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News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
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In this issue….

* MAP ORDERS APPROACH HALFWAY MARK! — ONE WEEK REMAINS TO REACH QUANTITY
* MISSIONS IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE CHURCH!
* “WHERE DO WE LIST OUR ADOPTION INTENTIONS?”
* GLOBAL GLIMPSE
* GOOD TIMES “VIRUS” RESPONSE
* GOT IDEAS FOR CHILDREN’S MISSIONS SERMON SPOTS??
* NEPAL [STILL] BREAKS FORTH IN SONG…
* MORE MISSIONS NEWS!
* LOOKING FOR FUND-RAISING HELP?
* NEW WEB SITE FOR THE LAST FRONTIERS
* TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY

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MAP ORDERS APPROACH HALFWAY MARK!
ONE WEEK REMAINS TO REACH QUANTITY
If you were ever thinking about ordering a copy of the new “people group” map, now would be a great time! The publisher has extended the deadline to MSA for an additional 7 days but the close-out for our group order stands firm at one week from today, Apr. 29. As of last Thursday, Brigada readers had already ordered 401 copies of the 24×36″ map ($14.95) and 152 orders for the larger 36×64″ version ($29.95)! That’s a tremendous response!!! Thanks for your concern for least evangelized peoples. However, you’ll recall that if we reach quantities of 1000 and 500 respectively, prices drop for everyone to $10 and $25 respectively. MSA has agreed to enclose the invoice for the map inside the mailing tube — no prepayment required. They also have specified ‘no credit cards’ on this order, thus passing along the resulting cost savings (from not having to pay the credit card surcharges) to Brigada participants. Orders from outside the US must be paid with International money order or check on American bank (with routing numbers on the check) — but remember, you won’t have to mess with that until billed. Current pricing is $14.95 & $29.95 each, including the postage and handling to any U.S. address. Foreign postage could be considerable more. Remember that both are printed on glossy 80# paper. Nice.

What can you do with these maps? The 3’x5’+ size would look great in your church foyer or as the centerpiece for a missions bulletin board. The 24×36 version could even serve as a place mat/keepsake for your next missions committee retreat/luncheon. And how ’bout bulletin boards at your college or Christian school, or in your classroom if you’re a home schooler. You could buy a small quantity to keep on hand as thank you gifts for larger donors…. or give them as unique Christmas gifts in December! Believe me, people are going to like these colorful and informative maps. I lifted up my copy of the pre-published draft version at a workshop this past weekend and several church leaders came up afterward and insisted that they needed the draft version immediately! They wanted to take it home with them from the workshop!!!

Remember that I’m going to order mine like everyone else… and MSA will bill me like everyone else. There’s no free lunch for me — but I figured out this morning that if we stood side by side on this and ordered together, we’d be saving, as a group, some $7500 while getting the message out about the least evangelized to all the more people! If you’re interested, contact MSA today at 102774.1772@compuserve.com or call toll-free in the USA at 800-655-8524 (fax 423-577-9743).

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MISSIONS IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE CHURCH!
We’ve just finished a weekend with local churches in Dayton, Ohio, where 120 church leaders representing some 36 congregations in 17 states came together to celebrate what God’s doing around the world and covenant together to finish the task — in conjunction with the Envision ’96 emphasis for Nov. 1-3 in Lexington, KY. Though the weekend was exhausting for me personally, it was invigorating for me spiritually! First, I saw tremendous cooperation. A dozen trained facilitators worked together to help these church leaders pray strategically and plan intentionally to plant churches among groups mostly taken from the Joshua Project list of least evangelized peoples. These facilitators came from various parts of the world and from several different mission agency backgrounds, yet they worked together as one, often supporting the needs of the other organization more than their own! And there was no competition among the churches, either. (like lighthouses???) Refreshing! George Miley, of Antioch Network, did a tremendous job speaking from the missions side of things, and Steve Wyatt, Sr. Minister at Cullen Av. Chr. Ch. in Evansville, KY, was super in his lessons from Elijah during worship.

Also, we saw tremendous initiative on the part of the churches themselves! Many arrived late Thursday night, but even after a long day of training on Friday, they spent most of Saturday in intensive face to face planning meetings, writing down mission statements, goals, and dreams. In the reporting session later, we heard individual, proactive and specific plans to reach tons of cities in the Middle East, plus others in Asia, N. Africa, and the rest of the world. Wow! The church is alive and well… and church leaders seem to mean business!!! For more information on Envision ’96, send email to hub@xc.org with only the following line in the body of the message text:
subscribe brigada-projects-envision96

or check out the web site at: http://www.xc.org/brigada/e96 or call Walter Birney at the Envision ’96 office, 1-800-972-1137 or fax 316-668-5220 or email wbirney11@aol.com Registration for the Nov. 1-3 event in Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY, has been placed at the unheard of cost of $6!!! Only 56 exhibit spaces (out of 275) remain. If you’d like attend, set up a booth, or just find out more info, call or write today. And pray for Envision ’96!

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“WHERE DO WE LIST OUR ADOPTION INTENTIONS?”
During the extended discussions in the pgc-* development groups, one might ask, “Where do we list our intentions to take responsibility for planting a church among some least evangelized people group?” As of now, the best bet is to advise brigada-peoples@xc.org and copy the note to dan@ad2000.org at the AD2000 & Beyond Office. Dan will list your contact email address in the Joshua Project list of least reached peoples. As a result, make sure you provide a “safe” (non-sensitive) contact address that can receive inquiries about reaching your group!

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GLOBAL GLIMPSE
The question to evacuate or remain in war-torn Liberia has been difficult for Christian workers there. Most of the roughly 200 Christian workers were based in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital, where the fighting has also been most intense. Many testify of God’s miraculous deliverance, even amid live fire. One mission director and his family were assaulted 10+ times by rebels armed with AK-47s in their home. His teenage daughters were also threatened. The helicopter which carried them to safety was fired on several times as it lifted off. Nevertheless, some Christian workers resolved to stay, no matter how bad the situation gets: “Liberians still need the Lord.”
(Source: icmc-news-exchange@xc.org, MissionNet@iclnet.net, various reports from 4/1 – 4/15/96, including from World Relief.)
Global Glimpse is compiled each week by John Hanna Caleb Project Littleton, CO.

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GOOD TIMES “VIRUS” RESPONSE
If you see the Good Times “virus” hoax fire up again, tell the sender to check out the new file on our server. There has never been such a virus. It’s a joke. For verified explanations, just send a message to hub@xc.org with only this line in the text:
get brigada good-times-hoax

Also mentioned are “thought viruses” such as Shergold cancer post cards, Neiman Marcus cookie recipes, and other chain letters. Thanks to George Peavey for the helpful archive!!!

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GOT IDEAS FOR CHILDREN’S MISSIONS SERMON SPOTS??
Roger Hederstedt 76002.3662.COMPUSERVE.COM wants to know!

“As a missionary heading back for home assignment, I’m looking for resources with creative ideas for presenting missions specifically during the ‘children’s sermon’ slot that many churches have as part of their regular worship services. Missionaries often get a 5-7 minute quickie interview or talk during a service to say everything that’s on their heart–a major challenge! What I’d like to do is volunteer to take the children’s sermon slot (churches will yield that pulpit much more readily than the “adult” pulpit) and present the missions challenge through a creative object-lesson talk. (It’s sneaky, of course, but I know that most adults get more out of a good, easily comprehensible children’s sermon than they do out of the more abstract adult sermon!) Please suggest resources even if they’re not specifically missions-oriented. If they’ve got creative presentation ideas/object lessons, etc., I can re-work the content while using the creative communication vehicle to get the Great Commission message across.”

Roger, you just might be on to something! Gang, email Roger direct at the address above — and Roger, when you’re done collecting info., please knit together the entire lot of comments you receive and forward them back to us for posting as a file that we can announce here in Brigada Today! Thanks!

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NEPAL [STILL] BREAKS FORTH IN SONG…
…is a 30 minute video which tells the story of the Nepali Church from 1950 to the present time – an unreached nation 4 decades ago! It is told by Nepali Christians who relate some of their experiences through 40 years of persecution and what the democratic freedoms of 1990 have meant for the Church. It is a unique story of a Church which grew parallel to foreign missionary presence in Nepal. The Christian Arts Association, Nepal (CAAN) sponsored this production with funds from TEAR Fund (UK), the Danish Santal Mission, the Norwegian Himal Asia Mission, and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission. The producer is Richard Friedericks (Essential Productions), a third generation Presbyterian missionary with twenty-five years experience in India and Nepal. Copies of “NEPAL BREAKS FORTH IN SONG” are available at $20.00 (NTSC) and $25.00 (PAL) each plus shipping and handling ($4.00 in USA & Canada and $7.00 overseas). A study guide, with complete transcript, comes with the video. CONTACT: Richard Friedericks, richardf@olympus.net

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MORE MISSIONS NEWS!
If you’re hungry for all the more missions information, subscribe to the “Friday Fax”, by writing to FF-listserv@macims1.ntb.ch, with no subject. Include only one line of text:
subscribe Fridayfax Firstname Fam.name

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LOOKING FOR FUND-RAISING HELP?
Try joining the kgap-fundraising conference! Just send email to hub@xc.org with the following line being the only line of message text:
subscribe kgap-fundraising

The conference hopes to share

1. ideas for fundraising (e.g. yard sales, etc.), along with case studies
2. questions & answers on how to go about fundraising
3. “soft” advertisements for fundraising services

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NEW WEB SITE FOR THE LAST FRONTIERS
Check out: http://www.frontiers.org for Frontiers’ homepage on the WorldWide Web. Says developer Jim Spelman, This “visually interesting site is optimized for Netscape Navigator but will run on a large number of browsers. Our web site will help you and others better understand FRONTIERS. Please be one of the first to critique, counsel, and partner with us. Help us create a site that God can use to touch a new generation of missionaries for the world’s one billion Muslims!”

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TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY, send email to hub@xc.orgwith only the following message:
subscribe brigada

TO UNSUBSCRIBE send email to hub@xc.orgwith this line in the text:
unsubscribe brigada
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BRIGADA TODAY IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FOLLOWING TEAM OF REGULAR VOLUNTEERS:

Global Glimpses: John Hanna, Caleb Project, jhanna@cproject.com
ADVANCE: Mark A. Kelley, Kainos Press, 70420.1057@compuserve.com
Web Wizard: Bob Mayhew, Brigada Volunteer, Mayhew@xc.org
Web Art: Patti Mayhew, pmayhew@discover.net
Technical Development: Jonathan Marsden, MAFxc jonathan@xc.org
Brigada Customer Service Manager: Revis Ann Massey, RevisAnnMassey@xc.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!