Some months it is more difficult than others to write update letters. It has been hard to keep going in the light of this week's events, but we still are preparing for the fall. In some ways, I think it is especially appropriate to be reawakening people to studying the Bible when it has so much to say about the world today. Our friends in Israel have been in this situation for years, and they say they just have to keep living their lives. Now we understand more of what they have felt. One of them shared a saying that Jews have said in the face of tragedy for a very long time: "Gam zo le tovah". It means "Even this is for the good" -- God is still sovereign in the midst of evil,and will use it for His purposes. He said that to me when his wife was diagnosed with cancer.

Come to the Feast!

Come to the Feast! is almost upon us. (Sept. 20 & 21) We will see the biblical feasts and how they point to Christ and God's redemptive plan in music and drama. Many have said they've planned on it but have delayed sending in their ticket requests. If you want us to send you tickets, please put your request in the mail by tomorrow, Sept. 14th. Otherwise, Booksellers and Baker Books in Holland and the churches in our flyer have tickets. We now have tickets at the WCSG studio in Grand Rapids too. We've also put a map and a Q & A page on the home page to answer common questions about the CTTF event, such as "Is it a dinner?" (no) or "Are both nights the same?" (yes). We still can use more walk-ons - folks who will wear costumes and be part of the crowd scenes. Young, old and medium are welcome. Email us if you are interested. If you want to find out more about Come to the Feast, check the press release, or read the article on the religion page in the Grand Rapids Press on Saturday, Sept. 15. We have had interviews on WCSG and WHTC, and tomorrow on WJQ at 7:40 AM.

Festivals for the Family:

As a follow-up for Come to the Feast, we are setting up a series of monthly activity nights for adults interested in sharing with their families some of the richness of the biblical festivals. (This is intended for teachers too.) Many of the evenings will focus on the biblical feast cycle and the traditional Jewish observance of the festivals. We will also discuss how Christians can enrich holidays like Christmas biblically. We will have presentations, hands-on activities and demonstrations, and discuss how ideas can be adapted for older or younger children or classroom settings. If you would like to be involved, please email egrc@egrc.net or call Lois Tverberg at (616) 355-2200 to reserve a spot. The first activity night will be Tuesday, October 23 and we will have an overview of the feasts. See the events section on our web site for details.

Pastor's Breakfast Series:

This month we had the first in our fall series of breakfasts for pastors. We had about 30 attend to hear an introduction to our ministry and a talk by Pastor Keith Doornbos about Come to the Feast. It was a very enjoyable morning, and we made many new friends. Next month's breakfast is October 18th, and Tim Brown of Western Seminary will be speaking on "Preaching and Ancient Hospitality". If you know a pastor who may be interested, let us know.

Torah Study:

Our weekly Bible study is rapidly approaching the end of the Torah reading schedule and soon we will "rewind our scroll" and start over again in Genesis. We read the portion that Jewish people all over the world are reading which begins at the Jewish new year. This is the ideal time to think about joining us! On Thursday, October 4th we will begin reading again. Please RSVP by email or phone to get directions.

The Web Site:

We have put a lot of energy into making our site easier to navigate and adding new things. We now have a section for pastors, and have added to other menus. This month our art exhibit features two paintings of the series "From Hebrew to Watercolor" by Janet Frankovic, an artist and friend from Jerusalem. Her husband is a scholar and author of one of the articles on our site, and they are planning to go to Sri Lanka soon to spend time ministering at an orphanage there. Her art is available for purchase through En-Gedi.

Other news:

We have had several opportunities to introduce ourselves to the community now. We helped build a sukkah (tabernacle) at Christ Memorial last weekend, and had a booth at the church picnic. Bruce Okkema dressed up in the High Priest's costume and gave out tickets to CTTF.

We have had a lot of help from friends with assembling mailings, and we want to express our appreciation to all those who have been helping us out. Todah rabbah!

We hope to see you next week! Please keep including us in your prayers.

Lois Tverberg, Director