Brigada Today
26 Feb 1999
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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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No problem. William Carey Library Bookstore has you covered. 
In fact, they could handle TEN orders of that size. In the USA (or via Net2Phone), just call 1-800-MISSION. Price is just $7.99. 
Yup, it's true. Thanks to Grace (a faithful Brigada contributor) and Keith keithk@idmail.com, maybe you can still get a free Jesus Film movie on video... maybe several! Just first visit http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/countries/xxxx.html (where xxxx represents the first four letters of the country you're interested in (=indo). This is from the brand new edition.). Make sure you have a clear sense of the language you need. then visit http://www.jesusfilm.org/languages.html to see if the Jesus Film has been translated into the language you need. Finally, write Keith keithk@idmail.com and request the number of videos you'd like in that language. Remember you'll need to pay the postage. Ask Keith for more info. on how much this will be for your location and number of videos. His only request? That you remember to send him any great stories of conversions, should God raise them up. 
Check out http://www.musictus.com/telecom/ for all the more options in telecommunications, cell phones, rate selectors, call-back programs, internet telephony alternatives, etc. You can even send pages to SMS, GSM, or PCS phones. Also, while you're at it, Rod suggests you check out IDT at http://www.idt.net/ because of their great deal internationally. The rates are apparently "flat" per minute when calling anywhere. 8 cents/min for USA, 12 cents/min. calling Germany, etc. Check it out! Note that some plans will only work for residents of the USA, but others would apply in other calling areas as well. 
Last week we featured an item regarding the reintroduction of World Christian magazine, by Bill Stearn. The email address for him (@juno.com) was evidently overwhelmable with email. The new address for the program and for the books is WinPress7@aol.com. If you have questions about World Christian or any other resource, just write the AOL address. He's looking for your most motivating, inspiring missions stories or articles. Short or long, things that will attract attention, stick in people's minds, and challenge them to be involved in praying, giving, going. URL's also if applicable. Roger will compile them to be available to Brigada readers. Been trying to write for info on the NorthWest Children's Expo? Folks there tell me they gave us the wrong email address last week. For more info, write Leslie at this address: vbcm@transport.com. Sorry for any inconvenience. 
Don't be surprised if your host country isn't excited about voice over Internet (like Net2Phone). (Think about the lost long distance revenues they're about to experience.) Be sure to check your host country's laws, as well as the laws in the country with which you're communicating, before taking the plunge. But right now WERC is burdened with a huge, and immediate problem: they just lost their programmer. Most of what they do springs from their complex series of 30+ databases, many of them relational, which need constant editing and maintenance. Their research team needs new programs, reports, Quark Xpress export files, maps, diagrams, queries and etc. on a daily basis - or progress grinds to a halt. They need someone who is committed to the ministry of research for world evangelization and who is skilled with FoxPro, Windows NT, Excel, Atlas GIS, Quark Xpress and other tools. Other tasks would include maintaining their web site and working with their publisher on the CD-ROM design.
For starters, they are asking for prayer. Next, do you have any ideas about who might be able to help them? And soon? If so, please contact Todd ToddMJohnson@sprynet.com directly. And Dr. Barrett -- we're eager to see your updated work! Hang in there!
We're getting barraged with mail about Saleema, the young Christian girl in Pakistan. Apparently there indeed was a case dismissed last year and based on that, we mentioned here previously that there was no need to keep praying for her about legal implications at this time. But maybe we were premature in making that recommendation. According to Ted Dodd thevoice@vom-usa.org, a Reader Services representative at Voice of the Martyrs, she's apparently still on trial for another charge. However, I noted that there were no references to this fact on the VOM web page. Many wrote in support of its accuracy however. Either way, we're sorry for anyone who might have been offended by our reference to her situation, ie., that prayer is no longer needed. But we believe the principle behind our reference still stands: before you start relaying or sending out urgent prayer requests, please check for a verifiable OPC (origin, purpose, and closure). Also, please remember that for the most part, Brigada Today is focused on reaching unreached people groups and the broader resources/challenges facing those involved in that pursuit. We usually don't print specific prayer requests, but there are tons of websites and other lists who do. The point we were trying to make was to make sure you get the OPC. We weren't trying to downplay the need to pray for Saleema or anyone else. Thanks for your forgiveness and understanding. 
(In fact, that's actually a pretty regular occurrence. ) I had just flown in from Bosnia about 24 hours earlier. The temp. was 34 degrees F., just above freezing. A cold rain was gradually turning to snow and nightfall had crept in over Louisville's western skies. 
But I couldn't wait to show up for soccer practice. By the time we got rolling, there were 8 of us there... 4 v 4 in the scrimmage. It was great. I intercepted three low goal kicks and converted 2 of them to goals! Took another great pass from Sergey and left-footed it just inside the left post for a 3rd score.
As we walked off the field after practice, I was trying to explain to Sergey the way I felt. After all, he's 27 and I figured he had forgotten. "You've got to remember, Sergey, that this is all so fresh and new to me. I mean, I've only been practicing with you guys for 18 months. Everytime I see you run a play, I'm filing it away in my head, trying to soak it all in. The excitement is beyond words. And Sergey," I looked him in the eye, "maybe you remember what it was like in those first couple of years?? Maybe for you it was when you were 10 or 11 years old or whatever, when the game was still fresh and exciting?" He stopped dead in his tracks, looked deep into my eyes with the slightest smile, then spoke with a soft voice that still carried telltale signs of his Ukrainian roots. "Doug, it still is."
Duh. Why else was he out there in the rain! The 8 of us probably came for 8 different reasons. But for Sergey and me, it's pretty obvious. There's something about The Game. You can see it in our eyes when we're putting the leather conditioner on our boots. You can sense it in the air when we're stretching before practice. And you can definitely see it in that occasional "thumbs up" I get... or, like last Tuesday night, when our coach said one of his first encouraging words to me in 18 months. "See Doug, that all started with you. You stole that ball, passed it downfield quickly, and he scored, partly because of your hustle. Way to go!" I beamed. After practice, he tried to be his normal tough self. But it was too late. He had already let it slip.
For Valentines Day, I splurged. I got Penny a 1/2-caret diamond solitaire necklace. I was in North Africa at the time, so I asked our preacher to hand her the package at our church. (We're helping plant a new congregation and we're only up to about 70 in attendance.) She wrote me later that day (I'll quote from her letter), "I can't thank you enough for all you did to make Valentine's Day special. I felt like we were dating again - all fluttery inside and giddy and starry-eyed! The boys were quite impressed with your gifts to me." I'm telling you.. I beamed... even more than I had at soccer practice.
We were an ocean apart, but our love had grown fresh again... after nearly 20 years of marriage. We were finally figuring this marriage stuff out.
What about your life? What's going on in your marriage, or your relationship with your friends or parents or brothers or sisters? How are things at work... or on the language route... or in class? And more importantly, what's going on in your relationship with the Father? If you're a beginner, like I am in soccer, maybe it's still fresh and new. But if you're a long-termer, like Sergey, seems to me like you've got to figure out how to rekindle the romance... how to make it fresh again. Maybe it'll take some extra effort. Or maybe you can remember the early days and say, like Sergey, "It still feels that way." Whatever the case, I think that's what the writer of Lamentations had in mind when he wrote, in Lamentations 3:21-25: "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.' The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him."
So this lesson I've learned and I hope I've learned it well: Next time you have the opportunity to show up for practice in a freezing rain, go early, and stay late. And find the freshness again. You'll be glad you did.
Oh.. and here's another tip for free: If you're married, start saving for a diamond. Splurge on her. Aside from your devotion to the God himself, she's probably the most important person in your life. She's worth it.
Doug
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