20000220 Brigada Today

In this issue….

SEND ME IS GREAT RESOURCE FOR GOERS/TRAINERS

I think Steve Hoke and Bill Taylor have done a magnificent job with their new book, Send Me! Journey to the Nations. Truth is, much of the material was originally published as MARC’s You Can So Get There From Here. But Hoke and Taylor improve on it vastly with their insights in training profiles, current resources, and personal application — to total some 136 pages plus the full color ads from mission orgs. Rats.

Why didn’t we put in an ad for Team Expansion.

Either way, it’s well worth the investment. To order, call William Carey Library (800-MISSION in the USA or via Net2Phone) or click on http://www.webbookstore.org. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better way to invest your $6.36!

NETWORK FOR STRATEGIC MISSION

Click on http://www.strategicnetwork.org to go there. They hope to set up forums for unreached peoples, kind of like we originally envisioned for Brigada email discussion groups. Nichole, a loyal subscriber from the window, reminded us of the strategicnetwork site this past week.

MISSION MOBILIZERS HAVE A NEW WEB-HOME

Nate has moved the Brigada Mission Mobilizers Database from his personal website to the Caleb Project website at http://www.calebproject.org/bomm/dbindex.htm.

USING COMPUTERS EFFECTIVELY IN OUR MINISTRIES

Want to use your computer more effectively? Roger Ro*********@**.org wants to help. He’s compiling info and would like your input – from personal experience, books that are especially helpful, web sites that may provide help, anything. You may have a real ministry to many others by writing up how to do some of the things you’ve learned. Talk to him before you go into detail. Maybe someone else has already written up a help sheet on your topic! When he’s done, we’ll ask him for a copy here as a Brigada autoresponder.

MISSION-FOCUSED CHURCHES FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada Task Force For Global Mission and The Peoples Church Toronto are inviting pastors and church leaders to a national gathering focused on developing healthy mission-focused churches, May 6-9, 2000, The Peoples Church, Toronto, Ontario. This is a leadership conference for churches that want to make a greater impact both locally and globally. This strategic conference has been designed to:

EQUIP LOCAL CHURCH LEADERSHIP IN GLOBAL MISSION STRATEGIES
TAKE YOUR CHURCH TO A HIGHER LEVEL IN GLOBAL MISSION
DRAW ON THE EXPERIENCE OF MISSION AND LOCAL CHURCH LEADERS
NETWORK WITH OTHER LEADERS
RELEASE THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST EVER NATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECT ON THE GLOBAL MISSION CHURCHES
DEMONSTRATE HOW YOUR CHURCH CAN INCREASE ITS IMPACT LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY

For more information, click on http://www.globalmission.org or email ef**************@**me.com.

MARCH 2000 WORLD CHRISTIAN (SPECIAL OFFER)

This issue, “Praying For All Peoples,” challenges readers to pray more effectively for missions. Brigada members who subscribe now will receive 2 dollars off the regular subscription. That’s $12.95 a year for US residents, $17.95 in Canada and $25.95 Internationally.

Feature articles include the Church’s seven responsibilities to the nations, how pastors’ prayer groups develop unity and strengthen evangelism efforts and the prayer journey of Wesley Duewel of OMS International.

To subscribe, call 708-524-5070 or E-mail WI*******@*ol.com. Mention Brigada when you call or write to receive the special rate ($2 off). Or write to PO Box 1357, Oak Park, IL 60304.

PRACTICAL MISSIONARY TRAINING MATERIALS

MTS has some great training manuals: The Missionary Training Guide (step-by-step activities), The Missionary Team (all practical aspects of missionary work), How to Learn Another Language (streamlined LAMP by Betty Sue Brewster), The Effective Sending Church (practical mobilization) all for US$20 plus US$9 airmail or US$5 surface. Otherwise US$6.50 each plus US$1.50 surface or US$3.00 airmail. Order and information from the Missionary Training Service co***@****************ng.org. They can handle credit cards or send checks in any currency to The Missionary Training Service, Flat 5, 40 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6BS, United Kingdom. They’re on the web at http://www.missionarytraining.org.

CHILDREN’S MISSIONS EDUCATION

Calling all Sunday School Teachers, Kids Club Leaders, VBS Directors, Christian School Teachers and Home Schoolers! On April 6, 7 & 8, Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY will be hosting the International Children’s Expo 2000. This year’s expo is about giving kids a heart for missions, prayer and equipping them for ministry. Over 30 workshops will be presented. Featured speakers will be Cheri Fuller, author of “When Mothers Pray” and “When Children Pray” and international speaker and author, Bob Sjogren, Director of Destination 2000. Dr. Richard Allen Farmer, Dean of The Chapel at Taylor University in Upland, IN, will lead in worship. Designed for use with children 3 to 12 years of age. For a brochure and registration information, send your mailing address to Stephanie Garling at ga***********@**no.com or call 502-253-8950 ext. 4725.

INTERNATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE FOR MISSIONARIES

An article on health insurance for missionaries recently appeared in the inaugural issue of Short Term Missions Today. To read this article go to http://www.missionaryhealth.com/article.htm. You may also email the author to learn more about the importance of health insurance overseas at he****@**************th.com

LEARNING KAZAKH?

It just got a bit easier. Now you can get Kazakh Language CD-ROMs from the University of Arizona Press for $69.95. Beginning Kazakh’s double CDROM set contains 20 lessons, 25 video dialogues and readings by native speakers, plus over 10,000 audio recordings. You can order online at http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/catalogs/spring00/pg34.htm or call them at 800-426-3797 (in the USA or via Net2Phone). For details, see http://clp.arizona.edu/cls/kaz.

FREE COPIES OF SHORT-TERM MISSIONS TODAY

This new annual 84-page, full-color magazine is available for use by your church, school or group. Contact Bill Bb********@*ol.com. All the copies you can reasonably use are FREE, with the request that you cover the modest “out-of-pocket” Shipping & Handling charges to get these issues to you, and that you request at least 10 copies. It includes thirteen great articles on all aspects of Short-Term Missions, plus one of the most comprehensive “Short-Term Mission Opportunities Comparison Charts” ever published, presenting 176 separate options presented in 49 different categories. The copies you request will be shipped right away, with the modest S&H invoice enclosed. ALSO, feel free to request copies of the companion magazine INTO ALL THE WORLD, the annual Great Commission Opportunities Handbook (52 pages, 10 articles, 5 Comparison Charts), available for the same S&H costs.

HIS STORIES

Marc’s ps*****@****ra.net looking for great missions stories he can write up to share with others. Feel free to send him your stories — and we’ll ask him for a report here in two or 3 weeks so we can load up one of those autoresponders.

MORE INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

In an exchange this past week with a Muslim believer, I agreed with my new friend that one positive step we could all take is to promote more interfaith dialogue. My friend believes that this would promote greater understanding of one another’s religions. I told him I would ask the Brigada Today audience to work toward that end. At the very least, this would help us form greater bonds of friendship and knowledge of each other’s beliefs.

NEED COMPUTER PROTECTION?

According to one Brigada participant, you’ll appreciate this site — especially if you’re using DSL or cable modem hookups. The program is called ZoneAlarm by http://www.zonelabs.com and, according to the one user, is highly touted by ZDNET.

AD2000’S “TAKE” ON THINGS

This past week, I received a nice response from Luis Bush, International Director of the AD2000 & Beyond Movement, regarding the ramblings we had published about the outcomes of AD2K. It will come as no surprise that Luis was upbeat about the results of the past decade of mobilization . . . and probably for good reason. He remains convinced that “a church for every people, the gospel for every people” was the right goal. “Yes, if we were going to err on the vision ethos prevalent at the time, we chose to believe that God would do great things if we were faithful & diligent to the call,” he wrote. According to Dan Scribner’s latest assessment, 78% of the Joshua Project 2000 peoples (1239) have reported evangelistic / church planting activity onsite. In addition, up until about 18 months ago, only 4% of the JP2000 people reported a church fellowship of 100 or more. Now that number stands at 1/3 of our churches. About 4 out of 10 unreached peoples had a church planting team in their midst 18 mos. ago — and now the figure is more like 65%. Some 77% were targeted for church planting back then… and today, only about 12% remain to be targeted!

YOUR INVITATION TO CELEBRATE MESSIAH 2000

Barb’s inviting you, 27 December 2000 to 2 January 2001. Leaders from 150 countries will gather in Jerusalem for this conference sponsored by the AD2000 & Beyond Movement and the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. Program Themes include the following:

Celebrating God at work.
Assessing the status of the Unfinished Task and covenanting for the future.
Encouraging women’s mobilization.
Moving to serve the poor and needy.
Recognizing emerging leaders from the worldwide community.
Promoting global partnership and world evangelization.
Acknowledging Church movements worldwide toward the Unfinished Task.
Affirming the role of the majority church in World Missions.

To receive full information and registration form, send a simple blank email to cm****@*****da.org and our autoresponder will send you the file.

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