20000102 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 (but made public on 21 March 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.

BRIGADA LOGO CONTEST

You’re invited to help design a new Brigada logo for our web page, brochures, displays, etc. Use your imagination… the sky’s the limit. Just submit your logo as a tif, gif or jpg file by uploading it at this site: http://www.egroups.com/docvault/brigada-today/logo Be sure to also upload an ASCII txt file (use the same name but append “-text” to the file name) noting your name, organization or company, email address and any specifics of your proposal. The winning logo artist will be credited on the Brigada logo page throughout the entire year 2000 — at https://brigada.org. Artwork will be judged on the basis of its clarity and ability to convey a message in keeping with Brigada‘s ethos. All those submitting artwork will be recognized in a future Brigada Today, regardless of whether or not their particular artwork is chosen. Deadline for submitting work: Feb 29th, 2000. So “leap into action!”

Thanks for your help in advancing the Brigada family!

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO REGISTER FOR BRIGADAFEST

Where else can you catch Adopt-a-people Clearinghouse, AD2000 & Beyond, Caleb Project, Antioch Network, Interdev, Team Expansion, unreached people tracks like Friends of Bosnia and Kosovo Action Partnership, missions-active churches and more all under one roof!?! Browse over to http://www.teamexpansion.org and click on the BrigadaFest info to find out how to get started. The date is Feb. 3-5 — so you’d better get cruisin’! If you snooze you lose. Bring your missions committee — because BrigadaFest is your ticket to adopting an unreached people group. If you aren’t web-connected, email Angela AKeeran@TeamExpansion.org or fax her at 502-297-9823 in the USA. Be patient. Her machine is a busy little guy these days.

DESPERATELY DEFINING MISSIOLOGY

Got a clear definition of the word missiology? Bertist bcrigo@aol.com would like to know. Send it to him and, Bertist, in 10 days or so, please drop us a note with your finalized version. Thanks!

TRY THE “BIGZOO” FOR GREAT PHONE RATES

Macon, from New Tribes Mission, highly recommends http://www.bigzoo.com for your USA- originated long-distance needs. They charge just 3.9 cents per minute and according to Macon, the service is clear as a bell. Furthermore, you can track your statement using the web. You do have to pay a .55 cent fee if calling from a pay phone. But from anywhere else it is .039 cents a minute. Note that this service requires you to dial a toll-free number each time you make a long-distance call. Also, you have to use it at least once every six months to keep it active. Calling to/from Hawaii and Alaska is more. Overseas calls are more too — but still relatively inexpensive. Check it out! Thanks Macon!

ADOPT-A-VILLAGE YIELDS BIG-TIME FRUIT

During the first eighteen months of a new unique and focused Bible Listening effort in India, over 1,200 new believers have been baptized. Paul, with Adopt-A- Village, reports that a unique method of supervised Bible listening among largely non-literate village people is meeting one of the largest challenges facing the Christian church today: how to give non-readers access to the content of Scripture itself. For more information about how your missions agency can become involved, contact Paul aav@mill.net.

INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES 2000

Want to study Islam in the 1040 Window? Try the April 10th – June 2nd sessions at Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in Baguio City, Philippines. The 8-week intensive Institute features a distinctive emphasis on spiritual preparation for ministry within and to the Muslim World. Instructors include Dr. Jim Bennett, Dr. Robert Douglas, Harry Morin, Vivienne Stacey, Dr. Don McCurry, Dr. Phil Parshall and Faouzi Arzouni. Qualified participants may earn up to 9 graduate credits toward their masters level program. The registration deadline is March 01, 2000. For more info, write apts@xc.org.

LOOKING FOR A WHEELED CARRY-ON FOR YOUR LAPTOP?

Have you noticed that several airlines are now cracking down on carry-on sizing? Yikes.

You’d think we were criminals, trying to smuggle drugs on board or something. They stop us at the top of the jetway and say something like, “What in the world are you thinking? You want to take that elephant-sized bag on-board our jet! Here — let us check it for you…” and before you know it, there goes your laptop, whisked out of your hands, headed for the frozen nose of a pointed metro-commuter jump-jet. Well I’ve had enough of it. This past week, I did some research on the web to determine the maximum size for which I’d be arrested at the gate.

(Okay… maybe I’m exaggerating a tad.) Then I started shopping. I checked with Targus, Port, Samsonite, and a zillion other names. I finally splurged with the “Samsonite Wheeled Notebook case”, Samsonite item #141111465. It’s just a hair above the minimalist 9×14 requirement that the roughest airlines are enforcing. My Dell Inspiron (with the 14.1″ screen) fits neatly within the padded laptop pocket, with space left over inside the deep cavity for all my toothbrush gear and a change of clothes or two, . . . and even the obligatory pair of soccer cleats. (Don’t leave home without ’em!) There are a couple of front pockets for cell phones and PDAs, the in-line skate wheel system to save your back and a retractable handle to buzz you down the hall at O’Hair. Or is it… O’Hare. Anyway… I found the best price (I think) at USA-based Best Buy (888-237-8289, 24 hrs/day, 7 days/week), their item 3625125. Those ordering from outside the USA might be able to get a USA-based friend to buy it and ship it to them. I can’t wait to look that next space-happy flight attendant in the eye. “Go ahead… Make my day.”

HELP FOR THOSE INVOLVED IN MISSIONARY PREPARATION

Now you can get a free list of helpful links for missionary candidate preparation, thanks to Grace gracew@idmail.com and her awesome compiling capability. (Thanks Grace!) Just send a blank email to: candidate-prep@brigada.org and the 4K file will be sent immediately to your inbox by our faithful and loyal computer robot (thanks to Bob Mayhew and his effective programming skills! Thanks Bob!).

A GLOBAL GLIMPSE TAKE OF TWO CITIES

A Turkish family in Europe accepted Christ while listening to a gospel radio broadcast. Anxious about how to break the news of his salvation to his Muslim parents in Turkey, the husband wrote to Trans World Radio for advice. The counselor who read that letter had received another note from an elderly couple in Turkey, explaining how they had received Christ as a result of gospel radio broadcasts. Noting the two letter writers had the same last name, the counselor realized the man in Europe would have no trouble explaining his salvation to his parents. They had accepted Christ at about the same time as their son.
(Source: Dec. 18, 1999 ADVANCE Newsletter, Kainos Press. https://brigada.org)
Global Glimpse is compiled by John Hanna, Caleb Project, Littleton, CO.

MUSIC FOR THE CROSS-CULTURED

Interested in effectively using music in your cross-cultural work? Take a week of training in Applied Ethnomusicology through the Center for Intercultural Training International in N. Carolina. The course provides the philosophy and tools for cross-cultural music ministry and can be taken by anyone interested in music and missions, even without formal musical training. Topics to be covered include research, planning and strategies for music ministry; music workshops; strategies for developing and disseminating indigenous Christian music; and more. The second part of the week will focus on the specific areas of the world that the students are interested in, so some of the content will be “tailor-made” to the needs of each student. The course will be offered twice this year through CITI, March 27-31 and October 23-27. For more info, check out “Ethnic Music” at http://www.worship-arts-network.com or go to the class website at http://www.citi.org.

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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!”
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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!