In this issue…

  1. COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES OF THE WORLD CD RELEASED!
  2. GET THE WORLD FACTBOOK 2000 ON CD
  3. CARRY THE ENTIRE SET OF “BACKGROUND NOTES” IN YOUR BRIEFCASE
  4. GET COUNTRY AND PEOPLE “PROFILES” FOR EVERYONE… FINALLY
  5. THESE PROFILES REMIND ME OF “CULTURE-GRAMS”
  6. LIKE “MAPS ON FILE” BUT CHEAPER AND COPYRIGHT RELEASED
  7. GET THE ARCHIVES: INT’L JOURNAL OF FRONTIER MISSIONS
  8. GET A 131-PAGE “PERSPECTIVES” STUDY GUIDE ON CD-ROM!
  9. BUY “COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES” AND SUPPORT BRIGADA
  10. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS
  11. CLOSING STUFF

  1. COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES OF THE WORLD CD RELEASED! — Remember this past January, when we mentioned a research tool soon to be released? Well, maybe it didn’t happen in March — but at least it finally is happening! Today!!! Literally with this Brigada Today! We’re thrilled to be able to report to you that ILS International, in cooperation with Adopt-a-People Clearing House, has released *today* the tool entitled, “Countries and Peoples of the World.” This one colossal CD on steroids contains information on all 233 nations of the world and all 16,000+ people groups (as defined by the latest research). Learn more at: http://www.ywam.org/books/countries_and_peoples.htm Remember that map of the 100 Gateway Cities … way back in 1995? The cost was $20. I remember we promoted that *big-time*… and hundreds of people ordered. But … in the end, they had one poster… one map. This CD contains 34,000 pages of information!!! … for $48. Can’t beat it. [see item #2 below for more on this tool]

  2. GET THE WORLD FACTBOOK 2000 ON CD — The same tool described above has the entire CIA “World Factbook” built into the fabric of the CD. This tool makes available to you over 5000 pages of the incredibly detailed statistics on every nation of the world. Yes, you can get this info. off the web, but the cool thing about the CD version is that it will be available instantly, even when you don’t have a web connection… on a plane, at that fellowship dinner (when you’re preparing your talk about the new country you’re entering) — and all the maps and facts are copyright released… so you never have to write for permission to “copy and paste” the data! :-) To order, see: http://www.ywam.org/books/countries_and_peoples.htm

  3. CARRY THE ENTIRE SET OF “BACKGROUND NOTES” IN YOUR BRIEFCASE — Now you can have 8-30 page reports on 189 nations, all in your briefcase, ready to pull out at a moment’s notice. You could find these one at a time on the web, but again… what will you do when you’re not connected? See: http://www.ywam.org/books/countries_and_peoples.htm

  4. GET COUNTRY AND PEOPLE “PROFILES” FOR EVERYONE… FINALLY — Naturally, we’ve all seen *selected* profiles. The Bethany folks, the MARC profiles, etc. But as far as I know, this is the first time you have a complete set of profiles on every last people group in the world. And they’re all so colorful, with maps, and complete data. They’re one-pagers, so you can easily distribute them to your missions team or prayer group or missions banquet. Now keep in mind… they’re *data* driven, rather than anecdotally driven — meaning that the profile is chart-like rather than a huge block of text. But in a way, isn’t that more objective anyway? Either way, imagine a laminated placemat featuring each country of the world. Your congregation of 233 people comes together and each of the 233 people get his/her own unique memory of the evening… a laminated profile of each country of the world, printed on your friend’s color printer, for pennies — all from this CD. And these profiles are clear and concise one-page summaries with 59 indicators. And would you believe there are 16,000+ of them? I’m not kidding! If they were a penny a profile, that alone would be $160. Got a missions prayer night service coming up? Just print out the relevant profiles and you’ll instantly have a snappy hand-out. Or simply copy and paste the relevant country map into your new missions brochure — a map for each missionary, showing where he/she is laboring! And these are *all* released for reprinting. At times, that’s been the frustration with other profiles — copyright protection. These are “deliverables”!!!

    http://www.ywam.org/books/countries_and_peoples.htm


  5. THESE PROFILES REMIND ME OF “CULTURE-GRAMS” — But I just went and checked… and the Culture-Grams set for the world will set you back $130. See for yourself: http://store.yahoo.com/culturegram/cgstd.html But the trouble is, they won’t sell you the electronic version, with color and black & white maps that you can insert in your mission report or brochure. In fact, all their maps and information are copyrighted. Well here’s a tool with release on *everything*. http://www.ywam.org/books/countries_and_peoples.htm

  6. LIKE “MAPS ON FILE” BUT CHEAPER AND COPYRIGHT RELEASED — If you’re curious, go to: http://www.factsonfile.com/ and look up their product called “Maps on File (CD version)”. There are sample map images there on the website, so you can get a feel for the maps in that product. I’m telling you the honest truth — the maps in “Countries and Peoples of the World” are every bit as pretty … and just as high-res, and just as detailed. The only thing is, “Maps on File” is $199.95… and “Countries and Peoples of the World” is $48.30. http://www.ywam.org/books/countries_and_peoples.htm

  7. GET THE ARCHIVES: INT’L JOURNAL OF FRONTIER MISSIONS — If you go to the IJFM site, you’ll find *some* of the back-issues from 93-2003. The Countries and Peoples of the World CD has the entire panorama of those years… already scanned in… 1500+ pages, ready to provide you with sermon illustrations and case studies for your missions classes. http://www.ywam.org/books/countries_and_peoples.htm

  8. GET A 131-PAGE “PERSPECTIVES” STUDY GUIDE ON CD-ROM! — It’s all included… the newly published “Perspectives Exposure”, a five-lesson intro. to the Perspectives Course (131 page Study Guide)… all ready for your use and copy-released: http://www.ywam.org/books/countries_and_peoples.htm

  9. BUY “COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES” AND SUPPORT BRIGADA — Now here’s the disclaimer, just to keep me honest. The producers of “Countries and Peoples of the World” have offered to let the Brigada audience have a “sneak peak” introduction to their new CD tool. When you log on at:

    http://www.ywam.org/books/countries_and_peoples.htm

    you’ll see the “special and temporary introductory price” of $48.30. That price is good only for Brigada readers… and what’s more, it’s only good through the next 6 weeks. So for 6 weeks, you have a chance to buy this tool for 48 bucks. Then the price will default back to the retail of $69… and at that point, it’ll be in a bookstore near you. To get the $48 price, there’s only one place in the world to go: http://www.ywam.org/books/countries_and_peoples.htm And for every copy they sell, they’ve pledged to “tithe” 10% of the sale to Brigada, to help provide the funds for our new secretary… our first paid employee! Yahooo! :-) You’ll be able to see exactly what they give at the Brigada sponsors page:

    https://brigada.org/sponsor.html

    Now I don’t know which half of the subscriber list you’re on… the part that wants Countries and Peoples of the World, or the part that wants to be left out. :-) But I figure… if you’d rather not buy “Countries and Peoples,” maybe you would at least consider sending us the $4.80 direct? :-) Just a thought. :-) Anyway… “Countries and Peoples of the World”… highly recommended.


  10. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS — Thanks to Michael Jaffarian (I still remember when I met you on the bus at GCOWE ’95; I felt like I was meeting Billy Graham! :-) ) and Don Hart (Central Christian Church, San Jose, CA) for their sponsorships of $20 each. And thanks to the anonymous family in Asia for sending the $50 check. What a precious encouragement toward this ministry. Finally, thanks to our friends at Young Life Europe. They sponsored us at $100, and what’s more, they’ve pledged to give $100/month! Whoa! What do they do? They invest in the lives of teenagers, building relationships in order to earn the right to tell them about Jesus. They have on-going ministries to international schools and nationals in Lisbon, Munich, Zurich, London-area, Stockholm, Prague, Geneva, Brussels, Poznan (Poland), and a few other places. Another facet of their ministry: They bring kids from schools all over mostly western Europe into mostly eastern Europe for work projects. “While there, we share with the kids we bring about Christ. Generally, we do not attempt outreach to local peoples, but are willing to provide youth ministry seminars (led by senior YL staff) to local churches, classes in ESL, crafts and games for kids, sports, etc.” The truth is, they are interested in seeking new service project sites and partners needing all kinds of work teenagers could do, from demolition, to digging foundations, to building playgrounds. “Maybe some of your readers need some work done?” I hope so. If you’d like to team up with them, check out their web page. Thanks loads, Young Life! http://www.younglife.com