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Brigada Today
27 May 2005
In this issue...
- PLEASE HELP DOUG FINISH HIS PH.D. - IN JUST 5'
- UNHINDERED 2005
- HAS THE GRAY MATRIX HELPED YOU?
- CONCERNED CHRISTIANS FOR AFGHANISTAN
- STUDY MISSIONS IN ASIA
- TEACH ENGLISH WITH CONFIDENCE AND INTEGRITY
- WANTED: MISSIONS INTERNS
- TEACH IN AZERBAIJAN
- SONG LYRIC SLIDES MADE EASY
- WE'RE LIKE . . . *REEEEEEALLY* GRATEFUL FOR OUR PARTNERS
- THE BACKPAGE: LESSONS FROM THE BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD
- CLOSING STUFF
- PLEASE HELP DOUG FINISH HIS PH.D. - IN JUST 5' -- That's right... Trying to put a ribbon on a Ph.D. in Management. Only my dissertation remains. You know what that means. I need test subjects! :-) If you have a supervisor, and if you work for a non-profit mission agency, church or humanitarian organization, you're perfect! Nothing gets turned in to your organization -- we won't tell whatever you say. :-) We just need 500 workers from *somewhere*!!! I'm so very thankful for the 74 that have already taken part since last Brigada Today. :-( But I still need about 426 others. Will you take 5' to help? It's free! :-) Just click here to get started: http://brigada.org/followership/ Thanks!!!
- UNHINDERED 2005 -- Consider attending "Unhindered 2005", located in Frisco, Colorado, on June 23-26. This is an event aimed at missions- minded young adults who have a passion for world evangelization. George Miley and Pete Greig (founder of the 24-7 prayer movement) will be among the speakers. Check out website: http://www.unhinderedgeneration.com for more information such as registration and lodging options.
- HAS THE GRAY MATRIX HELPED YOU? -- The Gray Matrix, a development of the Engel Scale by Frank Gray of FEBC, isa remarkably useful concept. It helps us to understand where someone stands spiritually, and therefore different strategies that can be used to reach them. It also helps us to understand and validate different types of evangelism. http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/gray-matrix.php
Frank is planning to write further material about the Matrix. He would like to have examples of ways in which the Matrix has helped different groups to understand and use evangelism strategies. If the Matrix has assisted you personally, or your ministry or church, please could you write in a few sentences how this happened. Write to: guide(at)web-evangelism(dot)Com [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
- CONCERNED CHRISTIANS FOR AFGHANISTAN -- CCA is putting on their Third Annual International Conference on August 2nd-6th at Germantown Baptist Church in Germantown, TN, USA. The theme of this year's conference is "The Next Steps to Completing the Task" and will feature a unique worship and prayer celebration led by Afghans, specific break out sessions for the younger generation, and much more! Join other believers who are passionate about reaching the peoples of Afghanistan. To learn more about this conference or CCA, check out: http://www.ccafghan.org or email Smoses (at)gbconline(dot)net or call Steve [901]569-9797.
- STUDY MISSIONS IN ASIA -- Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary in Penang, Malaysia, will begin offering two new degree programs in missions in 2006. The Master of Arts in missions will be a 36-credit program, designed to be completed in one year. The Doctor of Missiology program will be a 45-credit program, designed to be completed in 3 years. Both programs will be taught in short-term, one or two-week, courses. All the faculty members who will teach in these programs have earned doctorates in missions as well as considerable field experience. MBTS is accredited by the Asia Theological Association. For further information e-mail missions(at)mbts(dot)net(dot)my or see the seminary's web site http://www.mbts.net.my for full details.
- TEACH ENGLISH WITH CONFIDENCE AND INTEGRITY -- There are still a few openings in Essentials of TESOL! Invest three weeks in practical TESOL training and ensure that your teaching is effective and your ministry with students is enhanced. During this course, July 11-29, 2005, at Biola University in southern California, you will: learn methods and techniques for teaching English language skills, be introduced to the sound and grammar systems of English, discover teaching materials, explore cultural issues, and learn appropriate ways of being a Christian teacher. You will also get supervised experience teaching non-native speakers. Non-credit tuition is only $515. Dorm space may be available. Visit http:www.biola.edu/academics/sics/essentials_tesol.cfm for more info and call 562/903-4844 or contact kitty(dot)purgason(at)biola(dot)edu for an application. [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
- WANTED: MISSIONS INTERNS -- Hillside Missions Organization is now accepting applications for the 2005/2006 internship term. They are currently involved in projects that are allowing for people to hear the gospel for the first time, presented in a way that is native to their culture. To be eligible you must be between 18 and 30 years old with a desire to serve God. Participants must be teachable, motivated, and committed to Jesus Christ. The program is designed to provide practical experience in all aspects of missions, with specific focus on people groups within the the 10-40 window. Apply at http://www.reachthenations.org/intern.html Resumes can also be emailed to hillside(at)reachthenations(dot)org for consideration. [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]
- TEACH IN AZERBAIJAN -- Friends of Janz Team International run a small primary school in western Azerbaijan. They are looking for a director for the primary school and, if possible, one or more primary school teachers. The school has the potential to have a significant impact on Azerbaijani education and society. You don't need to speak Azerbaijani, and you can come for short or long periods. For more information please contact Harold hklassen(at)janzteam(dot)com
- SONG LYRIC SLIDES MADE EASY -- For a quick and easy way to create song lyric slides, check out PowerWorship. It's free at http://www.PowerWorship.com PowerWorship works with Microsoft (c) PowerPoint (c) to allow users to maintain a library of worship songs and to dynamically build slide shows and reusable song groups.
- WE'RE LIKE . . . *REEEEEEALLY* GRATEFUL FOR OUR PARTNERS -- Thanks to the anonymous missionary from Thailand who sent $100. She wrote, "I challenge other missionaries to sow seed into this project!!! :-) God bless you!" Likewise, we're grateful for the anonymous worker in Honduras who sent $25. Thanks, too, for the reader who also sent $25, along with this note: " I'm just thankful for all the people that have been contributing in the past to keep Brigada coming. It has been very informational and a blessing." [blush] :-) Finally, thanks for the worker who sent $30, writing, "As the author of Christianity and Islam: The Final Clash (www.finalclash.com), I really appreciated all the contacts I got through the mention of my book in your newsletter. And 12 people purchased the book directly because of Brigada! But more than that, as a missionary, I've appreciated your informative newsletter for years. Here's a thank you and $30 for all the great work you do." Whoa. That's like saying "seek 'em!" to a dog! :-) Thanks again!
- THE BACKPAGE: LESSONS FROM THE BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD -- This past Saturday, I was able to take part in a nature preserve hike specifically designed to teach participants to recognize birds by their *sounds*. One particularly popular singer was the brown-headed cowbird. I had never heard of this little culprit before. A glossy-black bird with a chocolate brown head, the cowbird has a particularly recognizable song. But as I listened to the naturalist teach us about the cowbird, I had to cringe. You see, the cowbird is a parasite -- the only one of its kind in our entire state.
The mother lays about 7 eggs at a time. But she never builds a nest of her own. She lays them in the nests of other birds (about 200 host species have been documented). Now the way she goes about this is particularly grotesque. You see, she finds a next with existing eggs, pushes out one of the existing little guys, then deposits her own in its place.
Imagine mother robin, coming home to sniff an egg that doesn't quite match the others. Some birds flat-out refuse, but most raise the "drop- and-run" baby bird as their very own, even to the exclusion of their own young. You see, in many cases, the young cowbird quickly grows to be bigger than his surrogate siblings. He'll steal food and even assassinate them when the parents aren't looking, just to satisfy his greed for food.
We all ache just a bit when we hear such stories. Yet I'm left to wonder... How different are we sometimes?
Before we castigate the criminal cowbird, let's make sure we don't gossip about the fallen peer, caught in the grip of some sin. Let's be sure we aren't inwardly gladdened when a worker from a sister agency decides to apply to ours instead of remaining with his or her original organization. (Shouldn't we make it a practice to contact the original agency out of sheer courtesy, if not to find out any "real" reasons for the requested switchover?) And if a group of believers decide to leave their own congregation for ours, let's make sure they're doing so for legitimate reasons rather than some petty squabble. For if we fail to maintain unity and common purpose, have we not become just as cannibalistic and cutthroat as our feathery brown-headed friend?
Next time you find yourself celebrating something at the expense of another, remember the story of the cowbird. Remember how you cringed inside. And ask yourself... is it worth it? Are there any "first steps" I need to do to ask permission or bring closure to the original relationship? If we don't, we prove that it really is a jungle out there. So be careful. Watch your back. Someday *you* might be the egg pushed out of the nest.
Doug
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