June 2004 Newsletter

June 2004

Shalom Friends,

We have just a brief letter this month to let you know about a few important things:

En-Gedi Directors In Israel

First of all, we want to ask for your prayers for our upcoming travel. Two of our staff, Lois Tverberg and Mary Okkema, will be leaving for Israel on June 18 to take a three-week Intermediate Hebrew course called Texts and Land with Dr. Randall Buth, who has spoken in our area. He is the founder of the Biblical Language Center which has developed innovative courses for learning biblical Hebrew and Greek. The Texts and Land course will focus on reading various passages at locations where the events happened, with a discussion of the text in its physical and cultural context.

Then on July 10, a group of 31 people will arrive to tour Israel with En-Gedi and Emmaus Educational Services on a trip called The Life and Land of Jesus, with Dr. Steven Notley as guide. The program will center upon the life, ministry and land of Jesus. We look forward to having special guests traveling with us from Australia, Uganda, and Hong Kong. More details are available at these links: En-Gedi/Israel Trip or at www.emmausonline.net.

We go knowing that the cultural insights we learn will yield fruit for the ministry of En-Gedi for many years to come.

End-of-the-Season Fellowship Dinner - Friday, June 11, 2004

Please join us for our end-of-the-season Fellowship Dinner on Friday, June 11 at 6:30 PM at the Zeeland Community Center. Along with an evening of fun and fellowship, we will give a talk called:

Looking at the Language of the Bible

We will be sharing some of the rich insights we can get from the Bible's words, and how understanding them can greatly enrich our study of the Bible. We think that the talk will be quite practical for your Bible study and Christian growth. We will have some prototypes of our upcoming book to show you, and hopefully you will catch our excitement!

Please note that our Fellowship dinners are not fundraising dinners. The purpose is to have an evening together with friends and share the projects along with some teaching from the Bible. We hope you can join us and bring your friends!

As usual, our dinner will be potluck-style. We just ask you to bring a dish to share - we will provide tableware and beverages. If you are coming, we also ask that you RSVP by emailing egrc@egrc.net, or by phone (616) 355-2200 and give each of the names of those planning to come so that we can have nametags for you. This helps us and everyone else get to know you!

Location: Zeeland Community Center, 14 S Church St., Zeeland, MI.

Book in Progress: Listening to the Language of the Bible

We are completing the final work on our book called "Listening to the Language of the Bible: Hearing It Through Jesus' Ears"! It is about some of the confusing words and phrases in the Bible that become much more meaningful when we understand them in their original culture. It has dozens of short, readable essays on Hebraic ideas and biblical images with rich insights on how they can impact our lives today. We will have some prototypes at the Fellowship Dinner that will simulate the real thing -- we'd enjoy getting your feedback before we go to print.

And Finally...

As we are traveling far from home in the next few weeks, studying the Bible's rich context, but separated from our loved ones and in sometimes tense situations, we ask for you to keep us in your prayers. We anticipate that spiritual resistance will intensify (as it has been) as we try and finish the book project, so your support will be greatly appreciated.

This is a dry time for us and we are facing significant expenses in publishing this much needed book. However, we have been able to do a lot on a lean budget with mostly volunteer staff. The Lord has been blessing your contributions and volunteer efforts so faithfully and he has sustained us, for which we are truly grateful. We know that we are just one among many ministries that you support, but please continue to remember us this summer with both your gifts and your prayers.

Thank you so much! May the Lord be with you...

Lois Tverberg & Bruce Okkema
En-Gedi Resource Center Directors