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Brigada Today
08 Feb 2008
In this issue...
- DON'T LET A CANCELLED FLIGHT GET YOU DOWN
- KID'S MISSION VIDEOS NOW ON YOUTUBE
- NEW MISSIONS BOOK RELEASE
- CHINA ON CENTER STAGE
- OMF TO STAGE INFORMATIONAL MEETING
- GREAT INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC CALLING RATES
- HAVE YOU STAYED AT BETHANY?
- WEBSITE / E-NEWSLETTER SYSTEM FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY TEAMS
- GOLFING PARABLE
- EARLY THANKSGIVING
- HOW TO MAKE OUR DAY
- THE BACKPAGE: "JESUS? WHO IS HE?"
- CLOSING STUFF
- DON'T LET A CANCELLED FLIGHT GET YOU DOWN -- We are *sooooo* thankful to Steve, Judd, Doug, Roxann, Ksenia, Svetlana, David, Caleb, Jenniver, and Matthew -- who all traveled recently having purchased trip interruption insurance through Insurance Services of America. As a result, their trips were fully insured, meaning that, in case of a misconnect -- even due to *weather* -- or sickness or anything, ISA would cover essentially just about any cost whatsoever -- including having to purchase alternative flights, hotels, taxis, virtually *anything*. A couple of years ago, I called the night before my departing flight out of Banja Luka, Bosnia and, to my complete shock, the Bosnian airline had just arbitrarily cancelled my outbound flight, meaning that my entire trip home would have been nixed. :-( (No chocolate chip cookies. That would have been the worst.) As it turned out, I had to take a 3-hour taxi to Croatia to catch a flight. Under any other circumstances, but fortunately, I had bought a policy for the trip from ISA. Believe it or not, ISA covered every cost. From that day on, I made up my mind... Trip interruption insurance is worth it, even for the peace of mind to know that -- if you ever have to take a taxi to the next country over, you're covered. And it's so simple. Just go to this link and fill out the form:
http://www.missionaryhealth.net/brigada.htm
You'll also find that it's more affordable than you think, especially when you go purchasing taxi cabs to the next country! :-) What's more, every purchase is a blessing to Brigada. Those folks got the trip interruption insurance coverage and Brigada received $161.54!!! Yahooo!
- KID'S MISSION VIDEOS NOW ON YOUTUBE -- Prayer and Fasting for Kids, The 10/40 Window for Kids, and Prayerwalking for Kids, are now available on YouTube! These 6 minute snappy kid video's narrated by kids have been used for years by mission agencies, Sunday Schools, and conferences. You can find Prayer and Fasting for Kids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSbYXcN5VBQ
Prayerwalking for Kids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQOLGTKL_ag
and The 10/40 Window for Kids
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0A75w748_Ro
You can contact Joey and Fawn Parish at fawn(at)
Reignbridge(dot)com for more info. [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.]
- NEW MISSIONS BOOK RELEASE -- "Striking the Match: How God is Using Ordinary People to Change the World through Strategic Short-term Missions" by Missiologist, practitioner and Professor George G. Robinson, (D.Miss) is based on the premise that like a match, short-term missions must ignite something beyond themselves or they are a wasted resource. In an age when the concept of church planting movements is buzzing among mission sending agencies, this resource will help everyone involved in the process to discover how strategic short-term missions can be catalytic when used to assist long-term indigenous church planting efforts. Using quantitative, qualitative and case study research methods, Robinson unpacks how short-term teams have ignited evangelistic fervor and church planting vision helping nationals around the world to establish healthy, reproducing churches. Available now at
http://www.e3resources.org
- CHINA ON CENTER STAGE -- The Olympic Games in 2008 puts China on center stage. Chinese people everywhere are eagerly anticipating this national "coming out party." "Beijing and Beyond" (April 19, 2008, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm, Grace Brethren Church, Long Beach, CA) is an event that begins in reverent, exuberant worship of the living God who is sovereign over the events of history. OMF General Director, Dr. Patrick Fung, will be the main speaker. Experienced long-term missionaries who have served in diverse fields will also share. Workshops will inspire and inform you so that you will be better equipped to serve as a sender or a goer. Visit
http://www.omf.org/us
and follow links from the home page or e-mail swregion(at)
omf(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 back onto one line.]
- OMF TO STAGE INFORMATIONAL MEETING -- Founded by Hudson Taylor, OMF International (formerly China Inland Mission and Overseas Missionary Fellowship) continues a strong presence for Christ throughout East Asia. Join them to learn more from Elizabeth Lowe, featured speaker, and OMF representatives about how God continues to build on these historical foundations and how you could be involved. Saturday, March 29, 1-4pm at Houston Chinese Church. Contact info(at)
omf(dot)org or 303.730.4160 (800.422.5330 US toll free) for more information. [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 back onto one line.]
- GREAT INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC CALLING RATES -- Whether from US & Canada, you can now get very low calling rates for domestic (starting at 1.9 cents/min to continental US and Canada) and international calls (200 countries for less than 10 cents/min ...UK 2.5 cents, France 3 cents, Russia/Moscow 2.5 cents (see the site for more listings). With this prepaid service you can call from any touchtone phone, including cell phones. There are no contracts; no monthly, activation, or connection fees; and no need to switch carriers. You also get up to 470 FREE minutes on signup, and there are lots of convenience features like no pin and speed dialing. For more information go to:
http://www.BestCallingRates.net
and Judy asked that we remind you to be sure to enter code 837371 to get your free minutes and credit for a tithe to Brigada.
An agent affiliate program with good income potential is also available at no cost to sign up.
- HAVE YOU STAYED AT BETHANY? -- Get member care in Asia. Bethany is a 50-bed rest and retreat complex in Hong Kong. It is specifically funded and staffed to offer genuine member-care and offers good quality, inexpensive accommodation. Bethany is set in gardens of trees and flowers on the traffic free island of Cheung Chau with good beaches and scenic walks. Hong Kong is very convenient for access from mainland China and its airport is a hub for Asia. There is a wide range of tourist attractions.
http://www.bethanyministries.com
or write to enquiries(at)
bethanyministries(dot)com
- WEBSITE / E-NEWSLETTER SYSTEM FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY TEAMS -- Gladvocate by Blue Dove Web Design is designed and priced for small Christian organizations and mission/ministry teams. More than a website, Gladvocate combines easy to use tools for adding text content and images, slideshows, video & audio, a full function e-mail newsletter builder and sending engine, online contributions and more. It is easy to use and powerful for creating web and email campaigns to mobilize casual viewers into active partners in ministry. Initial website setup for a ministry team is only $200 and hosting for web and e-newsletter engine is $20 /month. For more details contact
jim(at)
bluedovedesigns(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 go to
http://www.bluedovedesigns.com
- GOLFING PARABLE -- Internet Evangelism Day's new story, 'A Tale of Two Clubs', illustrates the right and wrong way to build a church website. This is just one of a number of articles available for republication in mission and other magazines:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/golf-parable.php
- EARLY THANKSGIVING -- It's always Thanksgiving here at Brigada... or at least it feels like it. This week we're thankful for a family in Cambridge, MN, because they've remembered Brigada with a $15 gift. As mentioned above, ISA sent $161.54 with thanks for referring recent travelers. Blessed Hope sent $13.25 in thanks for Darlene, Ken, Ed, Richard, Steve, and Hurley -- who were all making phone calls through Blessed Hope this past month. (Please keep talking! :-) )
- HOW TO MAKE OUR DAY -- One gentleman called our office day before yesterday, letting us know that he hoped to give $1000 through the PayPal link at the Brigada site. He mentioned that he'd rather use a credit card rather than his PayPal account. Please note that it's easy to do so. Just click on the "Sponsor/Donate" page, then when it asks for your PayPal account, just erase the user name and password, then, at the bottom of the page, where it says "Use any major credit card", just click there and fill it out like a normal form at any other payment web form. (By the way, if you're that gentleman and need help, please don't hesitate to call back for more help. The gift hasn't arrived just yet. :-) ) Or if you prefer, just send an old-fashioned 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: "JESUS? WHO IS HE?" -- Last week during our "Launch" week (the week during which we train our newest mission recruits with Team Expansion), one of the participants was recounting the story that convicted him to enter missions as a career. He mentioned that he was serving on a summer internship in Asia. In talking with a couple of nationals he had just met, in an effort to learn more about the culture three, he asked them what the typical local might think of Jesus. As the answer came back, he came face to face with how desperately some people still need the redeemer. When they answered, they said, shaking their head, "Jesus? Who is he?"
With all of today's communication systems, media, and the Internet, perhaps it's hard for us to digest the fact that there might still be some 2 billion people who still, for the most part, remain in that same situation. Yet it's true. And from that moment on, this new recruit made up his mind that he would live his life, God willing, to reduce the number of people in that situation the best he could.
Interested in learning more about that need? There are a number of great media sources listed in the response comments to a recent BackPage request on our Brigada "Brigade" site at:
http://brigada.org/brigade/?p=61
As you scan down the page, please take a moment to give thanks for all the folks that have worked to produce these and other resources so we can "get the word out" about the remaining need. As for me, I ended up using a resource at
http://www.FaithVisuals.com
called "Lost People." It was quick, easy-to-download, generic enough, yet specific enough, quick enough, and people-oriented enough to try to get my point across.
I'll also mention that one Brigada participant (only one) questioned my desire to find such a video. His basic tenant was that I must be out of touch with the need if I don't understand that it can't be reduced to a 3-minute video. I understood his criticism and thanked him for it. Still I need to provide this particular church with a resource, so ... something tells me that maybe he didn't understand the context. The truth is, many of us, when we come in contact with a deep heartfelt need, probably react similarly. How would we ever show that desperate situation on a video? And if we did, would it be manipulative? ... crass? ... or somehow dishonest? I guess for me, I go back to Jesus' response in Matthew 9, where he saw "sheep without a shepherd," wept, then immediately told the disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest that He would send workers. That's exactly what I was hoping to do -- in effect, transport the congregation to truly *see* that scene of sheep without a shepherd.
By the way, the church decided to study the world and adopt an unreached people group somewhere. With the Lord's help, there will someday be a handful (or maybe *tons*) of previously untold people who stand with white robes on judgment day -- because that church decided to try to make a difference. Huh. What's not to like about that? :-)
Comments on this "BackPage" editorial? Just log on at...
http://brigada.org/brigade/?p=62
then click on "Comment" below it and type in your thought. Visit this and lot of other feedback at
http://www.brigada.org/brigade
- CLOSING STUFF -- SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION -- Important! Please don't just hit "reply". Subscriptions are automated. First, you need to determine the mailing source of your individual copy of Brigada Today. We're now sending them from 2 sources. To find out, just look at the "From:" address of your last edition. The domain will tell the tale. Here's how to do it:
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COPYRIGHT -- This issue of _Brigada Today_ is Copyrighted 2008. However, permission is granted to freely redistribute these materials, including those available on the Brigada website, provided that such redistribution is to those who will help the Good News of Jesus Christ to reach the unreached.* To copy or reproduce _Brigada Today_ for any other reason is illegal and is not permitted. * When you quote or paraphrase material from Brigada, please include this phrase: "For a free subscription to Brigada's weekly missions publication, write brigada-today-subscribe@googlegroups.com and/or visit Brigada on the web at www.brigada.org."
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For sponsors only: Brigada Customer Service Manager: Penny Lucas, help@brigada.org- Brigada Coordinator: Doug Lucas, Team Expansion & Brigada, editor@brigada.org
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