I caught the end of the Men's Marathon. While I missed the interruption three miles before the finish, I did see the lead runner make his way toward the stadium and immediately thought of that "crowd cheering us on" as we press toward the finish. I could only imagine the thrill and additional adrenaline the runners must have felt as they neared the finish line. Somehow, I believe, it made the race easier.

How I pray it will be for you and me when we near the end. All of the training and discipline that went into earning a gold medal should pale in comparison to the work He finished when He made it possible for us to enter His presence. Following Jesus is like a marathon in that endurance is a key ingredient; of course, knowing He's with us is an encouragement in and of itself.

For those of you planning on coming over for a visit, be sure to check out the interactive map of the Holy Land that looks like a map you can zoom in to find that particular address!

Matthew 24:14

* Be sure to sign up for the Wednesday Weekly.

+ Once again "visas" were becoming a challenge :-( Many of you prayed us through the last two years, and we gave you an update from "Joe," the gentleman responsible for helping us acquire visas... no news yet, so please continue to make this an item of ongoing prayer as He brings it to your attention.

+ As we continued unpacking and sorting, you prayed with us that we would enjoy Jasmine's last week before she enters Kindergarten... I have been holding on to these moments, enjoying each one, and thank you for praying with us. I believe the time and attention we've given her will pay off in the long run as well as now!

+ You continued praying for our new upstairs neighbor as his interest in computers gave me opportunity to share the Good News... what a tough nut to crack. Seems his focus on computers is keeping him away from hearing the Good News; however, I believe I've gained 'credibility' in his eyes to "always relate religion to computers" (as he says).

<T H I S  W E E K><

<>< As Jasmine shows a great deal of empathy, may she use it to help friends at school adjust.

<>< Pray for Omar to be convicted of sin and the need for a Saviour.

<>< Ask God to help me and Shirin cope with Jasmine's next stage of life as an official Kindergartner.

>< Pray for the people of Budapest. >

CALENDAR UPDATES

<If you're not receiving our bimonthly snail-mail newsletter, let us know so we can send it to you!><

25-28, If we get readjusted to life in Jerusalem, pray with us that the transitions would be smooth and bearable. Pray especially for Jasmine as she prepares to enter Kindergarten. May we find friends and neighbors who have become brothers and sisters while we were away.

* Transitions are now giving way to 'normalcy,' and we're grateful :-)

29-31, Join us in giving thanks to God for you, our family of faithful intercessors!

* God has blessed us with numerous, faithful prayer supporters, and we thank Him for you!

Brigada Today offered the following:

1) TRY THESE INDUSTRIAL-USE GOOGLE SEARCH TRICKS AND TIPS! -- Are you a Google-search-maniac? Become all the more-so by trying these tips:

*** Put your exact text in quotes and Google will only show you pages where that exact phrase appears

*** To see a list of pages that link to the one you're examining, type the word "link:" then your URL, like, "link:www.brigada.org"

*** To convert one kind of measure to another, just type in the natural language, like this, "100 degrees F. in C." or "5 gallons in liters". Experiment.

*** Watch the "Did you mean" phrase below your search title, in case you misspelled a word ( You type "Brigadaa" and Google returns, "Did you mean brigada?", and you click on that phrase and Brigada.org is the first listing out of 382,000 pages where the word brigada occurs.)

*** Looking for a phone number? Try typing in "rphonebook:" followed by the name, city, and state abbreviation for a great phone listing. Then go throw away your white pages -- or recycle them to be friendlier to the environment. :-) Try the same using "bphonebook:" for a business listing.

*** Forget your calculator? Never fear. Just use Google. In the Google prompt, type in your functions like this, "16 + (25 * (15 / 3))" and you'll see 141 as the Google-given result. So... how will Casio stay in business?? :-)

*** Searching for a particular story for which you know the title? Use the "intitle:" tool. Type "intitle:" followed by the title in quotes. Try, intitle:"Make digital videos worth watching" to see copies of the article we mention in (a recent Brigada Today newsletter).

*** Get a great listing of all the Google tools and services at: http://www.google.com/options/index.html which include indexed paper catalogs, product listings from online stores, shopping tools, and even indices of millions of messages on Usenet discussion groups.

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3) ONE-DAY COURSE ON ISLAM -- Crescent Project's Sharing the Hope seminars provide a one-day introduction to Islam, Muslim cultures, and ministry skills designed to provide accurate information about Muslims and equip Christians with biblical attitudes and methods for evangelism so they can confidently and sensitively share their faith with Muslim friends. Upcoming seminars include Owosso MI on Sept. 11, 2004, Muncie IN on Sept. 25, 2004, Portland OR on Oct. 9, 2004 and McAllen TX on Oct. 23, 2004. For more information go to http://www.crescentproject.org/sharingthehope.cfm

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