- IS THERE AN ONLINE RESOURCE TO DISCERN ONE’S CALLING?
- WHO WILL TRY THIS CELL PHONE OPTION (FOR INT’L TRAVEL)?
- MISSIONARY TRAINING CAMP
- LEARN ENGLISH IN THE USA
- 2008 POST-CHRISTENDOM SPIRITUALITIES CONFERENCE
- INTRODUCING PRAYER TOOLBAR
- GO TO THE NATIONS…AS AN ENGLISH TEACHER
- WHEN YOU SUBMIT ITEMS TO BRIGADA, PLEASE…
- A LESS EXPENSIVE VPN
- WHAT A DIFFERENCE YOU’VE MADE IN BRIGADA
- PROGRESS… BUT COULD YOU HELP US BRIDGE THE GAP?
- THE BACKPAGE: ONE MAN’S REFLECTIONS OF CHRISTMAS
- CLOSING STUFF
- IS THERE AN ONLINE RESOURCE TO DISCERN ONE’S CALLING? — That’s what Andy would like to know. He’s a leader at Wycliffe and he’d love to help people discover what is God’s will for their lives more effectively with some online tool. “Have you ever run across an assessment tool to help a person especially a young person determine what God’s call on his life may be? I have experienced something like this in a work book like “Jesus on Leadership,” but I was wondering if there was something on line that could do much the same thing?” Can you advise him of any options? If so, please drop by at
http://brigada.org/brigade/?p=52
and leave a “Comment.” Thanks!
- WHO WILL TRY THIS CELL PHONE OPTION (FOR INT’L TRAVEL)? — If you’re willing to be a bleeding-edge beta-tester, we’d love to hear your take on the new int’l travel cell sim chip at
We commented on it earlier. Rates aren’t *quite* as good as predicted (prior to the formal launch of the company), but some of them are actually quite close. It happens I recently bought into another system (go-sim), so I’m not well-positioned to test this one. If you’re willing, please jot a note to that effect at
http://brigada.org/brigade/?p=51
Once you’ve formed an impression, please stop back and tell your experience. Check back at this site later to see the comments that have come in. Thanks to anyone willing to try it!!! (And thanks to Steve for keeping this at the forefront of our attention.)
- MISSIONARY TRAINING CAMP — It’s slated for February 7-10, 2008 at Living Waters Farm, Virginia. Invest in four days of focused examination of seven areas critical for becoming one sent from a local church. The days are a balance of hearing principles and receiving impartation from others who have years of experience. For a full description of the training see
To personally communicate with an Elijah Company representative write to training(at)elijahcompany
(dot)org or call (757) 226-3507 or (757) 287-4604. [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with . then reassemble the address back onto one line.]
- LEARN ENGLISH IN THE USA — Do you know people who are called to missions but need to speak English to fulfill that calling? An ESL class will be offered in Lebanon, PA, USA beginning March 2, 2008 and ending May 23, 2008 for those who want to learn to speak and understand the English language. The necessary aspects of English grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation will be taught to enable the student to acquire communicative competence. Cost is $2250 with a non-refundable $35 registration fee. For more information or to register contact ywampa(at)comcast
(dot)net [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with . then reassemble the address onto one line.]
- 2008 POST-CHRISTENDOM SPIRITUALITIES CONFERENCE — Practitioners and scholars working in the field of new religious movements are invited to submit a title and 250-word abstract along with a curriculum vita for consideration in the Post-Christendom Spiritualities conference to be held at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School 16-19 October 2008. Special consideration will be given to papers addressing the academic study of new religious movements as well as the praxis of engaging these movements. Papers for the conference might include, but are not limited to, subjects such as Goddess spirituality and the theology of God, Inter-religious apologetics in post-modernity, and the work of the Spirit in mission and New Spiritualities Papers should reflect the ideas expressed in the Lausanne Occasional Paper no. 45 found at
http://www.lausanne.org/documents/2004forum/LOP45_IG16.pdf
Please submit a title, abstract and CV to mcooper(at)tiu
(dot)org by 31 December 2007 [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with . then reassemble the address back onto one line.] If accepted, a paper must be submitted by 15 August 2008 in order for solicitations of responses from critical respondents.
- INTRODUCING PRAYER TOOLBAR — Finally, there is a tool for churches to encourage people to pray, worship, serve and connect with God beyond the Sunday service. Prayer Toolbar (TM) enables churches to publish messages that display in people’s web browser anytime they go online. If your church uses bulletins, web sites, email or podcasts to spread the God’s Word, than you owe it to yourself to investigate this new technology to connect people to God through you. What it can do for your church is huge. What it can do for His people is eternal. Visit
to see a FREE, online demonstration. There’s never been anything like it.
- GO TO THE NATIONS…AS AN ENGLISH TEACHER — Here’s an exciting and intensive 4-week TESOL course equipping you with effective English teaching techniques, sponsored by Youth With A Mission in Lebanon, PA, USA. The school dates are March 9-April 4, 2008 and April 20 – May 16, 2008 and it’s a certificate program. Details, application forms, and alternate dates listed on our website at
Email questions to ywampa(at)comcast
(dot)net [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with . and reassemble the address onto one line.]
- WHEN YOU SUBMIT ITEMS TO BRIGADA, PLEASE… — Please don’t use “classified ad language.” It’s not really our style. Also, please remember to speak in 3rd person; otherwise our readers will become confused as to which person is speaking. In fact, please check out the short list of suggestions by clicking on “submit” at
Thanks! Your investment in some of these tiny differences would help us a great deal in preparing future editions of Brigada Today – on time.
- A LESS EXPENSIVE VPN — If you’re a one-up VPN user (i.e., you don’t need a dashboard for your entire organization), try
It’s about $40/year and several Brigada participants, including Wade and Tony, have found it to be very effective.
- WHAT A DIFFERENCE YOU’VE MADE IN BRIGADA — We *so* appreciate our dear brother in Sweden who came back in 2007 to give $100, and another anonymous couple out East sent $50. On top of that, YWAM in Lebanon, PA bowled us over with a $300 gift! Sobered, encouraged, and motivated… Thank you! Another anonymous sister sent $100. A brother in Texas sent $25, joined by another brother who also sent $25 from the mountains of Northern Thailand and yet another from here in Kentucky (also $25). A missions committee member from Davao sent $50 with a very encouraging note. Workers from Oscar in UK also sent $50 and a couple working in Brazil sent $25. Another mobilizer from the great state of Texas sent $100. We give praise to God for this partnership and help!
- PROGRESS… BUT COULD YOU HELP US BRIDGE THE GAP? — The gifts above, added to last edition’s total of $8,967.90, brings our 2007 total to $9817.90. This is still quite a ways from our goal of $17,150 and still quite shy of the $15,096 that came in in 2006. We would *so* love it if we could see some major catch-uppage happen here in the final week. Would you be willing to help make that happen at your church, group, family, or in your own bank account? If God has enabled you to make even a small gift, would you be willing to give it on behalf of someone who, for now, can’t? If so, thanks!!! Just click on the “Donate“.
As we say above, we’ve made progress, but still need the following gifts to meet our needs…
1 of 1 more gift of $1000
3 of 5 more gifts of $500
8 of 250 more gifts of $250
7 of 13 more gifts of $100
20 of 27 more gifts of $50
56 of 70 more gifts of $25You can pull the money from your PayPal account or from any major 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. (Team Expansion is a 501(c)3 incorporation so for USA citizens, your checks made out to Team Expansion are tax-deductible.) 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. And thank you in advance for helping.
- THE BACKPAGE: ONE MAN’S REFLECTIONS OF CHRISTMAS — As I write this ‘back page’, it’s Christmas evening. (Yes, I know the edition is dated earlier than that; we’re *trying* to catch up by the end of the year. Pray for us! :-) ) I’m listening to Napster Christmas music in my earbuds, my wife and two sons are fast asleep and I’m redeeming these tranquil moments to reflect on the essence of family. Fresh in my mind is Steve Farrar’s book, “Point Man: How a Man Can Lead his Family.” (See
for more info on Dr. Farrar.) It always seems to me that families try a little harder to “get together” at Christmas. I saw both my brothers. We spent Christmas Eve with my wife’s family. And today I drove up to see my mom, who now lives alone in the family farmhouse where I was raised. On the one hand, my wife and I are enjoying having our college-aged son home for the holidays, while at the same time, our thoughts fast-forward to summer time, when our other son ships out to begin training as a soldier. We leave day after tomorrow for a week-long family vacation.
Perhaps, as you read these words, you’re serving overseas. But I bet you’ve Skyped (or wish you had) with a relative too, sometime during these past couple of days. So you can at least identify. We make a special effort to focus on the family this time of year. And I’m wondering — what if we could somehow manage to keep that focus throughout the entire year. Maybe we can’t take a family vacation every month… but we could probably at least do the Skype call, you know? I *try* to motor up to see my mom at least once a month, but there are certainly times that I miss. Someone recently admitted to me that we really don’t know for sure that Jesus was born on — or even around — December 25th. So although Christmas holiday is a great excuse, it really isn’t rooted to December. So as we turn the corner toward the New Year, why not join me in a resolution to “focus on the family” all the more in ’08. If you’re single, call a parent, sibling, or family friend. If we’re lucky enough to still have parents or others alive in your life, let’s seize the moment. Let’s make *every* month like Christmas in ’08. Let’s rebuild broken relationships and strengthen others. Let’s save up and budget for the gifts we wish we’d been courageous enough to give this Christmas. And let’s love like it’s going outa’ style. Let’s make 2008 the year we show family (and the world) a model that Jesus would have loved. After all, he made sure his mother was squared away, even as he hung on the cross. So moms, wives, and kids of the world, get ready — ’cause here we come! :-)
(Want to comment on this ‘back page’ editorial? Just log on at:
http://brigada.org/brigade/?p=53
and click “comments” in the summary line. Thanks!)
Recent Comments