miIn this issue…
1. TRAINING IN MICROFINANCE AND MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
2. IMPROVED “MULTI-TRIP” INT’L HEALTH INSURANCE FOR MISSION LEADERS
3. TEACHERS: SHINE HIS LIGHT IN KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
4. ANOTHER STREAMING MUSIC WORSHIP SITE ON THE NET
5. HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN DELIVERS
6. FOR THOSE WHO SPEAK OR WANT TO SERVE AMONG THE CHINESE
7. TEAMS FIXING COMPUTERS AT MISSIONS CONFERENCE IN THAILAND
8. PROTECTING YOUR COMPUTER
9. EVANGELISM TRAINING FOR JAPANESE CHRISTIANS IN N. AM.
10. FIND YOUR PATH TO THE NATIONS
11. TEACH (ENGLISH) TO REACH (THE NATIONS)
12. SICK AND TIRED OF SPAM?
13. PUBLISHER HELPS YOU REACH MORE PEOPLE
14. WE GET LIFTED UP!
15. WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP ENABLE BRIGADA PAY THE BILLS?
16. THE BACKPAGE: BABY STEPS
17. CLOSING STUFF
1. TRAINING IN MICROFINANCE AND MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT — Equip your church or ministry with the tools you need to promote financial self-sufficiency in poor communities. Get training from the Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College from June 13 – June 18, 2005 in Lookout Mountain, GA USA. You will engage in hands-on training through interactive discussion and simulation of real-world issues taught by field practitioners. Their Two-Thirds World/ Track focuses on providing small business training to low-income entrepreneurs, savings-led microfinance programs, rotating savings and credit associations, and microfinance institution partnership. Chalmers partners include Food for the Hungry International, World Relief and World Vision US. To register, email chalmers(at)covenant(dot)edu [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .] or visit http://www.chalmers.org (Don’t forget, Chalmers is a regular Brigada sponsor. By taking part in their programs, and by telling them, “I heard about you via Brigada”, you’re also kind of helping us keep Brigada heading out the door and onto your screen. Thanks Chalmers Center!)
2. IMPROVED “MULTI-TRIP” INT’L HEALTH INSURANCE FOR MISSION LEADERS -– Now you can take unlimited trips outside the USA for up to 70 days per trip and have access to contracted doctors in 160 countries. The plan provides medical evacuation and $250k of medical coverage. Available in 36 of 50 US States. For more information contact: jeff(at)gninsurance(dot)com or call 480/813-9100. [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .] Toll free in USA: 866/636-9100. And no matter where you live, you can always visit http://www.gninsurance.com
3. TEACHERS: SHINE HIS LIGHT IN KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — Here’s an international school providing quality K4 through high school education. This is the 1st time in Afghanistan that local students as well as expats can attend this kind of school. More than half of the students are Afghan nationals, many from homes of government officials! One of the teachers writes, “These children in our classes will be the future leaders in this country!” Unfortunately, many children are turned away due to a shortage of teachers. Only 2 of the 16 teachers needed are available to start the new school year in August ’05. Teachers who come with support from their churches and friends are preferred, but some help is available to those who can’t raise enough money to come by August ’05. For more info, contact Joel at Network of International Christian Schools (1-800-887-6427): info(at)nics(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .] http://www.nics.org
4. ANOTHER STREAMING MUSIC WORSHIP SITE ON THE NET — Thanks to Andrew, who this past week informed us of another all-free site, with even more choices (8 different “genres”, including Celtic worship, rock, light worship, etc.) and no commercials. http://www.cmradio.net/ This particular site has a great additional feature in that you can see the CD and title of the song currently playing. Very cool. So this brings to *two* our list of online (free) streaming worship music. Yahoooo! :-) (Confession: Personally, I’m somewhat a fan of Riverdance, so I’m trying out the celtic-style worship channel. Cool! Riverdance with a Christian twist! :-) Didn’t even know it existed! Shouldn’t this help our workers in Ireland?) (Thanks Andrew!!!)
5. HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN DELIVERS — Thanks to the family that signed up for discount health services at “Delivering on the Promise.” As more people become aware of their affordable alternatives to expensive health insurance plans, they hope continue blessing Brigada. (They just sent a check for $5.99 representing a sponsorship/commission from a Brigada participant! Thanks, wherever you are!) For more information, check out: http://www.deliveringonthepromise.com/40207930
6. FOR THOSE WHO SPEAK OR WANT TO SERVE AMONG THE CHINESE — Go to http://www.cnwave.com to find a teaching job in China or to find the most qualified foreign teacher(s) for your school. It’s free to post messages at cnwave.com! And here’s a tip if you’re not as fluent in Chinese: Check out the “English” button in the upper right-hand corner. I found it *exceedingly* helpful. :-)
7. TEAMS FIXING COMPUTERS AT MISSIONS CONFERENCE IN THAILAND — David is the leader of a team from Australia planning to fix missionaries’ computers during conferences held in Thailand during the Chinese New Year (around Jan 21- Feb 4) in early 2006. David will be in Chiang Mai between May 24-26 and would love to meet anyone leading such conferences while he is there. If you are interested, please email him at ithelp(at)crosscape(dot)com(dot)au, even if you won’t be able to meet in person. [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .] For more about Crosscape see http://www.crosscape.com.au/
8. PROTECTING YOUR COMPUTER — Thanks to faithful Brigada participant, Kevin, for giving us the lowdown on the latest “must-have” software to protect you from the hazards on the net these days. He feels that Internet Explorer is no longer a secure web browser as it has been exploited & targeted in most hack attacks. As a result, he suggests that users would be wise to switch to another browser, “mozilla”, for increased security and better functionality. http://www.mozilla.org Now on the other side of the coin, there are those who feel this is not a cure-all either, as mozilla has recently taken its own share of attacks too. So you make the final decision. As for email clients, again… Kevin believes that again, Microsoft Outlook Express has been surpassed in quality by Mozilla Thunderbird. This program is similar to Outlook Express except Kevin believes it is more secure and, like Microsoft Outlook, it has spam filters built in. What’s more, he feels many Internet vandals design their viruses, Trojan horses, and backdoors for Microsoft products. As a result, he believes Mozilla projects have stayed “under the radar”, at times, thereby remaining superior for security. Again… http://www.mozilla.org
As for virus software, Kevin recommends Avast is one of the best virus software applications on the market and it’s free for personal use! This company makes their money by selling corporate licenses but offers their personal virus software for free. Once installed, return to the website to register for your free 14 month license. The software is a real-time scanner with daily virus definition updates. http://www.avast.com
For your firewall needs, Kevin recommends Zone Alarm Basic, since it’s free and easy to install and setup. (A firewall keeps someone from actively probing into your system via your connection to the Internet.) http://www.zonealarm.com
Heard about AdWare/Spyware? Kevin suggests Ad-Aware. It’s a free download, and is one of the best scanners on the Internet, utilizing an easy-to-use interface and a fully update-able definition core. Download it free from download.com and then visit the tips link below to learn how to configure. (P.S. you don’t need to pay for this. If you click on the “pay now” link it will send you to the download page for Ad-Aware SE PLUS. The A-W SE Personal will do fine.) (Note that the following 2 URLs will be broken up when they “wrap”. You’ll have to reassemble them in your browser’s “Address:” line by using copy-and-paste:
http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4- 10045910.html?tag=txt
http://www.download.com/Protect-your-PC-with-Ad-Aware/1200-2023_4- 5144156.html?tag=txt
Kevin recommends CyberSitter for web-filtering, so you don’t get tricked into seeing junk that you didn’t want to see… and so you’re not tempted to see stuff you wish you hadn’t. It’s not free, ($50.00/one time fee) but Kevin figures it’s the best and well worth it.
Three cheers to Kevin for taking time to help. He’s willing to help ministers and missionaries if they have additional questions. He’s a former network engineer & user support technician for a major university. Write him at kevinmullins1(at)gmail(dot)com [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .] Thanks Kevin!
9. EVANGELISM TRAINING FOR JAPANESE CHRISTIANS IN N. AM. — Catch it in Seattle over Memorial Day weekend, sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ. This will occur through a combination of classroom instruction, one-on-one practice, observing a coach share with a non-Christian Japanese and an opportunity for the conferee to share the gospel with Japanese befriended at planned social events and on trips to visit the sights in Seattle with the assistance of a “coach”. For a brochure, go to http://www.TheJapanNet.com. For questions, contact John.Whitehouse(at)uscm(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
10. FIND YOUR PATH TO THE NATIONS — Living Faith Bible College’s Pathfinder program is an 8-month blended exploratory program launching the September of 2005. 12 weeks are spent in discipleship training, team building, gifts and callings exploration, and formative bible and missions courses. The other 6 weeks are spent in outdoor pursuits training in the Canadian Rockies and 6 weeks in the nation of Turkey doing outreach with university students and some historical/cultural study. This is an exciting opportunity for those interested in finding out where they might fit in cross-cultural missions and the Muslim world while also being further grounded and discipled in a team setting. Graduates receive college credit and a one year Bible and Missions Certificate and the option to continue on in the college’s other programs. Feel free to call 1-800-838-2975 or 1-403-722-2225 for more information or request information from info(at)lfbc(dot)net [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .] or visit http://www.lfbc.net
11. TEACH (ENGLISH) TO REACH (THE NATIONS) — “Teach to Reach” Nations are crying out for English teachers. You can reach them with the gospel as you teach English. Now you can get the training you need to teach effectively in TESOL courses like this one. Courses will be offered June 13 through July 8 at YWAM Lebanon, Pennsylvania, USA. Additional information and application forms can be found at http://www.ywampa.org or e-mail questions to ywampa(at)comcast(dot)Net [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
12. SICK AND TIRED OF SPAM? — I am. I think everybody is. What’s spam? Basically — it’s a piece of marketing email (or other kind of “listserve” email) that comes to you that you didn’t really ask for. There are actually two issues here. First, how can you limit the spam you’ll get — proactively. First, never, never, never respond to unsolicited email. Since it confirms that your email address is active, it makes your address more valuable and susceptible to receiving more spam. And no matter how tempting it might seem, never follow a spam email’s instructions to reply with the word “remove” or “unsubscribe” on the email’s subject line or body unless you trust the source. This is often a ploy to get you to confirm your address as active, which makes your address more valuable when the spammer sells it. And here’s a *very* important one: Never, never, never click a URL or web address listed within a spam email, even if the message says that’s how you unsubscribe. This also alerts the sender that your email address is active and can result in more spam. Also, never send your personal information (credit card numbers, passwords, etc.) in an email. Some spammers fake the format of trusted sites to get you to enter personal information in an email. Most reputable sites will not ask you to enter sensitive information in an email. It’s also useless to sign up with sites that promise to remove your name from spam lists. Most of these sites are actually address collectors who will sell your address to spammers! The rascals. :-) Remember that if you participate in some kind of online discussion group (forum) where your email address is in plain site, you’re toast. Spammers use sophisticated software to search the web far and wide for likely addresses to add to their lists. If yours occurs anywhere on the web, they’ll find it. Even if your email address isn’t plainly visible in your online discussion group, sometimes you might forget and include it in the text. Don’t.
In spite of your best efforts, you’ll still receive spam. Sometimes, it’s because a well-meaning friend included your address in some “Alert a friend of this deal” page … maybe a web-greeting-card, or a “send a copy of this” or whatever. So how do you get off of lists once you’re on? That’s the sad part. It’s nearly impossible (on today’s Internet; things are slated to get better in 2006 when domains begin to be verifiable). However, you can trim the amount of spam you get *significantly* by using a first class antispam program like onlymyemail.com. (We don’t receive a kickback from them for recommending them. They’re just plain good though.) For $3/mo., you can be rid of practically all your spam by signing up with them today. Just go to onlymyemail.coma and follow the instructions. When you notice spam getting through, log the address as a “blocked” address there in your account. At least it’ll help you feel better psychologically. And maybe only 2 or 3 spams/day will get through their filter anyway. Either way, it’ll help. It’s the best.
13. http://onlymyemail.com PUBLISHER HELPS YOU REACH MORE PEOPLE — www.Godsize.com is a revolutionary new “public publishing company.” Not only will they pay you and publish your stories, but they’ll give free advertising for your ministry and a free copy of their next ebook, “Godsize Stories from Around the World.” ($9 Value) Download your copy now and be reading it in minutes! (Complete details: http://www.godsize.com/sampleforministries.html )
14. WE GET LIFTED UP! — Thanks to the great new partners from Rockford, IL, Andrews, NC, and Elkhart, IN who sent $26, $50 and $100 respectively to help us get Brigada out the door and onto your screens! Dial-Abroad sent their monthly sponsorship, this time $171, representing those who use “Dial-Abroad” long distance. (Thanks and please keep talking! :-) ) Also this past week, we rec’d gifts of $25, and $200 (Thanks Greenville, TX!) Thanks, too, to the donor from WEC Int’l reported on previously. Those WEC folks have *heart*!
15. WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP ENABLE BRIGADA PAY THE BILLS? — If you’d like to help make Brigada reality for next week and beyond, just click “sponsor” (to use PayPal or a credit card), or just send a check payable to Team Expansion to: Team Expansion (Brigada secretary), 13711 Willow Reed Dr., Louisville, KY 40299. Thanks! As always, be sure to let us know if you’d like us to promote any particular service or ministry, or if you’d prefer your gift be anonymous.
16. THE BACKPAGE: BABY STEPS — I don’t like vulgar language. So I’m not telling you to go out and rent the movie, “What About Bob?”. “The language is deplorable in certain segments.” But who can forget Bill Murray’s character (“Bob Wiley”) as he tries to faithfully carry out his psychiatrist’s instructions: “Baby Steps, Bob. Baby steps.”
For the psychiatrist, Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss), it’s the title of his new book. (He uses the term, “Baby Steps”, to teach that his theory that anxiety disorders develop as a result of being overwhelmed by life’s stressors. By breaking down those hurdles into much smaller problems (i.e. baby steps) life can seem less stressful and easier with which to cope. We won’t get into a discussion of whether such a self- help concept is psychologically very helpful. But it makes a great “hat hook” for our next point about “finishing.”
You see, I’m of the opinion that many of us get stymied by huge projects partly because they look so huge. That’s why one of my major recommendations last week was to break up a major project into more manageable sub-goals. Common sense, I know. But for some reason, we lose sight of it in the midst of the major projects sometimes. We ended last week by suggesting that once you’ve finished a project or even a sub-goal, how can you leverage that finish to move on to the next challenge. This week, let’s look at 3 ways to do that:
*** Take a break — When you finish a sub-step or major hurdle in a big project you’re trying to finish, take a rest to get away and get a fresh perspective. We don’t want any burn-outs on our hands. :-) For me, I can get that fresh perspective through taking a walk in the woods, reading about any number of things on the web, playing soccer, etc. You’ll need to find the dynamic equivalent in your own life. But see the next step..
*** Restart — Before you head off for that break, however, be sure you know what will “restart” your next step of the project. For example, in my own case, I’ll restart my next step of my dissertation when the university gives me the green light to proceed with the questionnaire/survey. What will trigger your own project’s next step?
*** Set an alarm to be a “squeaky wheel” — You know the saying: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Figure out a way to alert yourself if too much time passes while you’re waiting for the trigger to happen. In my own case, I verified that the university had received my 3 chapters. So — yes, now the ball is in their court, and they’ve promised to respond within 4 weeks. So I need an alarm that goes off in 4 weeks so if they haven’t, the project doesn’t fail because of a trigger. Take responsibility. If you don’t, maybe no one else will.
In Bob Wiley’s case, the “vacation” to Dr. Marvin’s summer cottage was very therapeutic, in spite of (or almost *because* of) all the misadventures with Dr. Marvin. By dividing up your next big projects into baby steps, then taking suitable breaks between steps, you *can* finish on time. But how do you keep from that feeling that you are a slave to the clock? More on that next week.
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