Brigada Today
1 of May, 1998
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News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
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Brigada Today is "the missionary helper newsletter!"
Compiled by Doug Lucas <DLucas@teamexpansion.org>, Louisville, KY
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In this issue....
THE 'WORLD' JUST GOT BIGGER - THE LATEST FROM GMI
Have you seen the latest from Global Mapping? It's a great little CD called "Operation World
Plus." Packed into one spinning package, you'll find:- all the material from Patrick Johnstone's 1993 Operation World (the
latest version), in hypertext format, plus all the maps and graphs (in color).
- all the maps GMI sells in its overhead transparency sets (in various
graphic file formats, suitable for viewing, printing, importing into
PowerPoint presentations, "copy & paste" into newsletters, etc.
- World FactBook (extensive country info, map and flag for each country)
I don't know how much all this stuff would be worth if you purchased it
separately. (I know I bought a set of the maps a couple of years ago and it
seems like I paid $60 for one set!) I've carried the electronic version of Op. World on my hard drive for some time now, but this is tons better with
all the color maps and the fact book. The cost??? An incredibly reasonable
$29.95. If you're interested, send the thirty bucks to
GMI
7899 Lexington Dr.
Suite #200A
Colorado Springs, CO 80920 Highly recommended.
SOMETHING WORTHWHILE ON THE WEB . . . FOR THE WORLD!
Finally something
incredibly worthwhile on the web . . . for the world! From any point on the
globe, you can now view the JESUS Film (using RealVideo) in English,
Bengali-Musselmani, Arabic, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Mandarin Chinese,
Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish! Plus, developers are
adding a new language to the Net almost weekly. Soon, there will be 14
languages. With some versions of RealVideo 5.0, you can go full screen. As
far as anyone knows, JESUS is the first feature length film in history to
be "aired" on the Internet. You can check out the action at: http://www.jesusfilm.org/realvideo/ Also, you can now order the Jesus Film on the web in any of some 450 languages at http://www.jesusfilm.org/video.html
Or as an alternative, listen to the new audio version of JESUS at http://jesusfilm.org/audiodrama/
It's a totally new version specifically designed for audio.
How 'bout we give 3 cheers to the folks at the "Jesus Film Project" and
Campus Crusade for pulling off a great accomplishment in an excellent way!
PRAYING THROUGH THE WINDOW IV
So you've heard about Praying Through
the Window I, II, and III . . . but did you know there was one final sequel
scheduled? It's coming to a church near you, October 1999. The broad focus
will be the nations of the 10/40 Window, similar to 1993. Once again,
organizers will circulate a prayer calendar and ask us all to pray for
certain nations on certain days throughout the month of October. But in
addition, the committee has adopted Campus Crusade's paradigm of "Million
People Target Areas" (MPTAs). I came across this MPTA concept way back in
1989 at Lausanne II in Manilla. Sometimes the concept works well -- if all 1
million happen to be from the same ethnic background. Critics say that
sometimes the MPTA paradigm breaks down, especially in complex rural areas
where more than one ethnolinguistic group lives in the same MPTA. Gulp. 
Anyway, the book helping prayer warriors to target their prayers for this
initiative will contain maps of each of the nations with the location of
each of the cities and Strategic Towns within the nation. Many home-based
and church-based intercessors will pray specifically for these cities and
towns, and it is hoped that prayer journey teams will visit each one of them
for on site prayer. To keep continuity with Praying Through the Window III,
the description of the cities and towns will each contain a list of those
among the 1,739 unreached people groups which are present in significant
numbers. In this way participants will be praying for nations, for cities,
and for unreached people groups as they pray for the Million People Target
Areas in October 1999. And by the way, leaders from PTWIII are now pulling
together the results of last fall's experiences into a book that will give
testimonies, answered prayer and more. We'll announce it here once it's done.
GOT A "MISSIONARY KID?" GET RAISING RESILIENT MKS
Have you seen ACSI's new compendium (Ed. by Joyce Bowers) on raising children of
missionaries? We're talkin' BIG... 510 pages in all. It's a comprehensive
one-volume collection of some of the best and most current thinking on a
wide range of topics dealing with the nurture and education of missionary
children. Provides resources for parents, teachers, school administrators,
and caregivers. Included is information on the MK life cycle which would be
helpful for mission administrators and personnel directors. Great stuff. I
got mine from MTI, Mission Training Int'l mintern@aol.com.
WEB-WATCH -- SITE FOR JEWISH EYES
Check out http://www.biblefind.com where the developer hope those from Israel and Jews from everywhere will be
able to find new hope. Basic service there is free... but the developers
also have offered to give a 50% discount on the advanced service (normally
$25/year) if you mention that use "Brigada family" in your registration.
(Sorry -- no equivalent service for those without web access.)
MOBILIZING? GET FREE INFO. ON COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD
Check out http://www.emulateme.com where you can find country profiles, maps, flags and national anthems. The
anthems are MIDI files and should play on PCs with sound cards. (Thanks for the tip, Robert!)
"SO WHY WERE YOUR WEB REFERENCES ALL MESSED UP?"
This has got to be one of the most popular questions these past couple of weeks. Must be due
to some new "feature" added into the latest upgrade of Eudora Pro. This
weekend we're using Outlook in an attempt to bypass the problem. Sorry for any inconvenience!
MORE ABOUT VIDEO BIBLE SCHOOL IN ANY LANGUAGE
Using "life messages" from world known teachers such as Dick Eastman, Larry Stockstill, Jack
Hayford, Graham Kendrick, Juan Carlos Ortiz and many others, Good Shepherd
Ministries, International now has available a tool that will enable local
churches anywhere in the world to become ministry training centers. The
project was created as a "Training Equivalent of the Jesus Film" and over
180 hour-long sessions have already been professionally recorded in a
bilingual format targeted at young leaders in countries such as China,
Russia or India. Over 35 major world languages are currently available and
others can rapidly be added on any mission field. Videos are available in
all world formats and on video CD's so literally a whole Bible School can
fit in a briefcase including the player. Notes also available. Information
obtainable from goodshepherdmin@compuserve.com.
THE BOTTOM LINE ON PRICELINE.COM
Several folks have now tried out http://www.priceline.com Thanks for your willingness to be test subjects! Seems we now have enough of
a consensus to say that it indeed does have potential, but you have- have flexibility on travel times,
- a willingness to use electronic tickets instead of paper, and
- lots of luck!
They charge you if you ask for operator assistance, charge you if you want
to try a second time on the same itinerary, and charge you if you sneeze. 
So -- step carefully! But . . . again . . . it does have potential.
GOT A LINE ON A EUROPEAN VALUES SURVEY?
If so, write Jim and Laurie Barnes JLEBarnes@compuserve.com.
GOT A SERVER RUNNING POINT TO POINT TUNNELLING PROTOCOL
If so, please write David Pratten dpratten@maf.org.
YOUR TESTIMONIES WILL BE SENT TO THE NATIONS
Christian News, a non-denominational twice-weekly Christian newspaper, is looking for mission
news. Send news about what is happening in your field to Feoshia at goodnews@christiannews.org. See http://www.christiannews.org for more info.
FIRST NATIONS TO GATHER
This September 5-13, organizers expect some
7-10,000 Christian Indigenous people from 50 countries to gather in Rapid
City, S. Dakota, for the 2nd World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People.
(In 1996 over 2000 from 32 countries met in Rotorua, New Zealand.) Planners
say "It is a time of celebration by tribal peoples of the goodness and grace
of Almighty God in Jesus Christ. It is a time of worship utilizing the many
beautiful God-given cultural forms of music, instruments, dance, language,
art, storytelling, giftgiving, and dress. It is a time of exploring cultural
and linguistic formats to bridge the gap between Jesus Christ and their
people. Please pray for God's protection, provision and wisdom as the First
Nations people of the earth gather for perhaps the largest gathering of its
kind in modern church history." Learn more at http://www.chazm.com/wcgip
DISTANCE LEARNERS COVER THE DISTANCE
Tony's trying to compile a list
of correspondence (distance learning) courses on Islam and on teaching
English as a foreign language, as part of being better equipped for the
future in his country of missions service. He'll compile for the next 21
days then make the report available to Brigada Today readers on May 21st. Write him at tony@omrussia.spb.su to be included in the compilation.
GET THE FACTS . . . ON THE FAX
Fax of the Apostles is a monthly world
briefing of what God is doing through Every Home for Christ and other
ministries. The goal is to provide inspiring stories, useful resources, and
sermon illustrations. This is available through Email or fax and it is
free. For more information or to subscribe, contact Carol at carola@ehc.org.
BECOME A PEN PAL FOR THOSE FOLLOWING THE PROPHET
Turkish World Outreach (TWO) urgently needs Christian volunteers who will send ten Gospel
Letters per month to Muslim families in Turkey. They apparently have more
than three million current addresses and are praying for Gospel Letter
Volunteers to help them reach each one. They provide Turkish letters, a
translation, addresses, and instructions. Volunteers are asked to provide
the postage and envelopes to send their ten letters monthly. Postage is 60
cents per letter (from the US). The letters are in Turkish and offer a free
Turkish New Testament and "Jesus Film" video. An effective follow-up
program is underway in Turkey, and Christian workers will reach out to those
who show a serious interest in the Gospel. Each respondent will also
receive the offer of a free Bible correspondence course. For more information, contact TWOsteve@onlinecol.com. TO SUBSCRIBE -- To subscribe to BRIGADA TODAY, send email to brigada-today-subscribe@egroups.com.
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