- AN ANNUAL TALKING BIBLE SUNDAY
- MATERNITY COVERAGE FOR INT’L WORKERS (NO WAITING PERIOD)
- IN SEARCH OF EMERALD HILLS (RANKED 7TH ON GOOGLE??)
- NEED TO COMMUNICATE WHEN IN REMOTE AREAS?
- PROFESSIONAL COACHING AND COACH TRAINING FOR MISSIONARIES
- GEAR UP FOR TEACHING ENGLISH
- WANT TO GIVE FEEDBACK ON JUSTIN’S “MOMENTUM MAGAZINE”
- MUSLIM STUDIES INTENSIVE COURSES USA SUMMER 06
- IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES! THE COLOURED OF NAMIBIA
- SMALL NETWORK GOT YOU DOWN? WORK SOME MAGIC
- PARTNERS MAKE OUR WORLD GO ‘ROUND
- WOULD YOUR LOCAL CHURCH MAKE A ONECE-A-YEAR GIFT TO BRIGADA?
- THE BACK PAGE: EASTER BUNNIES, EGGS, BC/AD, AND JESUS
- CLOSING STUFF
- AN ANNUAL TALKING BIBLE SUNDAY — Talking Bibles International continues to urge churches, both large and small, to observe a Talking Bible Sunday. This special Sunday does two things: 1) Helps people in our churches become aware that there are millions of Christians living in oral cultures who need Bibles in audio because they are non-readers. 2) That Sunday’s special offering helps supply the funds required to provide the thousands of Talking Bibles in needed languages. A Talking Bible Sunday kit, including a free Talking Bible, is available to encourage and assist churches that observe a Talking Bible Sunday. Visit:
— contact: info(at)talkingbibles(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
- MATERNITY COVERAGE FOR INT’L WORKERS (NO WAITING PERIOD) — Almost all international health insurance plans require a 12 month waiting period before maternity is covered. A new company is now offering coverage with the only requirement that the insured is not expecting as of the effective date of the policy. The plan covers one hundred percent of maternity costs. The rates on this policy are very reasonable and, depending on state residency, provides permanent coverage in the USA as well as overseas with no limitations. 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. Visit
- IN SEARCH OF EMERALD HILLS (RANKED 7TH ON GOOGLE??) — Faithful readers will recall our item a few weeks back regarding what it was like to be listed so low in the rankings on Google. Those who searched for “Emerald Hills” at google.com inevitably found our new missions prayer & retreat center to be listed way down around URL #65 or even lower. (Item 14 in the Jan. 13 Brigada Today). Is my Google just teasing me now… or if you now go to google.com and type in “Emerald Hills”, does it now come up to the 7th-ranked item? Either way, stop by and check out the latest. See our plans to kick off a huge prayer & missions emphasis using prayer shelters (actually gazebos), tablet computers, and a prayer center. Find it by going to Google.com, searching for Emerald Hills, then looking about 7 items down to find emeraldhills.info in the list. (How does Google decide those page ranks anyway? :-) )
- NEED TO COMMUNICATE WHEN IN REMOTE AREAS? — Satellite phone technology allows you to make calls and send data (connect to the internet or send text messages) from anywhere in the world! Phones start off at $749 and range from $1 to 13 cents per minute. Learn more at
According to Aaron, each purchase that goes through him will provide Brigada with a $25 donation! Contact him at avorbau(at)daywireless(dot)com or 1-916-871-2447 or 1-800-503-3433 for more information. [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .] (How ’bout that! Thanks Aaron!)
- PROFESSIONAL COACHING AND COACH TRAINING FOR MISSIONARIES — Tired of expensive conferences and training that produce too little lasting change in you and your ministry effectiveness? One-on-one coaching is individualized learning based on your agenda, your current situation, and your pace. Coaching works because it brings out your best – what God put in! Studies show that ongoing coaching produces 300% better results than training alone. Why? Because a coach supports you in learning new ways to learn – listening to your heart and the Holy Spirit – then take action to reshape your life around that learning. Coaching can be done by telephone or Skype from anywhere in the world. Go to:
or e-mail for an alternative web site with little Christian language keith(at)asiacoaches(dot)com [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
- GEAR UP FOR TEACHING ENGLISH — TESOL Training will be conducted on April 13-18, 2006 by Tony Mendoza of Jesus Is Supreme Global Outreach Society based in Hongkong. It is a U.S.-Accredited TESOL Certificate Training Program that will be held in Bacoor, Cavite near SM Bacoor. The course contents are 1) Nature, culture and context, 2) Essential language teaching theories, 3) Lesson planning, assessment and instructional material preparation, 4) Team and individual teaching activities, 5) CD-ROM tutorial training, 6) Tentmaking and Missions, 7) Observed teaching component. For more information email shemfamily(at)yahoo(dot)com or call or text (63)928-3416817.
- WANT TO GIVE FEEDBACK ON JUSTIN’S “MOMENTUM MAGAZINE” — The editor of Momentum Magazine is seeking feedback at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=704151947995
It’s just 9 questions. If you visited Momentum, it would help him greatly.
- MUSLIM STUDIES INTENSIVE COURSES USA SUMMER 06 — For a comprehensive list of short intensive graduate level studies on Islam form various Christian institutions throughout the United States being offered this summer of 2006 visit
http://www.oprev.org/Muslimstudies.htm
or request the pdf page from beside(at)oprev.org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
- IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES! THE COLOURED OF NAMIBIA — Recently, workers were at an extremely poor area located on the border of Namibia. One family lived under a tree and had a bed and some mattresses and a table. On first entering the village, the workers were told that they were not welcome to “nose” around. The man had been drinking and was very disagreeable at first. The men continued to talk with him and soon he asked the men to pray for him. He then became their “best friend” and followed them around, introducing them to others in the village. They had the chance to lead one young man to the Lord and gave him a Bible. Praise the Lord that He works in all circumstances! Pray that God will raise up Namibian men and women who can share Christ in these remote places where many are hungry to know Him. Continue to lift up the Namibian Coloured, an unengaged people, before the Lord. Encourage others to adopt the Namibian Coloured people for prayer by visiting
http://www.forgottenpeoples.info
for more information.
- SMALL NETWORK GOT YOU DOWN? WORK SOME MAGIC — Here’s one great little tool for those with small networks. Imagine… you set up your laptop, a desktop for the kids to use for schoolwork, and a PC for your wife to use to communicate with friends and family. So … in the old days, you’d just plug a printer into one PC and everybody should be able to print, right? Well those were the days. *These* days, there are so many firewalls, antivirus hurdles, spyware blocks, and malware buzz saws, we can’t even print when we *want* to any more!
Enter “Network Magic” from
We don’t get any cuts or commissions from them. We’re just one beggar telling another where to find bread… and “Network Magic” is bread. Buy the “5 PC version” for your family of 4 and that guest missionary from across town that always comes over to use your broadband. It’ll set you back like $50 maybe… but hey… the ability to exchange files, *see* each others’ antivirus subscriptions, and *print*… Shew… How can one put a price on that!? :-) When it installs, you’ll be amazed. The fact that it *works* is kind of a small miracle, judging from the complexity of today’s setups. Tip: Before installing, collect the information on your router (user name and password). (You *did* change the user name and password on your router, right? If not, never fear. Network Magic helps you secure your wired or wireless network anyway. So don’t sweat it. Just get it.) There’s a free dumbed-down version to try first, if you don’t believe me. :-) (Have I ever lied to you? :-) )
- PARTNERS MAKE OUR WORLD GO ‘ROUND — Thanks to Blessed Hope Communications, for the $12.16 check that resulted from some of you using their primo phone services. Learn more at
http://www.lowermyphonebill.com/brigada
Thanks, too, to the anonymous family from Edmond, OK, who sent $30. They’re constantly lifting up the needs in Chiapas (Mexico). “You do good work!,” they wrote. “I share pertinent items with missionary friends from time to time to enhance their work. My husband and I particularly liked what you provided regarding churches’ views and missionaries’ wishes regarding mission. You got lots of good and interesting feedback from both sides of the equation. Please do things like that yearly!” [blush] :-)
Also back again this past week were our faithful friends at Irving Bible Church. They send a gift at least once a year, this time for $100. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Find them at:
Check out their “Bridges International” page at:
http://www.irvingbible.org/index.php?id=154
Thanks this past week for gifts from Mission Nannys for $100! Visit:
They are *so* needing mature women to help around the world. Would you please give them a look and tell them you heard about them on Brigada? Here’s a chance to be some missionary kid’s grandmother or grandfather, while at the same time allowing the missionary to be all the more effective at the same time!
- WOULD YOUR LOCAL CHURCH MAKE A ONECE-A-YEAR GIFT TO BRIGADA? — You might be surprised. Just suggest your whole mission committee subscribe at their respective home email addresses, then ask the committee if they’d consider pitching in $30, once a year. They might sign up for one person to get a printed magazine subscription about missions… and that would just become *cold text* after it was read. This way, they *all* get Brigada for the same gift — and it’s just a gift. They *could* be getting it for free anyway. The money covers the cost of web space, some marketing expenses, and especially a secretary to help make time management and administration possible so Brigada can continue to come to your screen each weekend. Your church might surprise you. Plus they get their church mentioned, along with its website and its missions outreach… which helps promote it in your local city or county, in case there are folks searching for a vital, Great- Commission-committed congregation. Either way, click on “sponsor” in the top menu (to use PayPal or a credit card), or if you prefer, send a check payable to Team Expansion to: Team Expansion (Brigada secretary), 13711 Willow Reed Dr., Louisville, KY 40299. 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. In any case, thanks for considering Brigada in your estate giving, your monthly church missions fund, and/or your own personal giving for this calendar year.
- THE BACK PAGE: EASTER BUNNIES, EGGS, BC/AD, AND JESUS — As I write this Back Page editorial, the fine state of Kentucky is in the middle of considering whether or not they’ll rename “BC” and “AC” to Jesus- free wording. I forget the new abbreviations… but they basically make it unnecessary to know Latin — or the Christ child. Now I grant it to any government, state or federal, to perform revisionist history on their land. (It’s certainly been done before.) But something about this troubles me. I think it has something to do with the fact that… the more we think we know about diversity, the more we believe it necessary to separate ourselves from our history of faith. The funny thing is… when I visit Djibouti or Yemen on a Muslim holiday, I don’t hold it against the locals if they’re slaughtering a goat or spitting on the sidewalk. (Confession: I *do* sometimes have to dodge the spit; but I could be dodging worse.) So what baffles me is why any country believes that it’s not fashionable to be faithful… faithful to a legacy, faithful to a heritage, faithful to a path that proceeded.
[Shaking my head.] The trouble is, none of my ponderings is likely to change anything. If I complain to my congressman, I’ll just look like a religious bigot. I mean… I admit it — I always get the “BC” confused with “Before Christ” anyway. :-) But, as we are asked to shed layer after layer of heritage in favor of bunnies, eggs, and BCE and CE (which stand for “Before the Common Era” and “Common Era” respectively), I just hope *somebody* can remember purpose, “first cause”, and “where do we go after we die”… because if we all become very secular, the afterlife is going to be a pretty fearful future.
That’s all I’ve got to say about that. But as I go, may I just remind you to … be careful. It’s becoming a very (secularized) jungle out there. :-) Doug
Recent Comments