19991219 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! Founded 25 January 1995, 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.

CHECK OUT THE SCHEDULE FOR BRIGADAFEST 2000

Want to check out the new info. on BrigadaFest? Just go to http://www.teamexpansion.org and click on BrigadaFest in the lower lefthand corner. Make sure you check out the “New” information too! Registration forms are there, along with a handy way to register via the web. Attend BrigadaFest 2000 and meet all your Brigada buddies! Hear Greg Fritz and a crew from Caleb Project, representatives from AD2000 & Beyond, Antioch Network, and Interdev, along with missions ministers from all kinds of churches. Oh… I almost forgot… hear Doug Lucas set a charge for the new century! Take part in planning sessions, learn to network, figure out how to form partnerships… all for just $70 registration (which even covers several of your meals!). For more information, see the web or write an email to brigadafest@brigada.worldchurches.org. To speak to a real human after January 3rd, write info@TeamExpansion.org. See ya in Louisville, Feb. 3-5!

CHRISTMAS-GREETINGS UPDATE

Thanks to Jake and all those who have pitched in, the multi-lingual Christmas greetings file has now grown to include greetings in over 150 languages plus many have been corrected to be a bit more accurate. To receive your copy, send a simple email to christmas-greetings@brigada.worldchurches.org. Oh . . . and thanks again Jake!

MINI-PERSPECTIVES LEADER’S GUIDE NOW AVAILABLE

The Leader’s Guide to the Path to God’s Glory mini-perspectives Bible-study course is now available. This study has been sent to over 25 countries worldwide since first mentioned on Brigada Today two months ago. The course is designed for individual, classroom, and small-group study and can be used in either a four or eight-week format. The leader’s guide will assist in both classroom and small-group studies. To order the study and/or leader’s guide, please call 1-800-366-9673 or email PathToGodsGlory@juno.com.

MOBILIZATION MEETINGS FOR MISSION LEADERS

Are you a missions leader wanting to influence others to get involved in reaching unreached peoples? The Network for Strategic Missions would like to help you. 757-226-5002; Email: The_Networkio@compuserve.com.
(Source: Bill Waldrop, Facilitator of International Ministries, Mission America)

SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT REACH FOR LIFE

“Life Foundations for the New Millennium,” a Reach for Life evangelistic TV program will be seen on December 30 and Janaury 1 and 2 on TV networks (STAR World, STAR Plus, Australian TV International, TV Africa, Rhema, RPN, PTV, EM-TV, VCT, CCN, TVJ, and more) in Asia, Africa, Pacific, Caribbean, and the Middle East. This is a half-hour program featuring spiritual philosopher, professor, Ramesh Richard speaking on building your life on the right foundation. Viewers can learn about Jesus Christ and also get a FREE GIFT when they respond. To get more information on times and schedules and countries available, check out the website http://www.rameshrichard.com or send an email to info@rreach.org with the subject line:
Telecast Schedule.

If you want to get involved by being a prayer partner for this event, send an email to info@rreach.org with the subject line:
Telecast Prayer.

Reach for Life is a ministry of Ramesh Richard Evangelism and Church Helps International to evangelize opinion leaders of weaker economies.

MILLENNIAL TRIBUTE TO JESUS AIRS

Beginning December 23rd, 1999, the Millennial Tribute to Jesus began airing in more than 150 countries to a potential viewing audience of more than 500 million people. The Millennial Tribute to Jesus is the result of the vision of Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ and Paul Eshleman of The JESUS Film Project to put together a worldwide telecast of a special edition of the JESUS Film on Christmas Day 1999. The production, global distribution and follow up of this special edition of The JESUS Film is being coordinated by The Network for Strategic Missions based in Virginia Beach, VA. It features 50 famous political, entertainment and sports figures of different religious faiths, each giving tribute to the life, character and influence of Jesus. MTJ Task Forces in each country will facilitate the activity of more than 500 organizations partnering together to respond to those who, after watching the program, desire to learn more on the life of Jesus. For more information on air times in your country, and to join others in making a tribute to Jesus, visit http://www.thetribute.com, where you can also join in a global conversation about the influence of Jesus in the world over the past 2,000 years.

ONLINE TRANSLATORS

There are a number of online translators which can machine-translate text or a web page into a number of other languages. They are at best, very quirky, and only give the ‘gist’ of the meaning. Follow the link below to try them out. Also, very valuable is the BabyloNet instant single-word translator. This will translate any word on a web page that you click on, into any of 9 languages. See it working at: https://brigada.org/today/articles/web-dictionary.html. It needs version4+ browsers, and seems to be happier in Netscape.

TRAIN TO SERVE AND EQUIP

Eagles Nests School of Missions is a unique 35-week course of study held in Butler, IL, with an optional 3 month mission assignment. This center provides a place where people from the US and around the world are able to come and learn basic Bible doctrine and ministry skills, as well as agricultural skills and alternative technologies, such as solar applications and greenhouse management. This combined training will equip the students to assist national pastors in Third World countries by allowing them to be more self-sufficient and able to better function regardless of economic, social or political situations. Classes begin March 2000. For further information, or a school catalog, contact Steven Schmidt, 220 Union St., Butler, IL 62015, (217) 532-6701 or e-mail at schmidt@cillnet.com.

RECYCLE YOUR CHRISTIAN MATERIALS

If you’ve ever wondered what to do with Christian materials that you no longer use, Love Packages (a division of Eagle Nest Ministries) is your answer! Love Packages collects used (and new) Christian literature and sends it overseas to needy churches and Christian ministries. Bibles, tracts, select magazines, devotionals, Sunday School and flannel graph materials, and Christian books and tapes are accepted. Love Packages has sent over 2500 tons of materials overseas since 1975, resulting in thousands of salvations. For further information, contact Steven Schmidt, Love Packages, 220 Union St., Butler, IL 62015, (217) 532-6701, or e-mail at schmidt@cillnet.com.

ESEND.ORG READY FOR BUSINESS

ESend.org, a start-up nonprofit Christian organization based in Southern California, is making available its secure and encrypted Web-based services for connecting missionaries and their supporters. ESend’s comprehensive features include, among others, secure Web-based email, ESend Express (secure instant messaging), and a customizable and personalized bulletin board system capable of multimedia attachments. This is the first time these services are brought together into one secured website where people can freely share with each other in a private and low-risk manner without any other software but their Web browser. For more information, browse https://www.esend.org/press.html or write info@esend.org for details. Contact Ted Liao, tliao@esend.org for further questions.

FREE MISSION LESSONS ONLINE!

Want a fresh activity to get students excited about reaching the world? Has Wycliffe Bible Translators got some “Bright Ideas!” for you! They are pleased to provide fun, interactive lessons from simulations to stories, ethnic meals to hilarious games, slight-of-hand stunts to crafts to linguistic problem solving. Easy-to-follow instructions, minimal outside preparation, masters for overheads and handouts, and thought-provoking Discussion and Application Sections make these useful for teachers, parents, missionary speakers and pastors. Download and print one free “Bright Ideas!” lesson from each notebook every month at http://www.wycliffe.org/parents/BrightIdeas.htm. All three of the complete 10-lesson notebooks (Teen-Adult, Grades 1-6, Preschool) may also be purchased by calling 1-800-WYCLIFFE, (1-800-992-5433) or write to: jalander@teleport.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>.”
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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!”
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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.
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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!