Brigada – 2024-03-31

…the gift of $50 from the developer of BibleSocietyLocations.org . First, you’re a hero because you care about getting the Word out to the nations. Second, you’re a hero because you care about Brigada. God bless you!

…another gift of $50 from Equipping Servants International, known throughout the world for their well-known training called, “ConnectTEFL online TESL course. Thanks ESI!!!

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Remember that item about Halloween?

https://brigada.org/2017/10/01_21419

This past week, a Brigada participant wrote to say, “Is this for real? Do we really spend that much on outfits and that little on overseas missions?” As a matter of fact, we had two really great inputs on this item, one from Justin Long (Beyond) and another from Dan Scribner (Joshua Project). Both are outstanding data specialists and both are extremely exacting in their expectations. Dan referred us to a post at the National Retail Federation…

https://nrf.com/resources/consumer-research-and-data/holiday-spending/halloween-headquarters

This particular post estimated we would spend upwards of $3.4 billion on costumes in general — and that 16% of us will buy costumes for pets. Dan’s summary: “Weep indeed.” Justin pointed us to …

http://www.gordonconwell.edu/ockenga/research/documents/StatusofGlobalChristianity2017.pdf

In this case, the estimate is that we spend some $53 billion on foreign missions, with an estimated 0.1% on the unevangelized world. So that would come out to $53 million. However, he added that no one really knows this figure for sure. But using the best data available, he indeed granted that the $350 million we spend on Halloween costumes for pets is 6x higher. He also added, “Even if we spend 1% of foreign mission money (530 million) on World A (I rather doubt that), Halloween costumes would be nearly 50% the same amount.” Dan said it well: “Weep indeed.”

It’s not that we’re saying pets should go without holidays. It’s that we’re saying, *if* we are going to go ape over our canines, let’s get real about our priorities to connect people with the creator.

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In this issue…
1) Missionary transitions: Free Download-
2) Get Started with DMM by Taking in This Two-Day Training
3) Fact-Checker: Do We Really Spend More on Halloween Outfits
4) “Polling Everywhere” app Better Than We Thought
5) Google Really DID Release Real-Time Translating Earbuds
6) What’s the Best Counseling for a Group?
7) What Off-the-Shelf Donation Recording System Would You Recommend?
8) Parenting book: “Give Your Kids a Break”
9) Looking for a Debriefing Experience for Your Missionary?
10) Catch the Member Care Update of All Member Care Updates!
11) Is Your Organization Still Doing Psychological Screening? Oops.
12) You Can Submit an Item to Brigada — For Free!
13) We’re Grateful for…
14) The Last Bit: Our Small Study of Collaborative Writing Apps/Tools
15) Closing Stuff

“Missionary Transitions” is a 15-chapter e-book about many of the transitions that missionaries experience. Of course, it includes the major transitions to and from the field. However, its 230 pages also contain information about the transitions missionaries go through before they leave home, while serving in their host culture, and after they return home. The book is available to download free of charge as .doc, .pdf, or .zip files for your computer and as .mobi or .epub files for your Kindle or Nook. Find it at…

http://www.missionarycare.com/transitions.html

Have you been wondering, “What in the world is DMM?” Now you can find out — in two days, of all things!!! The dates are Nov. 15-16 and the place is the Peoria Convention Center. And get this — this workshop will set you back exactly $35, which includes the costs of the program and all the materials. (There’s no way they’re breaking even on this. Once you see the experience of the people involved, this has to be a situation in which the instructors are donating their time because they believe in the material. They are truly world-class trainers, each with experience launching DMM’s in a variety of cultures: Curtis, Frank, Andy, Terry and Amy. May God bless them. Because our seminar fees aren’t doing a whole lot of that.) Now, as I carefully examine things, there is a slight catch. You also have to register for ICOM (the International Conference on Missions), but that sets you back just $40 and for that, you can attend a four-day missions conference (for $40?; I don’t get these pricing structures.) Download the no-nonsense one-page flyer to learn more at…

https://brigada.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/DMM-peoria-2017.pdf

Register at…

http://theicom.org/register/

(You’ll have the chance to register for the ‘Pre-conference’ on DMM once you’ve registered for ICOM.)

We looked into this fact and — it’s only partially true. The fact is — we really do spend more on Halloween outfits each year than the sum total that we spend on unreached people. It’s partially true because the original fact is that we spend more on Halloween outfits for our PETs than everything we spend on unreached peoples! (If we were to factor in everything we spend on Halloween in general, wow. Just imagine.) The original fact is here…

https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Saving-Money/2015/1014/Americans-will-spend-350-million-on-Halloween-costumes.-For-their-pets

Read it and weep. The original stats on spending for unreached people groups come from the World Christian Database at…

http://www.worldchristiandatabase.org/wcd/https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Saving-Money/2015/1014/Americans-will-spend-350-million-on-Halloween-costumes.-For-their-pets

In last week’s Brigada, item 14 (“The Last Bit: We Need to Read the Terms Before we Act”), we reported what we knew at the time (that the company could sell at any time and hand on your cell phone number to whomever). However, the more we learn about that service, the better it seems. First, a Brigada participant (or two) happened to be personally familiar with the people who run the app. They actually contacted them and the CEO actually commented and explained the company’s practices a bit more. For example, there is language built into the company’s DNA that, if sold, they’ll literally work with the buyer to compel them not to share your personal information. But also, the CEO of Polling Everywhere pointed out that (duh) if people didn’t want to give up their cell phone number, they could just use the web browser on their phone to interact with the Polling Everywhere app via the WEB interface. I’m not sure why this hadn’t occurred to us before, but it does indeed seem that by doing this, the company can’t capture any information about your cell phone at all. So we edited the item (from last week) immediately and we’re issuing this correction to say, actually, Polling Everywhere seems like a great idea. (But we would agree with the CEO that maybe the web page is a safer and more secure way of interacting, rather than texting with the service.) Learn more about Polling Everywhere at…

https://www.polleverywhere.com/

And thanks to Jeff, the CEO of Polling Everywhere, and Rocky, the Wycliffe guy who knew Jeff and took up the cause. You both helped us learn and pass on what we learned more effectively! Thanks for participating in Brigada!

What??? The rumor was true. Thanks to Matt, who pointed us to the real deal. Google has released…

https://store.google.com/product/google_pixel_buds

They’re earbuds that do real-time translation. There are some caveats, of course (there always are — at first — for these kinds of deals). First, they’re $159. But hey — $159? That’s a crazy great price for this function, if you are a short-term trip participant and you already own a Google Pixel 2 phone. (If you don’t, the phone will set you back another $650 PLUS the cost of your contract (you’ll need an ACTIVE phone — i.e., with internet.) It seems they’re out of stock currently, but we’re sure they’ll restock, right? : ) Second, they don’t translate your speech back to your foreign language friend (so the translation is only one way). And most of all, anyone who has used these machine translations knows that there are often [humorous] mistakes. But still… this is one step closer to Star Trek! Please — if you have tried these, give us a real-time personal update as soon as possible. Thanks! (And thanks, Matt!)

Scott wrote this past week, wondering what organization or group we would recommend for counseling and biblical direction. He asked, “Who do you know that could come into a mission setting to help resolve conflict?” This is apparently a situation in which a third party is needed — one that is not bias. They would need to come to listen and learn and guide people get back to loving one another in Christ. Who would be the best bet for such a role? If you have a suggestion, please click “Comment” after the web version of this item. Please respect privacy whenever possible (for example, provide us with the counselor’s web page rather than giving us his or her cell phone number : ) ). Thanks!