Brigada Today
12 of January, 1996
Now with 1688 Participants!
News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
[Pass this issue to a friend! To subscribe, see instructions at end.]
Tonight, memories have
come flooding back as we looked at some of the original "scribbles" and
proposals for what later became Brigada. It will soon be one full year that
we sent the actual first conference message, an exchange between Jonathan
Marsden and Doug Lucas -- the only two subscribers on the conference! That
was January 26, 1995, and believe me, back then, Brigada seemed like a
pretty lonely place!
Now, nearly on the eve of those first experimental
communiques, there are 1688 in our family, taking part in around 50
email-activated "conferences" and a world-wide web exchange. (If you'd like
a list of
active conferences, just send email to
hub@xc.org with only the
word
in the body of the message text.) The doors didn't officially open, however, until March 21st, some two months later, and by that time, well over 100 mission executives and specialists were exploring the new medium. Early on, Jonathan Marsden said he wouldn't be happy until we had 10,000 caring world Christians involved. Can we at least be 1/5 of the way there by March 21st??? To pull that off, we ask that you share this Brigada Today with a friend and invite him/her to subscribe! (See the instructions at the end.)
You've probably already heard that the JP2000 thrust is one of AD2000 & Beyond's two key strategies for the last five years of the decade, in hopes of seeing a "church for every people and the gospel for every person by [the end of] the year 2000." (The other is National Initiatives.) Inevitably, one of the first questions that arises when the JP2000 subject comes up at the lunch table is, "So, what's going to keep all these new research and exposure trips from stumbling all over each other... and from fouling up the ministries of full-time field workers who might already be living on site?"
Enter Life-Changing Encounters! (Okay -- so I'm a bit idealistic. But at
least it's a start in the right direction!
) In just 100 pages, this
manual walks you through the basic foundational principles and assumptions
behind a JP2000 project, as well as the planning and preparing stages,
training, interviewing, on-site logistics, debriefing, and preparing prayer
profiles about your key people group or city. You might be
able to do
more with your $12 if you use it to invest in Microsoft stock at just the
right moment, but unless Bill has given you some "insider's tip", you're
probably just as well off buying this book (...especially now that Windows
'95 has been relegated to the position of "John the Baptist" for Windows NT!).
From the moment you read Luis Bush's forward, you know you're in for a fast-paced rollar coaster ride: "Welcome! You have chosen to be part of an adventure Dr. Ralph Winter of the US Center for World Missions calls 'the most ambitious global research project ever to be conceived.' Come, let us explore the lands of the most spiritually needy peoples of our world! There is a call going forth for on-site researchers to visit these peoples as part of a unique global venture that envisions a church for every people by the year 2000. You have in your hands a tool that can greatly enhance your on-site research experience."
But somehow, Caleb Project's staff, with Debra Sanders at the helm, has
managed to incorporate the best of their Exploring the Land, combine it
with some 15 years of experience doing this research thing, and sprinkle in
a boat-load of input from all the right outside sources -- including Mary
Ann Stone, AD2000's Coordinator for JP2000 teams. If you're considering
going on a JP2000 trip this year or next, sell two or three of your
favorite CDs and get this book. (Those CDs are just damaging your hearing
anyway!
) If you're
thinking about hosting a JP2000 team, get it,
read it, then mail a copy to your fast-approaching team leader!!!!!!!
And if you've said it can't be done ("There's no way these short-term lay
people can add anything to the Cause in the 10/40 Window!"), better take a
look at the steps listed on pages 46-57. They just might cause a
"Hmmmmmmm...." reaction.
The planning checklist (pp. 83-85) alone is
worth the 12 bucks. Consider the rest of the book a giveaway. Bethany
Prayer Center contributed nicely to the prayer profile templates and the
6-page questionnaire (way to go Gabriela! 
), as well as to the Guide for
Effective Research of Unreached Peoples in the library. Sure, the
"Adopting a Missionary or a Project" section is just one paragraph hidden
away on page 95 (when in reality, that's one of the key reasons I thought we
were doing this JP2000 thing), but hey... when Luis is sayin' "100 pages
tops" and it's the week before "The Launch", something's gotta go!
The
bottom line is, it's the best stuff out there and it'll only work if we use
it. I've already bought and paid for two personal copies -- one for my desk
at home and one for the office. (You think I'm kidding. Come visit Penny
and me and we'll roast marshmallows 
out back
in the snow 
drifts while we
read through the five appendices!) Now it's your turn. And in case you were
wondering, Caleb Project doesn't pay my "big bucks 
Brigada salary."
But
mark my words -- your teams are going to like this book! And after all, if
you buy it and are dissatisfied, send it back. I'll go on record saying
that Greg Fritz, the director, will personally and cheerfully refund your
money. Right Greg? Greg
Uhh.. Greg?
(To order
Life-Changing Encounters,
contact Caleb Project at 10 West Dry Creek Circle, Littleton,
CO 80120-4413; tel. 303-730-4170; fax 303-730-4177. Email
info@cproject.com .)
(Just make
sure you send all those commands to the hub!
) Seriously, by
contributing in the administrative wing, she's allowing all of us to share
the measurable results of her unique giftedness from God! Thanks a million
Rev'!
George Otis, Jr., author of The Last of the Giants and co-coordinator of the United Prayer track of the AD 2000 and beyond movement will be the principle speaker. The conference will be held on the campus of Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA. From all appearances, it will be an excellent chance for networking. In addition, organizers say there will be tracks designed to help build alliances between churches, agencies and Great Commission Christians in seven areas of Unreached Peoples. They are the Tibetan Buddhist world, China, Indonesia, India, Uzbekistan, Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam), and Fourth World Peoples (drug addicts, prostitutes, street children).
Write Nathan nathcra@beacon.regent.edu for more info. or call him at (804)-579-4525. Also, check out their home page at http://www.regent.edu/acad/schdiv/div-con.html
TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY, send email to
hub@xc.orgwith only the
following message:
subscribe brigada
TO UNSUBSCRIBE (Horrors! 
), 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
People of the Week: Justin Long, GEM/Barrett Office, JDavidLong@aol.comADVANCE: Mark A. Kelley, Kainos Press, 70420.1057@compuserve.comWeb Wizard: Bob Mayhew, Univ. of California, mayhew@xc.orgWeb Art: Patti Mayhew, pmayhew@discover.netTechnical Development: Jonathan Marsden, MAFxc jonathan@xc.orgCommunications: Revis Ann Massey, rmassey@post.cis.smu.eduCompiler: Doug Lucas, Team Expansion & Brigada, DLucas@TeamExpansion.organd many other occasional contributors too numerous to mention! But
thanks for working together! That's the dream of Brigada!
12 of January, 1996
| "He who seeks to lead must seek to serve" | |||
Page | Doug Lucas DLucas@TeamExpansion.org | Phone: +1 (513) 244 8149 |
Index |
| PO Box 4100 | FAX: +1 (513) 244 8430 | ||
| Cincinnati, OH 45204 USA | Organization: Team Expansion | ||