In this issue…

  1. JULY/AUGUST MOMENTUM MAGAZINE ON THE SHELF
  2. GET INFO ON UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS *TODAY*
  3. THE EVANGELICAL TRAINING DATABASE
  4. THREE NEW CHURCH PLANTING BOOKS
  5. OPERATION REVEILLE WEB SITE UPDATED
  6. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MOSES?
  7. LITERATURE FOR FULANIS
  8. KIDS PRAYING FOR KIDS
  9. THE ZHUANG OF SOUTHERN CHINA
  10. PLANNING A WEBSITE?
  11. GRATEFUL FOR OUR PARTNERS
  12. 1/2 THROUGH THE YEAR, 1/4 THROUGH OUR FINANCIAL GOALS :-(
  13. THE BACKPAGE: IS EVERYBODY THIS BUSY?
  14. CLOSING STUFF

  1. JULY/AUGUST MOMENTUM MAGAZINE ON THE SHELF — Grab the free July/August issue of Momentum Magazine at:

    http://www.momentum-mag.org/200607/200607.pdf (High resolution version, 56 pages, 11MB) or

    http://www.momentum-mag.org/200607/200607-small.pdf (Low resolution version, 56 pages, 1.8MB)

    Momentum Magazine is edited by Justin Long. I really like the direction Justin is going with his work. To me, he has taken statistics to a new level. Somehow he has transformed mere numbers and math into feelings and people. There are hundreds of little paragraphs I want to memorize or shout from a mountain top or a church pulpit. In short, his work is inspirational, if not sometimes a bit depressing. Sometimes it takes a bit of depression to get us off square one… or square zero. So … in summary, I say bravo to Justin and his efforts to make Momentum Magazine into a rallying cry for masses of new world Christians and the new wave of missionaries they will send. Momentum Magazine is one of the few bright spots in missions mobilization today. It should be required reading for every Brigada subscriber. Do I agree with all his theology? Nope. But do I agree with his ache for the world’s least reached? But of course. And so will you.


  2. GET INFO ON UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS *TODAY* — In April 2006, the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board released the pilot version of the North American People Groups Database project,

    http://www.peoplegroups.info

    at the Ethnic America Summit in Atlanta. The website contains 2000 Census data for language spoken at home, country of birth, and ancestry by city, county, and zip code. Additionally, local pilot research in the Atlanta area provided over 30 people groups in the Chinese, Arab, and Mexican communities alone. Many other functionalities exist on the website as well, including: an online discussion forum for North American people group workers, a resource request form, and a toolbox for those wishing to begin people group research in their area. The website is still in the pilot phase but improvements will be made in the months ahead. Get registered today to benefit from all this online database has to offer!


  3. THE EVANGELICAL TRAINING DATABASE –-

    http://www.trainforChrist.org

    Training organizations that are members of an evangelical alliance or similar association can now register their courses on the international Evangelical Training Database. This is free and courses are then searchable world-wide through English and Spanish interfaces. The Missionary Training Service, sponsor of the project, is liaising with member bodies of the International Commission for Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE) and the Trainers of Pastors International Coalition (TOPIC) and similar associations. They hope it will become a world-wide resource for anyone needing training. Geoff Tunnicliffe, leader of the World Evangelical Alliance kindly said, “We certainly want to find ways of seamlessly integrating this into our WEA web presence”. Dr Chris Wright, Director of the Langham Partnership International (John Stott Ministries), and chairman of the Lausanne Theology Working Group, is also supporting the project. Translations into other languages are being planned.


  4. THREE NEW CHURCH PLANTING BOOKS — Church Planting Coaches, a ministry of YWAM Frontier Missions, has just published several new books to help you and your workers to start brand new church planting movements on the frontiers. Stop on by their two internet stores to find out more. Two titles: The Compendium of Church Planting Knowledge and Multiplying Churches Student Notes are available at:

    http://www.cafepress.com/cpcoaches

    These books are not-for-profit and priced at the CafePress base price. Another new title, Keys To Church Planting Movements by Kevin Sutter has just been released at:

    http://www.cafepress.com/stephanas

    This books presents simple, New Testament principles for planting churches cross-culturally. Through attractive cartoons, that can be used in any language, follow Stephanas, a first-century cross-cultural worker, and his apostolic team as they multiply simple churches among the unreached. Learn how to turn the world upside down! Major credit cards accepted.


  5. OPERATION REVEILLE WEB SITE UPDATED — Articles include Insights for Persuading Muslims and Post-Moderns, News on Situations in Iran and Afghanistan and on Religious Changes in Africa, A List of Recommended Books on Islam, and more at

    http://www.oprev.org/Shofar.htm

    You may request a pdf, html, or hard copy from bside(at)oprev(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]


  6. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MOSES? — Was he a stern dictator, the angry judge of a rebellious nation? The Bible calls him ‘the servant of the Lord’ and says that ‘the Lord knew him face to face.’ To discover his true character go to:

    http://www.easyenglish.info

    Click on Exodus, then choose Unit 2: Moses – the problem of feeling inadequate, by Raymond Brown. This interesting study of a great man has been translated into EasyEnglish Level B (2800 word vocabulary) by Mary Read.


  7. LITERATURE FOR FULANIS — Free papers for the Fulani of West Africa are available from SOON Ministries in several dialects, and also in downloadable PDF files from the website. In addition, the team will be glad to partner with other groups in producing additional dialect versions.

    http://www.soon.org.uk/fulani/free-papers.php

    (Thanks Tony!!!)


  8. KIDS PRAYING FOR KIDS — A DVD compilation of three, six minute videos of Prayerwalking for Kids, The 10/40 Window for Kids, Prayer and Fasting for Kids, and a special bonus track of The 10/40 Window for Adults. This mini-movie library is a great resource for Sunday Schools, Children’s Church, Homeschoolers, and grandparents who want prayer passionate grand-kids. You can order it from Joey and Fawn at…

    http://www.reignbridge.com

    by clicking on resources, or write fawn(at)reignbridge(dot)com [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]


  9. THE ZHUANG OF SOUTHERN CHINA — October 1st will begin a month long prayer emphasis for the over 17 million unreached Zhuang of Southern China. They are the largest people group in the world without a Bible in their own language. Each month on the first is a time of prayer and fasting on behalf of Zhuang, but in the month of October each year there is a special emphasis. There is a full color prayer guide “31 Days for the Zhuang” available in several languages. The price is US $1 per book for one to fifty copies, after 50 copies it is sixty cents a copy and the postage charge to mail them. Please join others on October 1st for the October 1st 2006 Day Of Prayer For The Zhuang. To be added to the list of those who will take part, or to receive the prayer guide, please write: zhuang(at)pobox(dot)com [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]

  10. PLANNING A WEBSITE? — Before you start, there are two key questions to ask, and a detailed profile of your potential visitors to develop. Use Internet Evangelism Day’s printable worksheet to help you.

    http://ied.gospelcom.net/starting.php

    (Again, many thanks, Tony!)


  11. GRATEFUL FOR OUR PARTNERS — Thanks to the anonymous donors who, this past week, gave $10, $10, $25, $25, and $50 to help speed along our work with Brigada. Thanks also to Blessings Int’l in Tulsa, OK, who just sent $100. Does your church operate a medical clinic? Blessings International has pharmaceuticals, vitamins, over-the-counter medicines, and medical supplies available for use in non-profit clinics at reduced costs. Check them out at:

    http://www.blessing.org

    Thanks to those who have switched their long distance service to Accxx via Blessed Hope. Their conversations yielded a gift of $12.89 to Brigada this past month. Our family is one of those that have switched and I can honestly tell you… the long distance works great! :-) If you’ve ever thought about switching from huge companies who will never miss you if you left, try stopping by the page at:

    http://www.lowermyphonebill.com/brigada

    We’re also grateful to short-term teams from College Heights Christian Church (Joplin, MO) and Highline Christian Church (Seattle, WA) who chose ISA as their insurer during their trip. Because of ISA’s commitment to tithe all of the sales which say, “I heard about you on Brigada,” they sent $145.46 this past week! May God bless these short- term teams and make it so these policies are not needed. That way ISA won’t have to pay out any benefits, making them happy; the teams won’t experience any loss, thereby making *them* happy; yet Brigada will have still benefited making *Brigada* happy! :-) Everybody wins! :-) Check out ISA at:

    http://www.missionaryhealth.net/brigada.htm


  12. 1/2 THROUGH THE YEAR, 1/4 THROUGH OUR FINANCIAL GOALS :-( — There are some readers out there with a little extra means. The good news is… those with a little extra can make it possible for *all* to connect with Brigada, simply by saying, “I’ll help.” Maybe you can only spare a $50 gift, once a year. But see… those $50 gifts would add up. As it stands now, we’re 50% through the year with only 25% of the funds for which we had been praying. Would you be able to help fix that problem? If so, just go to

    https://brigada.org

    and 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.


  13. THE BACKPAGE: IS EVERYBODY THIS BUSY? — Recently, I had to jot down some of my roles for a brief introduction I was writing and, frankly, it was kind of startling. Is everybody attempting to pull off this kind of schedule? (May I just think out loud here for a sec’?) Maybe it’s a symptom of being too interested in lots of different investments of time. I’m a husband to a great wife and a dad to two incredible sons, a son to my aging mother, an elder in my local church, where I play piano and keyboard with the worship team while serving as Chairman of the Missions Committee. I enjoy trying to stay fairly in tune with developments in technology, communications, computing, photography, and a dozen other interests.

    In addition, I’m a high school varsity boys soccer coach for a large Christian school nearby. So I invest about 3 hours, 5 nights a week in these 18 boys (and their respective families). By the way, just for fun, you can see their progress this coming season at:

    http://www.calsoccer.net

    [Yes, in case you were wondering, one of my sons is an 11th-grader at that same school and yes, he did make varsity this year (for the first time though). :-) ]

    On the side, I’m president of a missions agency called Team Expansion. (You can learn more about their work at:

    http://www.teamexpansion.org

    They keep me hopping… with 300 missionaries in 37 countries.

    To make life even more interesting, I’m having to help quite a bit with launching their new retreat center — learn more at:

    http://www.emeraldhills.info

    I’m *soooo* close to being done with my Ph.D. dissertation. Just a couple of chapters, actually. But alas, so much of that has gone on hold with Emerald Hills.

    And then there’s Brigada. Eventually, I always manage to catch up… one issue a week for 11 years. Yikes. :-) Brigada participants are so patient, too. Sometimes I get 3 weeks behind . . . yet the kind words and encouraging testimonies give me hope that somewhere, somehow, this information is helpful to someone.

    On top of all that, I’m interested in people’s lives. So last night I drove 40 minutes to go hear one of our workers do a presentation on Afghanistan at a local church camp. Today I’ll drive 30 minutes to pray with the wife of one of our trainers before her surgery. This weekend I’ll drive 5 hours to speak in a local church that’s helping our ministry.

    Shew.

    Are we busy yet? :-)

    So this morning I was just thinking… Is this just my own life… or is this happening to everyone? It’s not that I’m unhappy or feel stressed. The truth is… I’m having a blast in life. I’m happy and eventually, I usually catch up on enough sleep to get by. So why am I writing about this? I guess I’m just wanting to make sure we all examine our respective lives… that we take our pulse to be sure that we still care very deeply about unreached peoples. That we’ll still live our lives, even with all these different involvements, in such a way that they’ll hear the message. That we’ll still dedicate ourselves to trying to reach them. That we still won’t quit ’til they’ve had a chance to hear.

    Are we good on all that?

    Thanks for listening in on my thinking.

    Doug