Brigada Today
9 of Nov., 1996

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News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
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• "MEDICAL MISSIONS & UNREACHED PEOPLES" CONFERENCE
• URBANA ON DECK
• UPDATE ON MRS. WINTER
• GLOBAL GLIMPSE
• ATTENTION ALL COMPUSERVE UPGRADERS
• IN SEARCH OF STREET KIDS
• ...AND IN SEARCH OF GOVERNMENT LEADERS
• FROM THE "YOU JUST GOTTA' HEAR THIS" DEPT.
• BECOME AN "M-BAGGER"
• FOR SPECAL PROJECT PLANNERS
• FIVE LESSONS FROM ENVISION '96
• ENVISION -- THE POEM
• TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY

At Urbana, join more than 17,000 others in prayerfully considering the world and how God is at work in it. Examine your own role as you learn about Jesus' love and power...

Urbana is for college students, recent graduates, high school seniors, and young professionals who want to have their worldview stretched and want to discover more about missions. Many youth workers, college workers, church leaders, missionaries and others also benefit from the convention.

Urbana '96 is InterVarsity's Student Missions Convention at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The convention dates are December 27-31, 1996. The theme is "You are my witnesses." For more information and registration brochures call 608/274-7995."

Ed. Note: Let's bow in prayer for a moment and ask God to use this year's Urbana to raise more awareness and interest in least reached peoples. We've been told that Urbana organizers are grouping 10 delegates together to pray for each of the 1739 Joshua Project least reached peoples.

1. If a book about failures doesn't sell, is it a success?
2. Do cemetery workers prefer the graveyard shift?
3. What do you do when you see an endangered animal that eats only endangered plants?
4. Do hungry crows have ravenous appetites?
5. Is it possible to be totally partial?
6. What's another word for thesaurus?
7. If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages?
8. Would a fly without wings be called a walk?
9. Why do steam irons have a permanent press setting?
10. Can you be a closet claustrophobic?
11. Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?
12. Why do people who know the least know it the loudest?
13. If the funeral procession is at night, do folks drive with their lights off?
14. If a stealth bomber crashes in a forest, will it make a sound?
15. When it rains, why don't sheep shrink?
16. Should vegetarians eat animal crackers?
17. If the cops arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?
18. Why is the word abbreviation so long?
19. When companies ship styrofoam, what do they pack it in?
20. If you're cross-eyed and have dyslexia, can you read all right?

Now, having been assigned the task of writing up a "how-to" manual on putting together one of these events, Eric Derry and I are trying to look for major focal points that seemed crucial in bringing the event to reality. This list is just a first pass . . . and by no means complete or finished... but it might at least provide food for thought...

a) INVEST HEAVILY IN PRAYER --

The Prayer Center (just to the left of the stage) was staffed throughout the convention day each day of the event. Intercessors were lifting up convention personnel, goals, and vision around the clock. As President, I had one of those "Duh!" realizations just 6 days before the event . . . when I realized there was too much on my plate to accomplish. The only way I could face the week in good conscience was to leave for a two-day prayer retreat. I did Experiencing God in those two days, from cover to cover, fasted for the first time in my life, and personally experienced renewal of my faith and vision. Those days became the primary components in planning my own comments and the opening night message.

b) FIND THE MOST-GIFTED PEOPLE FOR EACH TASK THEN EXPLAIN THE TASK --

God led us to some of the most awesome people for the challenges we faced. There are way more than I could ever mention, but here are a couple of examples:

1. The guy who became the genius behind architecture of our unreached peoples thrust was like from another planet! He wasn't ashamed of thinking up the wildest schemes, . . . like preparing a poster for each of the 1739 groups and "seating" them in our arena as if they were with us in the throne room of Heaven. He invested literally thousands of hours of preparation.. And I'm not exaggerating.
2. The gal who took responsibility of seeking out key coordinators for functions such as the 50 "greeters", the prayer center, and volunteer services. She knew exactly where to go for help and she communicated the vision precisely.

The list goes on and on. Envision '96 might have had a president . . . but more importantly, it featured the sum total of an army of volunteers. And my right-hand man is brilliant at churning out "job descriptions." I asked him for 10 one day and I think they were done by 5pm that afternoon! Those job descriptions became "bold challenges" to the people seeking to fulfill those tasks. In short, they set standards for excellence that everyone wanted to follow.

c) INVEST ENERGY AND ALLOW TIME TO DETERMINE THE MISSION --

We started two years before the event, with dozens of focus groups at places like the US Center for World Mission, Fuller Seminary, large and small churches and colleges, big cities and small towns throughout the land. We even asked opinions from those outside our particular "non-denominational denomination." Interestingly enough, those focus groups - which set us back probably six months on our time-line - probably became the key most important part of our planning. We relied on their input over and over again. There was the one guy in Indy who brashly said, "Ditch the idea of having a convention! Those people need to use that money to go overseas anyway." (Well, we didn't quite take his advice literally, but the whole thrust of our convention changed from "spectator sports" to "action/participation in fulfilling the task.") Then there was the lady at the large church who said, "What it sounds like you want is an 'Urbana' for churches." That was it exactly. And who can forget the president of a major denomination saying, "Don't try to plan a pan-denominational event. We know your people. They need to experience this on their own. Invite us as guests. But make no bones about the fact that this is a Christian Church/Church of Christ event. We did just that. And he was right. And many guests came and all have said they felt very warmly welcomed. Finally, there was the lady who said, "Clarify what it is you want to do there... then word it in a concise statement. Then build everything you do around that statement." That's exactly what we tried to do. We read our mission statement over and over again . . . for nearly two years . . . all the way down to the final closing of the last main session, . . . when we turned it over to God for Him to help us finish.

d) WORSHIP, WORSHIP, WORSHIP --

The Mission Frontiers issue on worship, music and missions hit at exactly the right time for us. I bought Piper's book the day I received the issue. Thanks Rick Wood. We modeled our convention around Piper's chapter on worship. We put worship people in charge of the main sessions. I pulled out, even though I was supposed to be president. We pulled the missionaries out. We let the worship people set the scene and they did it with glory. God got all the praise. The smartest thing I did in the whole convention was to realize that I wasn't that smart . . . especially when it came to things like "sequence", "flow" and bringing people to their knees before the throne of God. We pulled in three guys who do it for a living. They pulled in literally dozens of others that they already knew. And wow. The results were fantastic. They pretty much set the time line, and then they became invisible. But the results and the glory still shines. The pageantry was beyond our wildest dreams. The balloon drop, the "candles", the poems, the skits, the lighting, the sound, the "flow" (whatever that means! ) transported us into God's presence. And that was the single most talked-about Envision '96 feature, if you asked me. Just imagine. Thousands of Christian Church/Church of Christ people standing around an arena with tears in their eyes, worshipping God Almighty. Yikes. What's this world coming to! If God does choose to bless the results of Envision '96, it won't be because of any one man's or woman's doing. It'll be because we allowed Him to take His rightful place - to be seated on the thrones of our hearts. We tried to get ourselves out of the way.

e) [and finally, for now ] GIVE ATTENTION TO DETAIL --

We developed checklist after checklist, . . . exchanged terabytes of email! For the last few weeks, everywhere I went, I carried a literal file cabinet of file folders just to try to keep track of the ocean of details. Did we think of everything? Nope. But within the scope of human ability and within the power of God's fulfillment, I can honestly tell you that we did our best. We did scenarios for this, contingencies for that, ran plans and dreams past presidents and entrepreneurs. From the tiniest little item (making sure there was enough dip for the visitors in the Press Room) to the largest issue ("how do we keep the least reached and their needs constantly in front of the eyes of every delegate") someone developed a plan... and we now pray that God will bless the results.

We've come from far and wide, 
	from city and countryside,
	crossed mountains and ocean tide -
		We've come to Envision.  

We've come to stake a claim, 
	we've come to strike a flame, 
	we've come in Jesus' name -
		We've come to Envision.

We've come that the world may know,
	we've come God's love to show,
	we've come, and we're willing to go -
			We've come to Envision.  
		
Lord, impress Your dream upon our hearts, 
	Some region, some nation, some part,
	where Your kingdom may gain a new start -
			Lord, give us Your vision. 

We're tired of the status quo,
	souls dying without hope,
	a world darkened by sin and by woe,
			Lord, give us Your vision. 

Enlist from among us an army of risk-takers,
	a battalion of earth-shakers,
	a legion of Kingdom-makers - 
			Lord, give us Your vision.

	And Lord, infect us with Your passion.
		Remind us that no cost is too great,
		no price is too high, no sacrifice is too much. 
		And teach us, Lord, 
				that if that cost is paid,
				if that price is given, 
				if that sacrifice is made 
				in the execution of Your vision - 
		Teach us that when the fighting is over, 
					and the battle is done;
						when the dust has settled,
						and our race has been run.
			When Your vision has become our victory,
					and the world has been won - 
Tell us again, Lord, tell us how You'll look again upon these then who 
		stand before You now -
		And tell us how You will speak to our hearts as humbly we bow, 
								    "Well done."

Amen.

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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

Brigada Website: Bob Mayhew, Brigada Volunteer, mayhew@xc.org

Technical Development: Jonathan Marsden, MAFxc jonathan@xc.org

Brigada Customer Service Manager: Revis Ann Massey, RevisAnnMassey@xc.org

Brigada Coordinator: 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!

9 of Nov., 1996

"If you've been asked to lead, you've been asked to serve."
Home Page	Doug Lucas DLucas@TeamExpansion.org	Phone: +1 (513) 244 8149	Brigada Index
	PO Box 4100	FAX: +1 (513) 244 8430
	Cincinnati, OH 45204 USA	Organization: Team Expansion