19981122 Brigada Today

Now with over 7000 weekly participants!
News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
On the WorldWide Web, browse https://brigada.org or http://www.eGroups.com/list/brigada-today
Brigada Today is “the missionary helper newsletter!”
Compiled by Doug Lucas <DLucas@teamexpansion.org>, Louisville, KY
[Pass this issue to a friend! To subscribe, see instructions at end.]

In this issue….

EMAIL FORWARDING SERVICES

THE REPORT IS IN – Thanks to Ken Davis kenluci@iname.com who recently requested info. on email forwarding services (Nov. 6th Brigada Today, “MOVING FORWARD WITH EMAIL FORWARDING SERVICES“). Ken just emailed us a great report on his findings. Thanks to all those who helped him pull it together! The results were rather surprising. He reported that based on Brigada readers comments, “the most recommended email forwarding service is Iname. Recommended 2 to 1 over all others, Iname provides a fast, free, reliable forwarding service with all the basic features. Also recommended in the free category were USA.net and Bigfoot. Several other recommended services were Pobox, The Mission Station and XC.org all for $15-20/yr.

“Each forwarding service provides its own array of features, some for additional fees. Your individual needs would determine which service has the best combination of the features you need for the best price. Things you may want to look for are POP servers to read your mail off-line rather than paying for online time and the ability to hold your mail if you don’t have a forwarding address. Also, be sure to watch for how your return path gets tagged on your outgoing mail. If it is your local provider rather than your forwarding service, it may cause you to loose mail should you switch providers and your friends have your local provider in their address books. There are numerous other features to make your email life easier, like filters for SPAM mail, redirection to multiple addresses, custom address extensions and more. It may take a little time to check out the options, but the following websites will give you a place to start.

http://www.iname.com
http://www.usa.net
http://www.bigfoot.com
http://www.pobox.com
http://www.missionaries.org
http://www.xc.org

Thanks again, Ken!

EVER HEAR OF M|WIRE?

It’s a periodic E-mail newsletter offering a summary of news and information regarding missions and evangelism. It is a service of Zondervan Publishing House. Looks like they advertise their own Zondervan resources fairly heavily – but in return, the service is free. To try it out, send an E-mail message to lists@info.harpercollins.com . Type a hyphen in the subject line. In the body of the message, type
subscribe zphlist

and nothing else. You will receive the complete list of categories and sign-up instructions by return E-mail. I couldn’t find an indication of how often it came out. I guess they publish it whenever they have news or something else to sell! (Thanks for the tip, Larry!)

THE NEIMAIN-MARCUS COOKIE VIRUS; WHAT A WAY TO GO!

Okay, so if you’re going to get sucked into one of those Internet email viruses, the Neimain-Marcus cookie virus has got to be the best! It’s actually one of those “how can something good come out of something so ridiculous” kind of moments. The email virus itself, designed to suck up bandwidth in a kind of electronic vandalism, is actually harmless. It does nothing but steal away computing power. But the cookie recipe included in the hype story about Neimain-Marcus charging $250 for a cookie recipe – that’s all just made-up imagination from someone long forgotten.

But as for the cookie recipe, I can personally attest to the fact that it is not myth – they’re delicious. So I’m skipping all but the virus here…

sharing the recipe once and for all, so no one else will dare to send it to me!

(Okay – so I’m a dreamer!)

Anyway… here’s the list of ingredients: 2 cups butter, 4 cups flour, 2 tsp. soda, 2 cups sugar, 5 cups blended oatmeal, 24 oz. chocolate chips, 2 cups brown sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated), 4 eggs, 2 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. vanilla, 3 cups chopped nuts (your choice). To make this amazingly delectable dish, measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar, and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.

You can halve the recipe – but you’ll be sorry you did. And… one more thing… before I get emails from all the purists who say that Brigada Today is only supposed to be about unreached peoples and missions resources…. I know, I know, silly! I’m the editor! But hey – it’s Christmas… lighten up! And Rob – thanks for passing this along and reminding me… Oh – and before you ask, no, Madeline Marray O’Hare is not trying to shut down Christianity from the air waves. So, remember… “just say no” to forwarding messages about her!

NEW TRAVEL SOFTWARE… FOR ALL KIDS AGES 4-7

‘Course, you might stretch the age restriction if you have a motivated child! Edmark Software’s “Travel the World with Timmy” lists for $29.95 and it just might make the perfect Christmas gift for a loved one ages 4-7, especially if you have a place like Argentina or Kenya in mind! You can probably find it soon on store shelves, but in the meantime, check it out at http://www.edmark.com/prod/travel/ and . . . enjoy the music!

MISSIONS CONFERENCE IN PRETORIA

The Southern African Missiological Society will be holding its annual congress 20-22 January 1999 at St John Vianney Seminary, 179 Main Street, Waterkloof, Pretoria, RSA. The theme is RECONCILIATION and Land, Economic Justice, Crime & Violence, and Racism. One of the papers, by Dr Klaus Schaefer, “Reflecting Christ: crucified and living in a broken world” will give a foretaste of the IAMS (International Association of Mission Studies) conference to be held the following year. For more information contact the Congress Secretary, Dr Nico Botha bothana@alpha.unisa.ac.za, or see their web site at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/sams.htm

GOT A RESOURCE FOR CHINA?

David Lim would like to know. He’s the Director of Gospel Recordings in Singapore and, on behalf of a thrust spawned by an Interdev partnership development conference on China, he’s trying to assemble a report for workers who focus on Chinese peoples. If you’ve got tools like special translations of the Bible, or special printing capabilities, books, Chinese literature, radio program, etc., – whatever would help workers evangelize effectively in China – write David at grsin@singnet.com.sg or fax him at 65-2827902 in Singapore. In this case, we won’t post the report here on Brigada. If you want a copy of the findings, write him directly.

FIELD BASED MA OR PHD PROGRAM FOR “BRIGADA JOE”

Remember “Brigada Joe,” the missionary who said he chose his destination country based on a study he did here on Brigada, using input from Brigada Today participants??? Well apparently, since his country of focus is sooooo closed he needs to move in with a good reason to be there. He is looking for the following and will let us know what works.

Any secular MA or PhD program in Anthropology/Sociology or related field that can be done outside of the USA and mostly through “distance learning” without attending class.
Any secular looking graduate school that will accept transfer credit from his seminary degree and give him most or all of a degree.
Any USA secular (but Christian run) travel agency that will allow him to list himself as a tour guide for that company. He would even send some occasional tourists to his closed country through your agency.

If you have any tips or leads for him, e-mail him at BrigadaJoe@hotmail.com. He’d love it if some travel agency would take him “on staff” (maybe he’d even work without pay… or on commission???). Let’s chip in and help the guy out. After all, it is kind of our fault that he’s there, for God’s cause! Thanks!

WEBWATCH – SEARCH TOOLS, LONG DISTANCE OPTIONS

Here’s a cool site to check rates using various long distance services: http://LONGDIST.NET/?pacifics . It’s probably designed to sell a specific service… but it also serves as a great reference tool. Also, one user wrote to say he really likes http://www.profusion.com because it limits hits to a more manageable amount. I’m trying it myself. Thanks Gene!

GREAT MODEL FOR PRAYER REQUESTS

Have you seen the International Mission Board’s prayer request page? It’s at http://www.imb.org and it’s a great model for all of us! It provides a search engine for prayer requests by country, people group and mega-city. You can use the “jump to” feature to go to the CompassionNet page.

HAVING TROUBLE FINDING INSURANCE FOR YOUR MISSIONARY?

Check out Insurance Services of America at: http://www.missionaryhealth.com or email them at health@missionaryhealth.com.

NEED HELP CREATING “ECONOMICS” FOR YOUR FIELD?

Here’s a Brigada participant who might help. This individual has put together a training course to facilitate breaking the ice into creative access countries. Letitia writes, “We are meeting their felt needs to integrate into the global economy by teaching the same material as in a Business Administration Degree, only in twelve weeks. Each subject will be for one week, with 36 hours of classroom instruction and team based group projects (practicum). Included will be: Marketing, International Accounting, International Business and Export Law, Global Management, Strategic Thinking (How to write Business and Marketing Plans), How to Sell via the world wide web, Economics, particularly as they affect International Trade), Organizational and Personal Communications, which enable them to communicate with business people in the world in the same language they understand.” So what Letitia is now offering to do is to help you create a similar package for your own field! What a great service, Letitia! And there’s no plan to charge any kind of fee at all! Yahooo!

Note that we have no further information on this course at this time… so please check it out for yourself at Letitia@excite.co.uk.

TIME TO REVISIT CAR RENTAL AGENCIES

Seems like last time, when we studied car rental companies for missionaries on home service, we came up woefully lacking. Paul Pruitt pruittomf@aol.com is needing to do just that and would love to get together all the options he can. He’ll send us the report. So if you know of a company or individual who would rent or lease a car at a great value to a missionary on home service, let Paul know and he’ll report his findings back to us here.

FOR LADIES ONLY

Most of our write-ups here in Brigada Today are for either gender, but here’s one only for the ladies. (Okay guys – why are you still reading!?

Seriously, this one’s for the ladies only.) Wanda reidthis@telusplanet.net wrote this past week, “The cost and availability of feminine hygiene products is a very important and personal concern for women on the field. Many women have to purchase sufficient supplies for the duration of their planned time on the field, or cope with high local costs and irregular supply. There is an alternative that is safe, cost efficient and usable in any country or field situation. “The Keeper” is a natural gum rubber cup, worn internally, and designed to eliminate the inconvenience of traditional feminine hygiene products. Detailed information and ordering are available by calling 800-663-0427, emailing info@keeper.com or browsing at www.keeper.com. In planning for life in SE Asia, this product has proven very reassuring in my use of it.”

WANT TO HELP REFUGEES FROM KOSOVO?

If you’d like to minister to refugees from Kosovo who have moved to the USA check out http://www.WorldRelief.org or write Shelley Smith ssmith@wr.org or call the US Ministries office at 914-268-4135. Note that this office does not directly coordinate work in Kosovo itself, but only ministers to those who have fled Kosovo and come to the USA.

HARVEST TIME JAPAN TV UPDATE

Harvest Time is Japan’s first Christian TV broadcaster. Their signal is being picked up by DirecTV, a Direct Broadcast Satellite outfit in Japan known as Yokohama Bayside TV, ch. 321. HT is on their schedule now set to start programming January 1999. It will be necessary for Japanese households to purchase the DirecTV antenna and tuner to receive the programming, but there is a 35% discount going through HT. HT will feature original Japanese-language programming, as well as some from U.S. producers (TBN, CBN, FamilyNet, etc.). (Thanks to David Humble, dhumble@shizuokanet.ne.jp or at http://www.harvestjapan.org )

WANT TO HELP PATRICK JOHNSTONE WRITE OPERATION WORLD?

He’s in need of a specialist in information technology. If you’re a good administrator and would be able to raise your support to work side-by-side with him in his office – and if you know computers and databases and are willing to work hard for the Lord, contact Darrell Darrell.Dorr@Frontiers.org. What a great opportunity!

MUSIC AND MISSIONS COMING YOUR WAY

A unique resource about the power of locally-appropriate music in missions work is now available. “Music and Missions” is in two parts: first, a compilation of real-life stories from Brazil, Ghana, Asia, South America and elsewhere. The stories demonstrate the effectiveness of indigenous Christian songs in evangelism, worship, and church planting. Second, the accompanying cassette has excerpts of the very songs mentioned in the stories! You can read the words, see the photos, and hear the local hymns – it’s the next best thing to being there! The hour-long cassette has more than two dozen musical examples. This is a great tool for teachers and learners of all sorts. To order the resource ($10 plus $3 shipping in the US), contact tomavery@sil.org.

YOU CAN SAVE US TONS OF TIME WHEN YOU SUBMIT ITEMS

Remember, there are no paid Brigada staffers. If you submit a resource or other item for Brigada Today, please follow these simple steps:

Write the item in 3rd person
Keep it short . . . 8-10 lines max please
Provide an email address in addition to a web URL
Enclose email addresses in pointy braces
Leave a space around web URLs and always include the word http:
Suggest a title for the item in all upper case, followed by —
Be sure to tell us if you don’t want your name mentioned
By default, we mention only first names
Sorry – we don’t publish appeals for support (we figure most subscribers are missionaries, so we’d be preaching to the choir!)
Remove all “formatted” characters from your text (Participants composing in WinWord should please turn off all auto-correct publisher’s characters such as special non-ASCII quotation marks and apostrophes)
Emphasis is placed on unreached peoples and challenges faced by those reaching them cross-culturally (including some technology)
Send your submissions to DLucas@teamexpansion.org
Make sure you note any deadlines… Most of the time we’re backed up two or three weeks on nondated items
Please don’t indent your item; especially please don’t let your email client indent every single line! Those are killer time-wasters
Keep security and sensitivity as a high priority – don’t compromise
If your name or email address doesn’t reveal your gender, it might be nice to let us know in case we refer to you later as a “he” or “she”

Thanks!!!

WORLD CHRISTIAN MAGAZINE TO RE-LAUNCH

Bill and Amy Stearns STEARNS@compuserve.com are helping relaunch World Christian magazine. WinPress, a nonprofit Chicago publisher, is backing the endeavor. The first quarterly issue is scheduled for March ’99. They’ll try to cover “breakthroughs, resources, accountability studies, features on the world Christian movement from Lake Baikal to Uruguay” in hopes “to bring awareness, accountability and activist connections to short-termers, Perspectives alumni, conference-going missionary wannabes, frontier mission mobilizers…” For more information or to subscribe contact Cathy Turley, WinPress Circulation & Advertising, WINPress@juno.com, PO Box 1525, Oak Park, IL 60304; Toll-free in the USA & Canada 888.524.5070; or 708.524.5070; fax 708.524.5174.

FREE INTERNET “ONLY A LITTLE SLOWER”

Thanks loads to those who are testing NetZero for us (free email/internet connectivity, reported last week in the item, “STILL NOTHING BUT GOOD NEWS ABOUT NET ZERO“)! The URL is http://www.netzero.net . A few of our trial balloon testers have told us that service is only slightly slower than the $20/month ISP to which they had been subscribing. One tester said he had received several busy signals or “unable to connect” at times. One said some of the ads are morally objectionable. So… buyers beware. Maybe you don’t ever get something for nothing.

One tester suggested we look at http://www.gratis.it/internet.html for a list of other free Internet sources. (Thanks Walter!) By the way, apparently Juno users in some markets are now being limited to two log-ons daily!

STUDENT MINISTRY CONFERENCE IN JUNE

International Students, Inc. will sponsor the National Conference for International Student Ministry, June 21-27, 1999 at the Glen Eyrie Christian Conference Center in Colorado Springs. Dick Eastman, President of Every Home for Christ, will serve as the keynote speaker. Focus training on June 21-23 will include workshops targeting a wide variety of ethnic specific topics. The main conference (June 23-27) will include ample opportunity to learn about effective methods for international student ministry, networking and fellowship with ministry veterans, and rich times of worship and spiritual growth. This is a family conference; a children’s program will be provided. For more information and registration, contact NCISM99@isionline.org or call 719-576-2700, ext. 139.

GET YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS AT AD2000

The AD2000 and Beyond Movement web site will soon be offering a resource list of those who consult or conduct training for advocacy, networking and partnership. If you or your organization hasn’t already been contacted by the great folks at the International Office in Colorado, they’d love to hear from you. Details of the type of training and full address info will be gratefully received by barb@ad2000.org.

DID YOU SEE THE NEW WATER PURIFIER?

I’d love it if someone would test the new “Steri-Pen” portable ultraviolet lightsaber waterpurifier gizmo. Reportedly, just stir a glass of even the murkiest water for 30 seconds and, bottoms up!

Minnesota-based maker Hydro-Photon has a web site at http://www.hydro-photon.com and their new Steri-Pen is due out later this year at a hefty $190, . . . but hey… where else can you find a stirring spoon for that price!

HAVE YOU BEEN FOLLOWING MYSTERY (THE MOVIE)???

Check it out at http://www.mysterythemovie.com . It holds lots of promise for communicating Christ to Chinese-speakers in a contextualized way. (Thanks for the reminder, Tom! You’re doing your job well!!!!)

TENTMAKER TRAINERS UNITE!

Tentmaking training has become a crucial issue with many schools and agencies. TIE tie@gati.wa.com would like to list all of these training organizations in their reference manual for both the training organizations and possible new tentmakers. If you are taking, or have taken a class on tentmaking or are teaching a class Ken would love to have you send him the information on the length of the class in weeks or total hours, the title of the class, the School or agency’s name and address, a general description of the course or the specific subjects covered. If you would like a copy of the final list also include your return address with a note you would like a copy. To save a Ken a lot of time from general inquirers, we’ll ask him to send us a copy here for all to “get”. Thanks Ken!

NEED AN AIRPLANE? LET MAF KNOW

Does your mission field need a flight program? MAF can do it – but remember it won’t be for free. They have to pay costs, which range between $150 to $250 per hour ($30 to $50 per passenger/hour). They’re also involved in providing HF/VHF radio, satellite-telephone and remote email communications services. Send your request to Jon Lewis, Director of Research – MAF/US, JonLewis@xc.org

SO WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH 30 DAYS OF PRAYER?

Is it going to happen this season? We’re talking about the 30 Days of prayer for Muslims during Ramadan. Anyone got a line on it? If so, contact Carl cpcrouse@global.co.za. He’ll let us know so we can post it here.

GET THE SKINNY ON LEGAL TRENDS AFFECTING YOUR AGENCY, FOR FREE!

The Legal Trends Memorandum is a free monthly email alert for Christian nonprofit organizations and churches. Every month new legal and tax developments are highlighted – new cases, new laws, new policies, and new tax information. It’s the kind of news that will help keep you aware of important issues directly affecting nonprofit organizations. If you are interested in receiving this send an email jbsmi@ix.netcom.com. Include your name, organization’s name, and email address.

NEW RESOURCE ON PEOPLES OF VIETNAM

The Peoples of Vietnam examines the unique cultures of the people of Vietnam, and presents each group to caring Christians around the world. It’s a 118-page prayer guide that contains 54 two-page people profiles, a map of where the group is located, a photo of that group in traditional dress, statistical information, cultural information and stories, and a chapter on the past and present state of mission work among them. There is also a spread of superb color photographs in the middle of the book. To order send a check or money order for US$ 10 (postage paid), payable to Asian Minorities Outreach, to P.O. Box 132232, Tyler, TX 75713, U.S.A. or Box 17, Chang Klan P.O., Chiang Mai, 50101, Thailand (whichever is closer). Checks are also accepted in other major currencies, in the local equivalent of US$10. Discounts are available for bulk orders. For more information, contact Asian Minorities Outreach amo@xc.org.

TO SUBSCRIBE — To subscribe to BRIGADA TODAY, send email to brigada-today-subscribe@egroups.com.

TO UNSUBSCRIBE — Send email to brigada-today-unsubscribe@egroups.com. (Subject and text are ignored.)
IF IT DOESN’T WORK — Write Don & Judy, our Customer Services Managers at help@brigada.org. Yahooooo for volunteers!!!

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!”
For subscription questions or problems, write help@brigada.org.

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.
Thanks to for hosting the Brigada mailing list.
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!