- SCOTT'S "BEST READS OF 2007" -- Back again by popular request is
Scott Shaum, of Barnabas, Int'l, with his "Best reads" of the year.
See his "Best reads" article at:
http://www.brigada.org/articles/best-reads-2007.html
Learn more about the organization with which Scott serves at
http://www.barnabas.org
or email him directly
Barnabas International sshaum(at)
barnabas(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in
the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot)
with . then reassemble the address onto one line]
- FLORIDA TENTMAKING COURSE STILL HAS ROOM -- Did you know that GLOBAL
Opportunities is celebrating its 10th year in running intensive, hi-
impact tentmaking courses? Read on their website what course alumni have
to say and then register for the next course in Florida, Feb 20-24 2008.
Many say that no tentmaker should leave without this training, and if
you are between tentmaking jobs, you should go and refresh your vision
by attending. Focused on the core principles and skills for being
effective, this course is designed for those considering tentmaking
(using profession as mission), those wanting to promote tentmaking, and
mission leaders wanting to build a tentmaking component into their
agency. Every year, hundreds go overseas as ESL teachers, but how many
are equipped to share their faith? If you are considering business as
mission, the course provides the key ministry principles you need to be
effective. Check out their course outline of 30 plus sessions at
http://www.globalopps.org/ltn/LTN2008.htm
You can also contact Dave directly at 239.243.0881 or email him at
david(at)globalopps
(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the
preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .
and reassemble the address onto one line.] GO will donate $5.00 to
Brigada for each student that registers from this ad... so if we could
just raise up 400 people for this course, we'd be *set*!!! Please go!
:-)
- TAKING THIS SURVEY WILL HELP MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT -- A UK
based ministry called Aid for Trade wants to develop on-line training
for microenterprise development. They have put together a brief on-line
survey to try to discover the needs for this type of assistance among
people on the field. It takes between 12 and 15 minutes to fill out. If
you have an interest in Business as Mission and few minutes to help out,
please go to:
http://www.internationalsurveys.info/aidfortrade
to fill out the survey in a secure on-line environment. By the way,
they'll even provide a summary of the results to us here in a future
Brigada. Also, if you know of other resource people in this area, they'd
appreciate you connecting them with those "in the know" in this arena.
- EQUIP YOUR MISSION TO BETTER PROTECT KIDS FROM CHILD ABUSE -- In
Sept. 2006, leaders from 12 mission organizations met together to
explore ways to work together on best practice standards in child safety
and abuse response. The result was an intermission Child Safety
Network. A second meeting was held in May 2007 involving leaders from
22 organizations. The third Child Safety Meeting is scheduled for
February 13-15, 2008 in Rockville (suburb of Richmond), Virginia and is
open to new organizations as well as those already involved. The
seminar is for leaders of mission agencies and faith-based NGOs and for
those with this area of responsibility within their agency. For more
information and to register, see The Child Safety and Abuse Response
Networking Workshop website at:
http://intre.org/event/info.php?site=46
The deadline to register is January 23, 2008. Email further questions
to
child-safety_intl(at)sil
(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the
preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .
and reassemble the address back onto one line.]
- TAKE PART IN GLOBAL LEARNING CENTER SYMPOSIUM -- The annual Global
Learning Center Symposium, hosted by Grand Rapids Theological Seminary
is February 6-8, 2008. This year's theme is "21 in 21: 20-somethings and
21st Century Mission." Through a variety of events, they'll be exploring
what it looks like to engage the emerging generation in global mission.
Dr. Bill Taylor of the World Evangelical Alliance will be a plenary
speaker as well as some 20-somethings themselves. Check out:
http://grts.cornerstone.edu/resources/glc/symposium
or e-mail
glc(at)cornerstone
(dot)edu [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the
preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .
and reassemble the address onto one line.]
- GET READY, GET SET, THEN GO -- The Center for Intercultural Training
(CIT) provides a complete, cross-cultural training program in 9-10 weeks
that includes culture prep, language acquisition, and team and
relationships skills. A shorter program is also available that includes
culture prep and language acquisition. Training is available for the
entire family during this upcoming spring term (begins February 13).
Bible Intensives are offered during the summer months. A Debrief and
Reentry module is also offered twice annually. For more information,
call 800.887.1786 in the USA or visit
http://www.cit-online.org
- HOSPITALITY CENTER ADDS MINI RV PARK -- The Southern California (USA)
hospitality center, Rancho de la Paz, has added three RV sites with
hookups to their six guest rooms. Available to individuals, couples, and
families, on a donation basis, this ministry houses missionaries,
ministers, and full-time Christian workers who need temporary housing
for up to two weeks. Rancho de la Paz also serves as a Writers Haven for
those needing un-interrupted writing time. Web site:
http://across2u.com/rancho.html
Phone: 1-951-245-4082 or Email:
rancho(at)across2u
(dot)com for information or to make reservations. [As a means of
preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email
address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with . and reassemble
the address onto one line.]
- ANOTHER RESOURCE FOR RAISING SUPPORT -- As the first wave of
missionaries came through Kingdom Come Training partnership development
courses in 2007; they became increasingly aware of the need to give
ongoing assistance to people raising support for ministry. For 2008
they've announced the Support Assist Team. The "Team" consists of KCT
and those who take the training via live, interactive multipoint
videoconferencing. KCT provides the training plus ongoing encouragement,
coaching, consulting and practical support. The rest of the team stays
in touch, reports progress, shares prayer needs and reports back on what
works what doesn't. Everyone celebrates when someone reaches 100%
support. It all gets coordinated through e-mail and the KCT website.
Give Jerry a call at (503) 314-7211. jerry(at)kingdomcometraining
(dot)com [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the
preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .
then reassemble the address onto one line] or browse to
http://www.kingdomcometraining.com
- FUTURE MISSIONARY FELLOWSHIPS -- During the next 60 days, discussion
groups will be meeting at 16 locations across the USA both to learn
about and critique the idea of pre-candidate fellowships before
introducing them broadly in the USA (the concept has been tested and
developed in Korea since 2001). To learn more about this ministry
concept see the website:
http://www.seeoursite.org/pcf/
There you'll find the list of cities hosting these discussion groups. If
you would like to participate in one of the discussion groups please
write to:
pcfquestions(at)gmail
(dot)com [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the
preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .
then reassemble the address onto one line.]
- MOMENTUM MAGAZINE TO FEATURE "STORYING" -- The January/February 2008
issue of Momentum will focus on Orality. Justin is looking for...
- resources for teaching orality
- dates for workshops, conferences, etc.
- statistics related to orality
- articles surveying orality ministries in particular regions
- a chronology of the development of orality ministry
- frequently asked questions you have encountered
- short (1-2 page) case studies written in a popularized style
If you can help with those or other possible ideas,
editor(at)momentum-mag
(dot)org [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the
preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .
then reassemble the address onto one line.]
- WE FEEL SOOOOOOO LOVED AND APPRECIATED!!! :-) -- Thanks to these
visionary friends that have, through their partnership, propelled
Brigada Today into 2008:
$100 from a new friend in Tallahassee
$25 from the good people at Florida Personal Injury Law
http://www.fortheinjured.com/
$100 from a friend in Menlo Park, CA
$100 from Perspectives Atlanta, GA
$50 from long-time subscriber Diana, author of Adventures With PawPaw
children's books designed to introduce children to other countries and
cultures, on the web at:
http://www.adventureswithpawpaw.com
$100 from Mission Mobilisers International Inc. in Australia
http://www.mobilise.org.au
$25 from Reignbridge, featuring Fawn's book "Power of Honor"
$25 from a great friend in the UK
$250 from a Sunnyville, CA couple. Shew. How can we say thanks enough?
$50 from Women of the Harvest. Please check them out at...
http://www.womenoftheharvest.com
(Whoa... great website. Pubs, retreats, resources, well-organized,
sharp! Clean... Even if you're not a woman, check it out to learn from
it! :-) )
$25 from Mission Indep. Bap. Church in Chicago.
$25 from a faithful friend in Colorado Springs
$300 from Youth With a Mission, Lebanon, PA... Whoa. Praise God.
$50 from new friends in Massachusetts
$100 from a faithful friend in Sweden
$500 from great new friends in the UK! Woooo-hoooo! :-)
$200 from Peninsula Bible Church in Cupertino, CA! Amazing.
$50 from Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship, Birmingham, AL
$25 from Somerset, KY
$25 from West Chester, PA
$35 from Ukraine
$100 from a member of the Board of Missions, Cumberland Pres. Church.
$100 from Mission Nannys; take a look at their growth...
http://www.missionnannys.org
Up to 2001, only 22 volunteers had been sent out. Since then, the number
has jumped to 90 with 14 going out last year alone. (They're looking for
more women volunteers 18-75 willing to go in 2008, by the way. Families
need domestic assistance, homeschooling help, etc. for 3-6 months. Check
the web or email
bettysullins(at)
juno(dot)com [As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the
preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .
and reassemble the address onto one line.]
To all these folks and to all those who pray for Brigada, thank you for
a *fantastic* last week! Only 4 more days to go for 2007 gifts. (Recall
that we're counting for 2007 gifts that come in through Jan. 10th.)
- FOUR FINAL DAYS FOR 2007 GIFTS TO ARRIVE: WILL YOURS BE ONE? --
Whoa... So, with the $2360 that has come in since last edition, we stand
at (drum roll) $13,918.90 for the year, just $3231.10 away from reaching
the budget we had published in January, 2007! So ... if you were holding
out on writing that $3000 check, just to see who else gave... :-) now
would be a great time to give. :-) Or... even if you only had in mind a
PayPal donation of $25. It would *still* be a great time. We're also
just $1177.10 away from matching last year's finish. Who would have
believed it!!!
For those who mail in checks, we're waiting until Jan. 10th... (because
one could have written out a check on Dec. 31st, mailed it, and we might
not see it for a few days). So ... to be fair... we'll count PayPal
gifts toward 2007 needs all the way up through Jan. 10, 2008. As a
result, all is not lost! :-) Even though we're only standing at
$11,558.90, we still have time to try to make our 2007 budget needs of
$17,150. To pull this off, we only need exactly 50 more people, groups,
or churches to step up to the plate. Just *one* courageous soul would
need to give $1000, 3 more would need to give $250, 14 more for $50, and
32 more gifts of $25 in order to meet our 2007 needs. Here's the summary
chart to meet those 2007 ministry needs:
1 more gift of $1000
3 more gifts of $250
14 more gifts of $50
32 more gifts of $25
Gulp. The final yard. Would you pray with us that everyone who *can*
*will* step forward? Thanks. By the way, if you decide to send a check
on the 10th, just date it Dec. 31st, then drop us an email to let us
know it's coming. No need to express mail it or anything. Anything
arriving, unannounced, after the 10th, will be treated toward 2008's
ministry needs. Thanks again for the amazing energy boost!
Just click on "Donate". You can make a gift from your PayPal account or from any major credit
card. Or if you prefer, you can send a check payable to Team Expansion
to: Team Expansion (Brigada secretary), 11327 Jefferson Trace Blvd.,
Louisville, KY 40291. (Team Expansion is a 501(c)3 incorporation so for
USA citizens, your checks made out to Team Expansion are tax-
deductible.) As always, be sure to let us know if you'd like us to
promote any particular service or ministry, or if you'd prefer your gift
be anonymous. And thank you in advance for helping.
- THE BACKPAGE: THE DARKER THE SKY, THE BRIGHTER THE GALAXY -- I
recently had the chance to drive to the top of a very tall & remote
mountain (13,796 feet above sea level). I was amazed by the views it
afforded, especially at night, when it grew very dark. And I do mean
*dark*. (Since we were hours from the nearest city, it was a case of
*extreme* darkness.) Stars were everywhere. I wrote in my journal, "I
don't deserve to behold this majesty. It's so quiet up here, except for
the stars... and they seem to be *singing* glory to their creator!" No
matter which direction I looked, I could see deep space objects with the
naked eye. And when I looked at any given point in the sky with my
binocular, I would see *dozens* of galaxies, clusters, and nebulae in
seemingly every field of view. What impressed me most was how *clear*
these objects were. You see, when it comes to astronomy, the darker the
sky, the more visible the dimmest glows.
I've noticed a similar phenomenon with missionaries. For example, in
times of great financial need or hardship, the smallest gift can appear
as a very bright spot in an otherwise very dark month. So please don't
ever forget -- your gift of prayer and finances can be *the* difference-
maker in inspiring your favorite worker to keep shining brightly in
areas of bleak spiritual darkness. Thank you for your support &
sacrifice for those working around the world. Thank you for making their
work possible through your partnership and vision.
To those serving internationally, there is one more meaning that
occurred to me. Sometimes it is in the midst of hardship that we come to
experience the glow of God's love & care most prominently? Yes, you've
left family, friends, and grandparents. So in the midst of this
darkness, we pray that God can cause a glow in your heart like you've
never felt before... as long as you're looking for him and giving him
*place*. Give God place in your own heart. Search for him. He'll glow
for you again too.
- CLOSING STUFF --
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COPYRIGHT -- This issue of _Brigada Today_ is Copyrighted 2008.
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