Brigada Today
27 of October, 1995
Now with over 1250 Participants!
(Praying today for Hanoi, Vientiane, and Phnom Penh)
News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
[Pass this issue to a friend! To subscribe, see instructions at end.]
In this issue....
ANDOVER CH. OF CHRIST GIVES "PRAYING THROUGH THE WINDOW" NEW MEANING
It
was dairy farmer Donnie Knowles who thought it up... but everybody got
involved. Mid-way through their month of "Praying Through the Window", the
Andover Church of Christ (kind of near Cleveland, Ohio) took time during
Sunday morning worship to feature a real "window" up on the platform, with
the panes covered with brown paper. As members described the impact that
prayer could have on the world, the paper was peeled away, one pane at a
time, to reveal views 'through the window' of color maps of various
countries and regions of the [real]
10/40 Window.
They've kept the huge set
of window panes on stage all month just to remind the members to lift up the
needs of the least reached. These kinds of props and visual clues can be
really helpful in creating an image that will stick in the minds of a church
membership. Way to go Andover!
By the way, devices like these don't have to be real expensive, either!
Jokingly, I asked if Donnie's cows minded the increased draft through their
barn and, to my surprise, he replied, "No, we took these windows out of a
barn that's empty for now." So, keep your eyes open for a local dairy
farmer if you want to feature the 10/40 Window in your own church. If you
find a willing and imaginative volunteer, maybe it won't be such a "pain" to
create your next enduring image!
So let's get moo-ving!
PLAN NOW FOR YOUR PRAYING THROUGH THE 100 GATEWAY CITIES RECEPTION
Remember Tommy Baker at Florence? He's the guy that recruited 100 people in
his church of 1000 in northern Kentucky to each pray for a different Gateway
City throughout the entire month of October (as well as for the normal
featured cities for each respective day). (You can download his
earlier story by sending email to
hub@xc.org with only the line
get brigadachurch-florence
Many have
followed his plan and introduced similar approaches in their own
congregations. Well stay tuned! His creativity is at it again. He's
putting together a reception for Sunday evening, Nov. 5, to which he's
inviting all those "prayer adoptors" and others who have shown interest in
the project. They'll have some refreshments, recount stories and answered
prayer for the 100 Gateway Cities, then highlight some of the most desperate
situations within the 'window'. In correlation with the proposed timeline
for Envision '96, Tommy hopes that this army of prayer warriors can help the
church in its selection of a prospective target area for a new PACE Project
(where a particular church takes responsibility for putting together a
relational network to plant a new congregation in a least reached city or
people group). If you've got a moment right now, would you pray for Tommy
and his Nov. 5th reception? Ask God to help those 100 people move their
congregation toward action and initiative in a desperate area of the world.
URUGUAYANS PRAY "THROUGH THE WINDOW"
Thanks to Larry Griffin, who
reported that tonight the church in Montevideo will be on its knees!
"Please be in prayer for an all-night prayer vigil that is being planned for
this coming Friday evening [Oct. 27] from 10:00 p.m. til 6:00 a.m. We will
be focusing on the needs of the 100 Gateway Cities in the 10/40 Window,
educating the congregation on the needs, and lifting up our prayers in a
concentrated effort to wage spiritual battle against the barriers limiting
the evangelization of these cities. The members of the congregation have
been participating all this month in the "Pray Through The Window II"
campaign focusing on the 100 Gateway Cities. Please pray that this interest
in the World Wide Mission of the church will continue to grow, and will be a
positive influence on the spiritual life of the congregation." For more
information, subscribe to brigada-uruguay-montevideo by sending email to
hub@xc.org with only the following line in the body of the message text:
brigada-uruguay-montevideo
Y PARA ELLOS QUE HABLAN ESPANOL, ...
La semana pasada, recibimos una
carta de Ann Krebs
76423.2675@compuserve.com. Ella pidio' noticias en
espanol acerca de iglesias en la obra de alcanzar varias partes del mundo
con la esperanza de Jesus. Dijo que este tipo de informacion serviria para
mobilizar otras iglesias en la obra del Senor. Si tu quisieras leer
noticias similares, sugiero que mandes un "email" a
hub@xc.org con
solamente estas palabras en la carta:
subscribe brigada-peoples-latam
subscribe brigada-argentina-laplata
subscribe brigada-ecuador-guayaquil
subscribe brigada-uruguay-montevideo
En esta manera, por lo menos, vas a escuchar noticias regularmente de
algunos paises donde se habla espanol. Y si tengas noticias (en espanol o
en ingles), favor de mandarlas a brigada-peoples-latam@xc.org con la
esperanza que Ann y muchos mas van a orar por ti! (Okay Ann?)
LOOKING FOR A FOLLOW-UP TO "PRAYING THROUGH THE WINDOW"? STAY TUNED
Next
week, we'll carry news about a worldwide prayer emphasis for
January-February that coincides with the Muslim month of Ramadan. Don't
miss this chance to express your friendship, love, and concern for Muslims
around the world!
KNOW ANY GOOD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS IN THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA?
If
so, please send them directly to John McAdams
76026.3134@compuserve.com.
"PRAY TODAY" FOR WINDOWS
Think about it. It's a natural! You run Windows
on your computer -- why shouldn't it remind you to pray for peoples who
live in the 10/40 Window... and all around the world, in fact. That's
exactly what "Pray Today" does. Bob Hall
SOCI136@cantva.canterbury.ac.nz ,
who serves as National Coordinator of the Centre for Mission Direction in
New Zealand, tipped us off to this little program (that you put in your
Windows "start up" folder). Thereafter, every time you boot Windows, you
get information on a new Bible-less people (name, number, religion, status
of Christian work and Scripture translation). You guessed it... developed
by Wycliffe Associates (in England, no less; those English are always coming
up with something clever!
). For more info., contact your Wycliffe
national office or Bob. By the way, they didn't put in an ad for Wycliffe
anywhere in the box. Seems as if they wanted to focus our minds on the need
rather than the banner. Cool. 
INTERESTED IN KAZKAHSTAN? COME TO SAN DIEGO!
At least come during Nov.
29 - Dec. 1 for "Kazakhstan '95"! 500 Kazakh government and business
leaders are supposed to be present, along with U.S. Secretary of State
Warren Christopher and the mayor of San Diego. The conference focuses on
business opportunities in Oil, Gas, Minerals, and Agriculture. Of course,
you can focus on other stuff as well.
Write Eric Frost
eric.frost@sdsu.edu for more information or call the conference organizer at
(800)564-4220 for a brochure. And thanks to Al Chong for the tip to Eric!
SO HOW MANY PEOPLE GROUPS IS IT?
One Brigada reader recently wrote, "It
seems like about a year ago there were ll,000 unreached people groups
remaining on earth. How about letting us know at least every six months how
many unreached have been reached, and how many are still remaining? I'm sure
we would all get a thrill out of knowing this!" Rest assured that, for the
most part, there are just as many "people groups" as there have always been.
The difference is in the way we describe them. One major shift came about a
year ago, when the majority of researchers finally agreed on the concept of
using ethnolinguistic definitions rather than socio-economic distinctions.
"Shazam..." All of a sudden, thousands of people groups were lumped
together, many for the first time since 1974. (Makes for a great quote in
your monthly mission report!
"I'm happy to report that while last
month, there were 16,750 unreached people groups and, thanks to ... [ahem]
many factors, today that number is a mere 1,685 groups! Please send your
check to...."
) The truth is, we're afraid that the progress implied by
shrinking unreached people group "counts" might be oversimplifying the task
a bit. In reality, it seems that the task has been redefined... but, in
many cases, the work remains just as challenging. For example, simply by
dropping groups with fewer than 10,000 in number, it might look like we've
grown closer to our goal of making sure every group has opportunities to
hear, but that depends on your perspective. (If you happen to be a part of
a group numbering 10,000 people or less, it might still feel pretty lonely
out there.) On the other hand, let's admit that if a mighty people group
nearby happens to hear and respond, let's hope they themselves would take
responsibility for reaching a smaller group next door.
Now... back to the original question, it seems that more and more
researchers are finally coming closer to agreeing that there are less than
2000 ethnolinguistic groups (if you only count those numbering 10,000 or
more in population) with little or no opportunity to hear the gospel. Of
course, getting to them won't be an easy task... So we'd better keep
praying. Within the next 24 months, it looks like we'll finally have a more
accurate means of tracking the progress of mobilizing new church planting
movements for at least those 2000 or so groups, thanks to the momentum being
provided by the AD2000 & Beyond Movement. So ... stay tuned. Your wish is
about to be granted... depending on how you define it.
PRAYER FOR THE SIKH
I know, I know. I said I wouldn't bring up this
"sikh" pronunciation thing again. But this week David Greenlee wrote a note
that just about caused me to fall out of my chair in laughter. Apparently,
the pronunciation questions pre-date Brigada! David was serving as Program
Director on the OM ship Logos at the time. He remembers one morning when
he was speaking at a church in Lisbon and..., "At that time I didn't speak
quite enough Portuguese to preach, but enough to catch on (at times!) to
what was being said. As I talked about people groups and (then) current
crises, I referred repeatedly to the Sikhs. After a few minutes, though, I
realized that my translator was missing something. First, not unusual, was
the concept of "peoples" and "people groups"--assuming I just meant the
plural of person. But due to my pronouncing "Sikh" "sick" he was more
confused. So the people were challenged to pray for the "doentes" -- that
is, the "sick people" of India. Not a bad idea but not what I had in
mind!"
Thanks for the memories, David!
HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT "THE LAUNCH"??? You're about to! Stay tuned for
detailed information next week... and watch for your new issue
of Mission Frontiers! Big stuff.
Have a great week!
TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY, send email to
hub@xc.orgwith only the
following message:
subscribe brigada
TO UNSUBSCRIBE (Where else can you talk to 1250 people at once on Friday
mornings?), send email to
hub@xc.orgwith this line
in the text:
unsubscribe brigada
BRIGADA TODAY IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FOLLOWING TEAM OF REGULAR VOLUNTEERS:
- Global Glimpses: John Hanna, Caleb Project, jhanna@cproject.com
- ADVANCE: Mark A. Kelley, Kainos Press, 70420.1057@compuserve.com
- Web Wizard: Bob Mayhew, Brigada Volunteer, mayhew@xc.org
- Web Art: Patti Mayhew, c/o mayhew@xc.org
- Technical Development: Jonathan Marsden, CrossConnect jonathan@xc.org
- Compiler: Doug Lucas, Team Expansion & Brigada, DLucas@TeamExpansion.org
- and many other occasional contributors too numerous to mention! But
thanks for working together! That's the dream of Brigada!
27 of October, 1995
