July,
2003
Shalom Friends!
You know, all winter, I longed for beautiful summer days, and
now that they are here, I need to keep reminding myself to be thankful
for warm breezes and the beauty all around us. Why is it that our appreciation
for our blessings seldom is proportional to our longing?
Our Online Resource
Center
People often ask us where the Resource Center is. A few years ago, we
had imagined having a large library and study center in western Michigan.
The Lord, who knows the power of technology, has had a better plan than
we had. It has worked out that instead of having study resources available
only in one little library, we have them available on every desktop
with an internet connection in the world. Our offices are currently
non-public, but we consider our main Resource Center to be fully operational
online.
In
the past couple weeks the website has gotten a significant face lift
and has several new features. The one we are most excited about is the
daily devotional that we are writing called "Water from the Rock"
(more below). Besides that, we hope you will look at the many articles
and links we have. Right now we have over 75,000 words of our own articles,
and have 250+ links to helpful articles and websites.
You
may not have thought about it, but one of the most useful things on
our website is the search bar. Many search bars don't work very well,
but this one is excellent for finding relevant things on our site, and
offsite links too. It makes it easy for En-Gedi to be a quick reference
point to help you with your Bible study questions. Please try it out.
(You can search for a phrase by including it in quotation marks e.g.
"living water".)
We have also recently added links in a number of places on the site where one can submit complete address and contact data. If you think we might not have your current address, or if you would just like to try out the form, please take a few minutes to submit it now.
Water
from the Rock
- Daily Refreshment from En-Gedi
We hope that by now you have taken a peek
at our daily devotions, called Water from the Rock that have been on
the site on weekdays following July 1. The title is a reminder of the
living water of En-Gedi, the miracle at Mt. Sinai, and Christ, the ultimate
source of living water. They are short Hebraic / biblical image "nuggets"
based on passages of scripture.
The first two weeks these articles were on the imagery of living water
that goes from Genesis to Revelation, in keeping with the "Water
from the Rock" name. For the next series, our topic is Hebrew Words,
focusing
on some of the rich insights we get into the scriptures by seeing the
imagery behind the words that often seem so foreign to us. There is
an archive of past articles, if you have missed some and want to go
back and read those.
We hope that some of you who have been studying in the area of Hebraic understanding of the Bible will also consider writing about various passages of scripture in their land and time. We even made a place to write an article and send it to us, if you are interested! You can also comment on the articles in our Discussion Forum area. Please join us in our walk in this way, or at least check the article each day when you turn on your computer.
Speaking
Invitations
Right now we are working on all our arrangements
for the fall and spring, and our schedule is filling up quickly. If
you or your pastor are thinking about inviting us, please give us a
call in the next week or two, so that we can consider your invitation
in our plans for this year. Last year we taught several series at area
churches on the Bible in its context. We always like to bring digital
images, visual objects, and use demonstrations to make the experience
as rich as possible. Check the prior calendar months on our website
to see what we've done. Our seminars are educational, but always devotional,
talking about how understanding the scripture in its setting can impact
our lives today.
We will give you some firm scheduling information about upcoming events
in our next newsletter.
About Email
Recently, an associate of ours was the victim of an email virus that
destroyed his hard drive. Because of that, right now we are very aware
of the dangers of email viruses. We are extremely careful with our own
email, keeping our anti-virus software current and constantly scanning.
One
of the common ploys now is to infect a computer's email software to
cause it to send out emails with an attachment to all of the addresses
in the contact book. Opening the attachment begins the attack, which
can quickly destroy a hard drive and propagate to other computers via
email.
Please make a note: We will never intentionally send you an email with
an attachment! If you do get an email which appears to be from En-Gedi
with an attachment, do not open the attachment, delete the email, and
please notify us immediately that this has occurred.
In a related note, please do not add any of en-gedi's email addresses
to mass mail lists, which are a rapid way for viruses to spread. And
for your own safety, Also, we strongly encourage you to employ anti-virus
programs on all your email accounts and keep the virus definitions current.
We are very careful with the email addresses you give us, and do not
make them available to other senders.
Water Missions &
Uganda
Many will remember that En-Gedi raised money for a "Living Water"
purification unit to be sent to Mukono, Uganda last year. 
We
achieved our goal, but are still waiting on the company to be ready
to ship this purification system that can process 10,000 gallons a day.
It will enable several thousand people to have clean, disease-free water
instead of walking a mile each way to a dirty river to carry water by
hand as they do now.
While we are waiting on the unit still, we are continuing to grow in
our friendships with people over there. In August, the En-Gedi Director
Lois Tverberg will be going to Uganda for 10 days to visit the clergy
that we have gotten to know through their year of studying at the seminary
in our area. This will be a new adventure, so please keep her in your
prayers.
Lois Tverberg, Director
Bruce Okkema, Executive Director
The
En-Gedi Resource Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is
solely dependent on your tax-deductible contributions. We very much
appreciate your support.