Brigada Today
13 of June, 1997
Now with 5623 participants!!!
News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
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Compiled by Doug Lucas, Cincinnati, Ohio
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Remember the 16 of May Brigada Today and its item, "
SO WHERE ..."???
We're still getting mail on that one. The question dealt with how to come
up with enough workers to meet the needs of the least reached. One reader
headed to Central/Eastern Europe pointed out this past week that maybe the
problem isn't so much with finding workers, but rather with finding the
funds! For example, this reader knew of 6 willing workers, ready to
depart, who didn't have a clue where funds would originate! So maybe we
need a simultaneous push to develop the sending base while we look for
'goers'! As a matter of fact, that's the conclusion we've come to in our
own mission mobilization efforts (PACE and Team Expansion). We're trying
to facilitate the staging of these "Pit-Stops" to call forth churches who
will adopt unreached peoples, then help them draw up solid plans as to how
to pull off a major outreach among the unreached. (Next Pit-Stops are in
Raleigh, Sept. 19-20, contact
johnd.williams@cplc.com for registration;
then Tulsa, Oct. 10, contact
wbirney11@aol.com for registration; we're
working on one for central IL for Oct. 17-18.)
He continued, "I stayed all night with a man who though at a young age of 52, knows 10 languages, has been very instrumental in the translation of a Bible in his mother tongue for his people, and has together with his group of friends started 40 + churches in ... [a 'creative access' country]. I couldn't help but feel real puny going before the Lord that night!"
"What a passion! A shining light."
He went on, "I met a lady today....who committed to mission service in 1951. Wow! The marathon runners are so few today...I am so thankful that I have been able to meet several before they pass on. Their works have been done in relative silence with little fan fare, and this lady will probably be here till the Lord comes back or till He takes her home -- a medical clinic, a dormitory ministry so tribals can go to school, a "guest room", leadership training center, outreach to rescue girls before they get into prostitution, ministry to the aids victims! Incredible. They say 200,000 will be orphaned in the next 5 years due to both parents dying of aids! If she were younger (76) she would start an orphanage. Who will God raise up??"
My buddy's right about the marathon runner thing. There has been such an exciting emphasis on short-term missions (which is good) that we wonder where we'll come up with those who can invest the 5 years it'll take to learn some of these languages!!! (Internationals working side by side with mission senders, in at least a portion of the cases, we trust!) We'd all better pray that at least 1 in 5 short-termers decides to go back for the long haul -- and I'm not just talking about 5 years! We need some 20+ year people!
Kerstin Hack (our German correspondent,
you'll recall
), recommends a www page offering all sorts of free or
cheap electronic language learning programmes (anything from Arabic to
Russian).
http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/~bear/Language-Page.html. Check it
out!
greg.parsons@uscwm.org.
Will you ever forgive me for not
including contact information for the tesl course mentioned last week?
("NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO LEARN TESL/ESL") Sorry!
Edic4lei@aol.com
should do it! Thanks for those who took time to seek it out! Instead of
TESL, I'd better brush up on my composition!
why'd they go and change their name to the name of a commonwealth that stretches
halfway around the globe through 13 time zones!!!) Apparently =3D the
reason we =3D see weird codes in Compuserve (I mean CIS) =3D these days has
to =3D do with something called =3D "quoted printable." If you'd like to
take action, one reader suggested that you switch to a MIME compatible
email client (which is supposed to decode these things; trouble is, if
someone without a MIME client forwards an already mangled message to you,
your MIME client is silent, which, by the way, is exactly what most real
MIME clients should do anyway, right?
), or more simply, just ask
people not to send text as quoted-printable (an option in all Internet
browsers and email software). Otherwise, you can simply live with it (Now
there's a novel thought!). According to Wayne W. McDougall
system@codeworks.gen.nz, "you can read it after a while, especially when
you know why and what it is about."
Also, if you're a Cserver and would like to try switching back to the "oldmail" system, just to see if that helps, the go word is "NPX32" not "Mpx32" as previously mentioned a couple of weeks ago. Thanks David.
Bennett Sloan b.sloan@juno.com liked the idea of
using Preacher's Wife
WHEN IS "ENOUGH ENOUGH?"; in last week's
edition of Brigada Today).
In fact, he'd like to start a little collection of movies that can teach
something, then post the list here for everyone to see. If you have an
idea, send it to Bennett with the title, source (unless you can rent it at
the corner video store), and the way you'd suggest using it. For example,
Bennett pointed to The God's Must Be Crazy "which is about the adventures
of a pygmy bushman trying to return a Coke bottle that drops out of the sky
and disrupts their idyllic existence. People learn about another world
view, that has much to commend it." When you send the note, please use the
Internet form of underlining the movie title (see examples above) if
possible, to save some time reformatting! Thanks! Don't forget about
regular "teaching videos" or mobilization films too! Bennett, we're
counting down the weeks 'til you send us the compilation!
Well --
sort of. Wheaton College Graduate School
and the Institute for Chinese Studies have combined to put together "INTR 683: CHRISTIANITY & CHINA: ISSUES IN MISSIONS & CHURCH HISTORY." It'll
happen starting this week, June 18 - August 14, 1997, with Brent Fulton as
the primary instructor. Doug Milford
doug.milford@wheaton.edu wrote,
"This is a two semester-hour credit, graduate level course combining the
convenience of self-study with the benefits of ongoing interaction made
possible through e-mail communication. Taped lectures and course materials
will be mailed in advance. Then students will proceed through the material
and interact with one another and with the instructors via e-mail." Sounds
great! For more info., contact
gradexten@wheaton.edu but better do it today!
Pierre Guelmbaye, leader of Gospel
Recordings Chad, was robbed and injured as he traveled back from Nigeria
by way of Cameroon. Although he was hospitalized for two weeks with head
injuries, Pastor Pierre was already making plans for more distributions.
His only concern about the mugging was apparently how he would pay for the
medical treatment. Of the 160 people groups in Chad only 22 have gospel
recordings and 120 are considered unreached.
The Japan Evangelical Missionary Association
(JEMA) which represents over 1300 evangelical missionaries and 44 agencies
working in Japan, has just published a daily prayer guide for Japan.
Entitled OPERATION JAPAN, it is available in both Japanese and English.
152 pages. Apparently it is full of statistics, background facts and
little known knowledge about Japan, prefecture by prefecture. The English
version is $7.90 ($6.90 for ten or more copies) The Japanese version is
$10.40 (I guess those characters are harder to draw???
) For more info. contact
jemsaacf@aol.com.
If you've been trying to write the GCOWE rep. who
told us about the great prayer response,
better write Bennie Mostert and crew at
nupsa@global.co.za. Sorry for any
trouble that typo caused! Must have been something I ate... or something I
failed to eat maybe!
Now you can get customized help
for teaching English as a second language from Audio Scripture Ministries.
Apparently you tell them what 2nd language you're working with and they
customize the package! They've got two-pocket albums for $5.95 postpaid.
(10 or more are only $3.95 each postpaid.) The price is right. Includes a
cassette entitled "The Greatest Person Who Ever Lived" in English (NIV) in
the one pocket and this same cassette in the student's language in the
second pocket along with a printed booklet of the content on the English
language tape. The cassette is an arrangement of selected passages from
the Gospels which accurately and compellingly portray the main events in
the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
For more information contact,
Audio Scripture Ministries
P. O. Box 460634,
Escondido, CA 92046-0634.
E-mail
asm-ca@xc.org
WWW:
http://www.audioscriptures.org/asm.
Yikes.
I think we touched on a nerve!
We received a flood of responses from
Brigada participants who could relate to last week's item,
"WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH?" Testimonies ranged from those who said that they
appreciated the "3-block" orientation (if you generally work morning and
afternoon, you try to take off the evening; if you work in the evening, try
to take off the morning; you get the picture) to those who said they had
been trying for years to get a handle on that kind of thing. Many
appreciated the Preacher's Wife parable -- and not a single reader took
us to task for utilizing a secular movie to make a spiritual point!
One
"home missionary" (who serves in an agency headquarters office) reported
reality, however, when he shared the demands of his day. With children,
homework, reading to the young ones that he loves, etc., we gathered that
he almost feels he starts a second job when he gets home at night! He was
open to input... but I'm not sure anything will ease the burden for
parents with small children who need care. The bottom line is that we need
to pray hard that God will enable us to "stay the course" during those
times when others (like our kids) need us at those special times. And to be
fair to our employers, we probably need to log 8 hours/day average for
them... but we probably also need to learn to not feel guilty if we use
remaining hours for family, friends, and our own personal/spiritual needs.
Whew. Covey and Day-timer notwithstanding, that is not an easy task. If
you've got a secret potion or even simple advice for this Brigada
participant, write
DLucas@TeamExpansion.org with the Subject line reading
and we'll see what's out there. Thanks!
Last week, we
wondered out loud, "WHY AREN'T I HEARING MUCH ABOUT OCTOBER?" Several
responses came in and rather than try to report on the varied opinions, we
just
compiled them together for you to read for yourself. You can retrieve
the 10k file by sending a message to in the text of you email message.
Now here's an imponderable. Why in the world do we use "aren't" with the word
"I"? I mean just say it out loud. I aren't a bit impressed with the
English language, are you?
Aren't I supposed to use aren't with "I"???
Yikes.
No wonder we need special courses!
This past Wednesday night, I
had a ball... literally! It was the final night for our adult soccer
league here in Northern Kentucky. Throughout the evening, I'll admit I felt
a little extra "gusto" and probably played with a bit more energy, just
because I knew it was the last game of the season. And believe it or not,
for the first time in my life, I took home what soccer players call a "hat
trick" -- 3 goals scored by the same player in one game. (Keep in mind that
part of the reason for my celebration is that I've really only been playing
soccer for 3 seasons -- so forgive my gushing please; I'm really on a U-12
level!
). First came a header to the far post off a serve from the
left wing, then a quick turnaround shot to the inside, from 6 yards out,
and then the most exciting goal of all, a full volley taken first touch out
of the air, again from the left winger, with the outside of my right foot
(I was facing the winger with my right side toward the goal). It snapped
just inside the far post into the side of the net, like lightning. Call
it luck or just being in the right place at the right time... either way,
the keeper didn't have a chance on that last one.
But the game didn't come without cost. About halfway through the first
half, when I was really getting jazzed by all the excitement, I took on
their center forward and ended up in a head-on collision with him. He
didn't slow down a bit when he saw me coming up to try to steal the ball.
Now perhaps that wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that this
particular forward is 6'4" and looks something like that "incredible hulk"
guy that used to be on late-night syndicated TV. You know . . . the one
with the rip in the back of his shirt? I bounced off his clinched fist,
pinned against his rib cage, and in that one fleeting moment, saw my lungs
pass before my eyes. Yikes.
It was a nice effort, but a dumb idea. My
stop at the family doctor the following day confirmed my worst fears -- I
have a nasty cracked rib as a souvenir of a really fun game.
Later that day, I was emailing a friend about the game and I found myself
saying, "Ya know, I'd play the whole game over again, fractured rib and
all, because I'd never scored three goals before in one game." For a
moment, as those words left my fingers, I thought I must be crazy. And
then I realized, we human beings are pretty strange. (Well -- at least
this one is.
) We'll take calculated risks for something we love.
We'll endure critical shortages, extreme hardships, and outlandish pain --
if we reckon that the payoff justifies the reward. Don't believe it? Just
take a look at that baby in the crib at night, as she is deep in sleep.
Touch his leg and reach within your soul and I think you'll agree -- you'd
probably jump out in front of any maddened assailant to save your little
bundle's life. Without hesitation. Why? You judge that it's worth it.
(Okay, I admit it. The baby analogy works better with some people than the
soccer story, right?
)
That's why I'm sometimes a bit confused when I hear the "it-was-God's-will-that-we-quit" theology. You know the line. "We looked for God to open a door, but we just couldn't get into the country under present conditions, so we've scuttled our plans. Or try this one... "We tried to get that correspondence course printed, but with all the barriers we ran into, we finally concluded it just wasn't God's will." Or imagine this one? "We tried to make a go of our marriage; but all the constant bickering proved to me that it just wasn't God's will that we stay together."
I don't think so.
You see, I learned Wednesday night, we can't blame my broken rib on the
game -- or "Lou Ferigno" (the forward).
We place the blame exactly
where it belongs: player inexperience. (Mine!) I didn't have to collide.
It was a choice I made -- and probably a pretty bad one. But the funny
part is, I still would have played the game, even if I knew the collision
was coming!!! And the scores? The truth is, there were other players on my
team tons more talented than I. But not all of them scored goals. In
fact, few did. So what is it that results in goals? Why do some people
manage to crack the ball in the net while others don't? Well in my case, I
tell you what -- it wasn't raw talent and grace. Believe me. ! I think it
was more a matter of hustle. You know what I mean. You've just run all the
way back to your own defensive third to help ward off a "numbers up"
attack, when all of a sudden, your favorite winger gets the ball and
everybody else is huffing and puffing (it's basically an over-30 league!
) and you know that no one but the winger is running toward the
attacking third. Well what do you do? You reach down deep within your body
and summon up some kind of remaining breath and you race the winger to the
goal so you'll be there when the winger crosses the ball to the center.
You've got to. Your winger is counting on someone to be there. Your team
is counting on you. And besides, you love the game.
So see -- it's not that the game is too hard. It's not that the other team is faster. It's not that the weather was threatening. It all boils down to this: How bad to you want to be down there at the edge of the 6-yard box when that pass comes in from the side.
That's what it boils down to: How bad do you want it.
So -- cracked ribs and all -- give me Wednesday night's game. We won 7-6. But who really cares about the score. We had a blast. And that's what made it fun.
And so what's your challenge? A new country to enter? A translation to
do? A marriage to salvage? Another day of language learning? How bad do
you really want it to happen. And in spite of cracked ribs, or threatening
weather, are you willing to huff, and puff, and summon up some breath from
a piece of lung-real estate that you didn't know you had? If not, you can
blame it on "God's will" if you want, but you'll never be able to be
sure, this side of that final goal line in the sky.
Only God knows.
And He never tells. But if you persist (like the widow with the unjust
judge -- or like Moses when he pleaded for grace for the people of Israel)
apparently, God isn't always so "negative" after all!
Wow
-- a "hat trick." Traded for a cracked rib. In my book, that's a fair
trade!
How bad do you want it?
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numerous to mention!13 of June, 1997
| "If you've been asked to lead, you've been asked to serve." | |||
 Page | Doug Lucas DLucas@TeamExpansion.org | Phone: +1 (513) 244 8149 |
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