Brigada – 2024-03-17

10) China is Amping Up Religious Persecution — Please Pray

Would you please lift up your brothers and sisters in China? This week, they encountered new levels of persecution not seen for years (maybe decades). In what appears to be a step back into the dark ages, government officials began punishing Christ-followers and others simply for being devout in their faith. Learn more at sites like these…

China persecution: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/09/10/chinese-officials-burn-bibles-close-churches-force-christian-to-denounce-faith-amid-escalating-crackdown.html

https://nypost.com/2018/09/10/china-wages-war-on-jesus/

12) Easy Screencasts for The Rest of Us (My True 4-min. Sample Story)

Do you sometimes wonder how tech support specialists and others produce those screencast tutorials explaining how to use difficult software tools? They get uploaded to YouTube and end up helping tons of people figure out how to navigate the latest software challenge. What if you used a similar screencast software to share a narrative of a young boy or girl in your field. You could use a royalty free stock image picture and explain that security prevents you from showing a real picture, but that you’re “providing this picture as a stand-in to give listeners an idea of what life has been like” for the particular story you’re telling. Narratives are powerful — perhaps way more powerful than slide presentations (including PowerPoint). If you’d like to give this a spin, perhaps the easiest choice of all (and least expensive) is the free tool, Loom. Install it in your browser and instantly get the capability to make amazingly beautiful (and equally easy) videos using your screen, your webcam (if you like) and a mic (including the mic built into your laptop). To show you how easy it is, I (Doug) just recorded a 4-minute story using Loom. Check it out here:

https://www.useloom.com/share/b010700ab78a40ae9ad205942308e524

Then, if you’re interested, give it a try here:

https://www.useloom.com/desktop/?r=ZGx1Y2FzQHRlYW1leHBhbnNpb24ub3Jn

#loomdesktop

(Disclaimer: Loom is free for all, but the desktop app option is being leaked out to the world slowly, mainly to those who help spread the word about Loom. By using the link above, you are still assured of a free tool inside your own browser, while at the same time, it just might help us get a look at the dedicated desktop app more quickly. : ) If it does indeed bump us up the list, we’ll review the desktop app, which is also free, here in Brigada in the very near future.)

13) We’re grateful for…

…$100 from Mission Network. You continue to encourage and amaze us. Thank you for your partnership, friendship, and encouragement.

…$75 from the folks at Visual Story. Learn more about what they do by taking a course they offer beginning Sept. 19th. Sign up today at…

http://www.missionmediau.org/courses/story-in-ministry/
…$30 from a long-time friend of Brigada. This friend probably goes all the way back to 1995. We’re grateful. God bless you!!!

Want to partner with Brigada so that all may hear in order to hasten the coming of Jesus? Just click “Donate” at www.brigada.org, or mail a check payable to Team Expansion (Brigada), 13711 Willow Reed Drive, Louisville, KY 40299. Team Expansion is a 501(c)3 incorporation so, for USA citizens, your gift to Christ by writing a check to Team Expansion is tax-deductible. Thank you, in advance, for your partnership!

14) The Last Bit: Acquiring All Spoken Languages Should be Equally Hard

We’re taking a poll. Do you agree or disagree with the assertion that it should be equally hard (and equally easy) to learn all (that is, any given) spoken languages in the world — if we are acquiring them in the right way. What do we mean by this? To me (Doug), acquiring a spoken language in the aural/oral way should be tackled by memorizing whole texts through mimicry. I believe this is the only way to capture the true melody of the language the way locals speak it. By listening to and then later producing whole sentences using recordings made by native speakers, shouldn’t a trained newcomer be able to learn to understand and speak any new language in the world in a matter of months or a few years max? Disclaimers: Note that I’m not talking at all about written language. To me, written language introduces an entirely different challenge that deals with the eye gate. With written language, one might have to learn a new script using completely foreign letters — and this might take longer even for insiders, depending on the particular script involved. But isn’t it true that babies the world over generally all learn to understand and speak their native language between 1 year and 3 years of age. (They might speak it in a very basic way at age 3, but they typically are at least starting to get the hang of it, right?) Note that this is true of Russian babies, or babies in North Africa, the Middle East, Africa, or Mexico. Language is no respecter of persons, when it comes to babies. So, in a similar way, doesn’t it stand to reason that if we’re dealing only with spoken language (the aural/oral gate), shouldn’t we all be able to do what babies do — only maybe better?

To me, this is why maps like this one….

https://www.mapmania.org/map/76143/how_long_for_an_english_speaker_to_become_proficient

make no sense at all. Never mind that the data might be provided by some famous group with lots of travelers having spent lots of time overseas (the Foreign Services Institute). As ashes on the ground, I’m still bold enough to propose that they’re missing the boat. Maybe they’re confusing the matter with learning a written language alongside the spoken.

Here’s the bottom line: If I want to say, “This is my third day in your country,” it seems to take me exactly the same time to learn the mumbo-jumbo in a city in Asia as it does to say the equivalent mumbo-jumbo in a village in South America. Because to me, it’s all equally hard — and it’s all equally easy. I’ve tried this in countries all around the world. I don’t consider myself a quick study on language. It’s ALL very difficult for me. But it’s also all very equally easy. With the aid of a helper, I facilitate the helper in constructing a series of nonsense syllables that, taken together, with the right flow — if I learn to repeat those same syllables in exactly the same way with exactly the same flow — people tell me their names. Or they tell me where the bathroom is. Or they ponder the meaning of the brief story I just shared.

It’s all equally hard. And it’s all equally easy. Your thoughts? Please respond by clicking comment after the web or app version of this item. And thanks in advance for your response.

15) Closing Stuff

Subscription Information –

Want to unsubscribe? Just click the “Unsubscribe” link at the end of this email. It’s one touch — so easy.

Want to change your address? That’s easy too. First, use the unsubscribe instruction above to get rid of your old address. Then just click to www.brigada.org and enter your new address in the one-click subscribe box in the upper right. That’s it! If necessary, verify the new address by watching your inbox for the confirmation from our email sending service. Be ready to click on (or copy and paste) the link into your browser. That’s it! It’s that easy!

To Submit an Item — We love to feature your news & resources! To find out how, read our submission guidelines and use the web form at:

https://brigada.org/submit-an-item

Disclaimer –
We can’t screen ’em all. Please forgive us if a particular site contains offensive information!
The web is constantly changing. We’ll do our best to scout it out in advance, but if the sea changes after we visit a site to check it out, please forgive.

Please Don’t Subscribe Us To Your List Without Asking –
Sorry, nothing personal, but we’re already deluged.

Warning About Forwarding Emails –
Just say no! :-) Read our thoughts about forwarding emails at

https://brigada.org/opc

Donate to Brigada –

To give online, just click “Donate” in the upper right at www.brigada.org. Or if you’re reading this via email, scroll to the bottom to find a handy link. By the way, you don’t need a PayPal account to give. If you reach a screen asking for your PayPal I.D., look on the left side of the screen, about halfway down, and find the prompt which says, “Continue without a PayPal Account.” If you’d rather send an old-fashioned check, just make it payable to Team Expansion and send it to: Team Expansion (Brigada), 13711 Willow Reed Drive, Louisville, KY 40299, USA. (And by the way, Team Expansion is a 501(c)3 incorporation so for USA citizens, your checks made out to Team Expansion are tax-deductible.) Thanks to those who have suggested this cause to their local church missions committees, mission teams, and/or missions ministers/pastors. We appreciate you!

Privacy Information –

We will never give your information to anybody. We won’t market you, won’t hassle you, and won’t ever bother you. You will NEVER be signed up for mailings you didn’t request. Your address is safe and your future is secure. Life is good. :-)

Copyright — This issue of _Brigada Today_ is Copyrighted 2018. However, permission is granted to freely redistribute these materials, including those available on the Brigada website, provided that such redistribution is to those who will help the Good News of Jesus Christ to reach the unreached. To copy or reproduce Brigada Today for any other reason is illegal and is not permitted.

When you quote or paraphrase material from Brigada, please include this
phrase: “For a free subscription to Brigada’s weekly missions publication, visit Brigada on the web at www.brigada.org.”

2018/09/02 — Brigada Today

Compiled/Edited by Doug Lucas and Tina McCormick, Team Expansion
Brigada online has more graphics and links at https://brigada.org

In this issue…
1) The Fastest Route to a Job Overseas and Best Option for Refugees
2) Video series for worship teams
3) Easy Way to Catch the Latest on International Prayer Events/Concerns
4) No Doubt Our New Fave Video on 3 Circles (Thank you Lord)
5) New Infographic Shows Global, Regional, and Issue-Focused Networks
6) One-stop Shop for Travel, Insurance, Security And Traveler Safety
7) Changing Email Addresses Soon? See “Closing Stuff”
8) We Just Prayed for Myanmar/Burma at PrayerCast; Will You Join Us?
9) “What Are the Best News Sources” Item Raises Issues
10) How to Keep Prayer Vibrant in Your Org or Church
11) Make Deeper Connections With Social Media
12) Need to Convert an Audio or Video Recording to Text? It’s Easy
13) We’re Grateful for…
14) The Last Bit: Sounds Like an Ad, but We Just Saved $1400 on Airfare
15) Closing Stuff

1) The Fastest Route to a Job Overseas and Best Option for Refugees

What’s the fastest route to landing a job overseas? And what’s the fastest way to empower refugees and immigrants in the USA? ConnecTEFL is an affordable, professional 120 hour TEFL certification program that can be completed online anywhere in the world! The certificate meets the globally accepted TESOL International short-term certificate standards and makes you marketable in about every country in the world!
For more info, visit…

http://connectefl.com

2) Video series for worship teams

Our colleagues at Christian Ministry Academy have just added a new video series to coach small-church musicians and worship leaders.
You can get free access to weekly video tutorials, (served up in bite-sized chunks of 5-10 minutes), that share tips, tricks, and principles to help your church create exceptional worship experiences.
Register free at

https://www.christianministryacademy.org/p/noproworship

Alert your Worship Team to get this free series!

Subscribe to the Email Edition