20001029 Brigada Today

In this issue….

JP2000 LIST TO BE FULLY “CLAIMED” BY MID-YEAR 2002

Thanks again to Dan Scribner, the data guy at AD2000 & Beyond for all the number crunching he’s doing in keeping track of the roughly 1500 groups on the Joshua Project 2000 list. In his October summary, he listed…

Peoples on active JP list – 1583
Peoples on active JP list no Church of 100 reported – 1096
Peoples on active JP list no reported on-site Church Planting team – 499
Peoples on active JP list not targeted or “claimed” end year 2000 – 233
Peoples on active JP list not targeted or “claimed” mid-year 2002 – 0

That last line is particularly promising. At the recent Strategy Task Force meeting in Amsterdam, 8 major ministries agreed to tackle the remaining untargeted groups by mid-year 2002. Though it doesn’t answer the initial challenge (a church for every people by the end of the year 2000), it at least suggests that someone will attempt to take responsibility for all these remaining groups within the next couple of years. Bravo to those groups . . . and bravo to AD2000 & Beyond! If you’d like a copy of the complete list of people groups, go on the web at http://www.ad2000.org/peoples/jpllist.pdf.

Note: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (available free on the web)

SOMEBODY AT PEOPLETEAMS READS BRIGADA

Okay… it’s confirmed… somebody at PeopleTeams reads Brigada.

In the Oct. 13th edition of Brigada Today (“PEOPLETEAMS NOW CONNECTING HUNDREDS OF MISSIONS SITES/PEOPLE“) we made a crack about how Brigada wasn’t listed in their “Toolbox” page and, lo and behold, this week they’ve added it!

Maybe this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship!

Seriously, we continue to be impressed by the networks they’re building. They’re now getting 100,000 hits each month and the majority of those readers are staying at least 3 to 4 minutes. I like their focus on working with local Christian leaders, their emphasis on developing partnerships, and guess what else — you can put in peopleteams.com, .org, or .net!

They set up new accounts in 48 hours flat… and they have tech support folks on call 24×7. Best of all, you can set up a new forum there for your own missions network for free by clicking to: http://www.peopleteams.org/form.html. Maybe the dream of Brigada-like sub-conferences will never be dead as long as peopleteams is alive!

BIOLA GRAD WORK IN EUROPE

Biola University and Greater Europe Mission wrote us this past week about their new educational partnership that will allow missionaries in and near Europe to receive quality education, training, and mentoring while they are engaged in their field ministries. Missionaries will be able (pending final accreditation approval) to earn either the MA degree in Intercultural Studies or the Doctor of Missiology degree entirely in Europe without the need to take classes on the Biola, California campus. A wide range of electives and degree emphases are possible in areas such as church planting, cross-cultural education, leadership, TESOL, apologetics, spiritual formation, Islamics, counseling, theology, and missionary care. The first classes will be held the fall of 2001 in Kandern, Germany, and subsequent classes will be offered on a January – end of May schedule each year. Students who study in Germany receive an automatic 1/3 tuition reduction. For additional information, write Steve SBeck@Gemission.com.

NOT JUST ANOTHER BIBLE CD

From what readers are telling us, Ken Hamel’s latest version of Online Bible is not “just another Bible CD.” And guess what — we’re hearing grand things about the MAC version. (Almost thou persuadest me. Almost

. But for now, I’ll stick to my Dell 3800.

) What’s more, he reportedly gives big-time discounts to overseas missionaries. (Someone said 50% off at times!) So if you’re in the market for a PC or MAC version of your old Thompson Chain Reference, but you want 150 commentaries and study books on the same CD, give a look to Ken’s work. http://www.bythebook.com and follow the links. You can even start out with the old King James version as a free demo! (Thanks for the tip, David!)

MUSLIM STUDIES AT COLUMBIA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Now you can get a graduate degree, made up of core courses on Islam, while choosing to study during the regular academic year, Summer Studies, Winterim (January) and/or by extension. Check them out for courses like “Church Planting Among Muslims,” Greg Livingstone, January 8-19, 2001. Columbia Institute Of Muslim Studies runs July 9-August 3, 2001. There you can get Introduction to Islam (Steve Johnson); Folk Islam (David Cashin); Muslim Evangelism (Phil Parshall); Apologetics for Muslim Ministry (John Gilchrist); Islam in America (Carl Ellis); and Revelation, Qur’an and Muslim Tradition (Sam Soloman). Brochures are available from muslimstudies@ciu.edu or by calling 800-777-2227 x3325. Or find them on the web at http://www.ciu.edu/programs/sem_ma_muslim.htm.

INSURANCE TO ASSURE FOR SURE

If you’re planning on traveling or living overseas, remember to check with your insurance provider first, since many policies specifically do not cover folks while they’re abroad. One provider who specializes in that coverage is World Outreach Christian Ministries, Inc. Ask about their Global Medical Insurance plan, complete with a complete package of U.S. style benefits including worldwide coverage designed for foreign nationals & expatriates, US $5 million lifetime coverage, emergency medical evacuation, and even coverage for repatriation. In the USA or via Net2Phone, call 800-641- 4614 or find them on the web at http://www.internationalhealthins.com

CHEAP MICROSOFT PROGRAMS FOR CHARITIES

According to an ICCM release http://www.egroups.com/group/iccm Microsoft has a new program available to 501(c)(3)charities, including religious organizations and the pricing is in many cases deeply discounted. For example, you can get Office 2000 Professional (Word/ Excel/ PowerPoint/ Access/ Outlook) for $65 for the full version, not an upgrade. This is a license to use the software, so you need to buy the Media Kit (installation CD’s) separately for about $30. But you only need to buy one, and then you can install it on as many computers as you buy licenses for. This is available from a number of different sources, e.g. Consistent Computer Bargains, http://www.ccbnonprofits.com/ in their information/product/flyers/current/MSMOLPE.pdf (Thanks for the tip, Tony!)

STUDY ENTREPRENEURSHIP & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

A three-week CEED seminar & ten-week School of Entrepreneurship & Economic Development is being planned for January 2001 in Israel! The goal of the CEED Seminar / School is to equip persons who are called to serve through the vehicle of business. Find out more on the web at http://www.ceed-uofn.org/ or email them at CEEDTraining@cs.com.

GREAT COMMISSION HANDBOOK

The new “Year 2001” edition of Into All The World, the annual Great Commission Opportunities Handbook, is now available for your use. It is 100-pages in length, and includes “Short-Term Missions Today” as a special 40-page Editorial Feature Section. In this new issue you’ll find 16 penetrating articles. Plus, there are 9 Mission Opportunities Comparison Charts. And, the 8-page Resource Product Section brings you 84 different books, videos and training manuals – half of them brand-new in this issue! All the copies you can effectively use come for the modest Shipping & Handling costs, plus (your budget permitting) a requested payment of 50 cents/copy ordered. To place your request for copies, send an email to Bill Berry, Publisher, at BerryMissions@aol.com. This new issue is especially helpful for students & young adults planning to attend the Urbana 2000 Missions Conference.

ASIAN AMERICAN MISSION MOBILIZER’S CONFERENCE

Are you involved in mobilizing Asian Americans for missions? Subscribe to the Asian American Mission Mobilizer’s Network aammn-subscribe@egroups.com and request a registration brochure for the conference in O’Hare, Chicago, Jan 1-2, 2001. Space is limited. For more information, contact davidro@juno.com or call 718-321-1755.

PRAYER GUIDE FOR XIAN (CHINA)

Here’s a great example of a local church taking the initiative to raise up prayer for an huge Asian city. Lake Arlington Baptist Church, in Arlington, Texas has completed a prayer guide for the city of Xian, China. It is a monthly hard copy, tent-fold card available, for free, from prayxian@pobox.com , if those who request will tell us the number of copies requested per month. With high-quality photographs and 4 prayer topics per month (2 prayer points under each topic including Scriptural basis for prayer), it is a topical prayer guide, directing the one praying to join in prayer for this needy city of 6.2 million people.

MORE ON ONLINE BIBLES

In the list of online scripture (last mentioned in the Oct. 13th edition, “MORE FREE ONLINE BIBLES”), we didn’t mention http://www.sbible.hotmail.ru which offers free downloadable translations of the Bible in Russian, Ukrainian and Slavic, as well as the KJV, the Luther Bible in German, and a Russian Bible dictionary, and more. (Thanks Sergej!) Also, Doug suggests we check out http://www.netbible.org with great study helps and the new online New English Translation (NET) Bible. It’s the first Bible to be placed online while in the process of being translated, and it includes translators’ notes as to why they chose the words they did. Great resource site.

WORLD’S FIRST ‘LIFE OF CHRIST’ IN AUDIO

ASI has just completed what is probably the world’s first, complete “Life of Christ” in audio from a harmony of the Synoptic Gospels. ASI has put together a beautiful, accurate “Life of Christ” in an attractive three-cassette album. The genius of this arrangement is that everything said in the three gospels, (Matthew, Mark and Luke) is arranged on the tape as is done in a printed harmony of the gospels without duplication of the parallel passages. The narrator is Dan Wagner, reading from the beloved King James Version of the Bible. For more information contact Audio Scriptures International in California at: asi-ca@xc.org or at P. O. Box 640634, Escondido, CA 92046 or go to the web at http://www.audioscriptures.org.

LEARN TO TEACH ENGLISH

A TESOL course will again be offered at Youth With A Mission, Lebanon, Pa USA from June 18 to July 13, 2001. For more information, write davidbbauman@cs.com or YWAM, 870 Jay St, Lebanon, PA 17046 USA or tel. 717-272-3153.

CATCH THE ART OF DISCIPLESHIP, THEN PUT IT INTO USE

The YWAM folks in PA are also offering a CrossroadsDiscipleship School April 23 to July 13, 2001 with an eight week outreach to the Muslim Tatar people of Ukraine. The cost of the lecture phase is $2,495.00 per person plus $25.00 per person registration fee. The outreach has an additional cost of approximately $2,000.00 per person. See the contact information in the item above.

CALLBACK PROGRAMS: READ THE FINE PRINT

Thanks to Terry for his testimony about the “fine print” on one callback service (IConnect.com). Apparently, they zero out your advance deposit once it has been idle for six months. Ouch!

THE “TRAVEL DOCTOR” MAKES HOUSE CALLS

by e-mail, that is.

In response to requests from overseas clients, these Travel Medicine specialists have instituted a plan for instant medical consultation. Whether it is a child with a fever of 103 or where to find a qualified orthopedic surgeon, these folks will find you an answer within 24 hours of your fax or e-mail. The annual subscription costs $75 to $150, depending on the size of your family, and includes a monthly e-mail newsletter of health tips for expatriates. For details, contact info@travdoc.com. In the States, call 877-TRAVDOC.

EDITOR TO LEAD VOLGA RIVER CRUISE

Moscow, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, and St. Petersburg will be ports of call on a Volga River cruise through Russia’s heartland, July 10-23, 2001. Dr. Mark Elliott, director of the Global Center at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, will serve as guide and lecturer for the trip, the seventh he has led to Russia since 1981. As well as tours of historic churches and cultural monuments, the voyage will include a half day with a Samford University mission team working in a summer camp for Russian orphans, a stop at a new Baptist church in Yaroslavl partially funded by American donations, and a visit in Kostroma with Father Georgi Edelstein, a Russian Orthodox priest and longtime friend of the tour director. The cost of $3,495 per person includes comfortable, double- occupancy ship cabins, roundtrip airfare from Atlanta, visa processing, and all ground transportation, lodging, meals, gratuities, and guides in Russia. For additional information contact jimartin@samford.edu. For more information on the Global Center and conditions facing Russian orphans consult the Center’s web site at http://www.samford.edu/groups/global.

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