complete a B.A., including a “Year of Bible and Missions.”

For more information, email fsc@uscwm.org or call +1(626) 398-2433.

WHERE DO THESE URBAN LEGENDS COME FROM, ANYWAY?

This past week brought another slew of “urban legends” to my inbox. I dutifully send back a brief note listing some of the spots on the web where one can check out the validity of the bandwidth-busters. For example, does Proctor & Gamble back the church of Satan? ‘Fraid not. Check out: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa061098.htm (Thanks Lisa!) Bottom line: You don’t have to relay everything you receive. Check out Brigada‘s OPC approach to handling these “email forwards” from all over the cyber universe. Just send a message to opc@brigada.worldchurches.org and you’ll get the skinny.

EGROUPS ISN’T A CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATION

But then, neither is your public library… and neither is Books-a-Million. But that doesn’t mean you can’t walk into your public library or a nearby book superstore and find something useful. So… before you throw out the baby with the bathwater, remember that eGroups is publishing 10,000 copies of Brigada Today each week! Here’s the flipside: Some of the folks that have set up eGroups discussions are really doing some pretty bad stuff. But that doesn’t mean you have to go scouting out their content. Just leave it alone and you’ll be fine. You won’t come under their influence and their content won’t somehow sneak into your mind. That’s my own opinion, anyway. Truth of the matter is, they still haven’t sent a single check yet, even though they keep saying that someday they will. But hey… I don’t mind. They’re hosting our discussions and publishing our weekly news update for free . . . and that’s great in and of itself. We’ll keep you apprised if they ever send a commission for the ad at the end. Maybe we’ll be able to take everyone out for ice cream!

SO WHAT’S NEXT AFTER PRAYING THROUGH THE WINDOW?

So, did Praying Through the Window (October ’99) flit by too fast for you? It doesn’t have to end on Oct. 31st. Check out http://www.bethany.com/profiles/acode/cal.html where you’ll find a calendar that could conceivably adapt to just about any month. Revisit the content — there’s a lot there! You can make your own “praying through the window” month . . . in November, or July! Thanks for the reminder Claudia & Stayton!

THE BEST BOOK OF THE CENTURY

Now you can find out once and for all. Just write Andrew andrew.butcher@vuw.ac.nz before the end of the Century. He’ll compile the suggestions and report back to us here. Andrew’s also researching which book has been the most influential of the century. So feel free to give him your two cents!

LOOK WHAT’S HAPPENING FOR JAPAN

On November 8-11, 1999 over 150 missionaries. Japanese pastors and church leaders will gather for the 1999 Church Planting Institute National Conference. Some believe this will be the largest gathering of church planting missionaries in the history of Japan. The conference will be made up of over 40 mission agencies and denominations that are committed to a church planting movement in Japan. The conference will include worship, training, special speakers, fellowship, and resources to equip and support those involved in church planting ministry. Pray for the participants that God might work mightily and provide new answers for nagging problems in reaching Japanese and Japan. If you’d like more information about the conference, write Greg gfletcher@missionjapan.com.

CREATIVE PLUS WON’T SQUEAL

The folks at Creative Plus won’t squeal in your ear if you call them at 800-347-2848 (USA or Net2Phone). The number we listed for them previously was their fax number. Perhaps the easiest way to contact them is on the web at: http://www.creativeplus.com or by email BT@creativeplus.com. Sorry for any inconvenience!

CURSE FREE TV AND VIDEOS

A great new product for the Christian community just out on the market! Curse Free TV filters videos and TV programs for foul language, and fills in substitute words that will appear on your screen. Curse Free TV is a small black computerized box that connects to your TV through your VCR, automatically deletes more than 100 foul words and phrases from closed-caption signals. It works through VCRs, satellite receivers, cable box devices and DVD. Cost: $149.95. Check out http://www.dallascursefreetv.com. In the USA or via Net2Phone, call toll free 1-877-CURSEFREE or dial +1-504-347-8766 or email Fritz fritzb@gateway.net.

TO SUBSCRIBE — To subscribe to BRIGADA TODAY, send email to brigada-today-subscribe@egroups.com.

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COPYRIGHT — This issue of Brigada Today is Copyrighted © 2001. However, permission is granted to freely redistribute these materials, including those available through email autoresponders, provided that such redistribution is to those who will help the Good News of Christianity to reach the unreached. But please include this phrase: “For a free subscription of Brigada‘s weekly missions publication, write <brigada-today-subscribe@egroups.com>.”
IMPORTANT: To copy or reproduce Brigada Today for any other reason is illegal and is not permitted.

DISCLAIMER — Please note that there’s no way we can possibly screen all the text on all the web sites or items we recommend. We try to check them out first… but if we miss something, please don’t assume that the opinions on those sites are identical to those of the Brigada family of networks. “Eat the corn, leave the cob!”
For subscription questions or problems, write help@brigada.org.

SUBMITTING CONTENT — To submit content or ideas to Brigada Today, first please get a copy of “Guidelines for submitting items to Brigada” Then, once you’ve composed your item in keeping with those guidelines, send your item for Brigada Today to DLucas@teamexpansion.org.
Thanks to for hosting the Brigada mailing list.
Emphasis is placed on items relating to unreached peoples and challenges faced by those reaching them cross-culturally.

PLEASE DON’T SUBSCRIBE US TO YOUR LIST — It’s always better to ask before manually force-adding anyone to your list-serve or mailing list. Recently, tons of well-meaning people have been subscribing Doug to their lists. Since he often travels overseas, he doesn’t join many of those, for obvious reasons (like being charged big-time for overseas access). So as a general rule, please don’t bulk-mail us! See the note above if you’d like to submit items for Brigada Today. Thanks for understanding. Bottom line: We will never create Brigada Today items from bulk mail. Bulk mail gets deleted immediately — sorry. Nothing personal. We suggest you apply the same standard to everyone. Ask first!

WARNING ABOUT FORWARDING EMAILS — Please, before forwarding any kind of request (even if it says “please send this to all your friends”), please check to make sure it has a VERIFIABLE ORIGIN, a VERIFIABLE PURPOSE, and a VERIFIABLE CLOSURE (OPC). By following this simple approach, many “email viruses” could be nipped in the bud… at least in the Brigada family. More information about the full Brigada OPC protocol is available. Thank you.

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!