It has been a year since Becky and I started house church with two other families here in North Idaho. September 2023 marked a full year since we moved our family halfway across the continent. I’m honestly not naturally inclined to send out updates or even ask for prayer; but the Lord has been convicting my heart about this and utilizing the network of diligent praying saints who King Jesus has connected us with.

Under this conviction I reluctantly began praying this past fall about writing an update and felt stirred to write a year update from when we began meeting together as a house church; to articulate the vision/call of our En Gedi ministry; and highlight a few primary points we covet prayer over. So here we go: 

2023 Update:

Towards the end of 2022, within a month or two since we had relocated to North Idaho, King Jesus lovingly connected our family with 2 other Kingdom families in the St. Maries area. Becky met both of the other moms (one at a homeschool group and the other at a local gymnastics class that our Sophia had begun taking). One of the families was in the process of building their own home and invited us over to see if I would be able to help in the process. The husband and I spent over 2 hours that day hardly talking about the house project at all but instead shared testimony of how the Lord had brought our families to the area—I was absolutely blown away by the glory of King Jesus building His church as this brother began to talk about the church using phrases like “living stone against living stone”.

Meanwhile Becky was feeling drawn to the other Mom and just asked her if she was a follower of Jesus. It turns out that the other family had moved into the area roughly 10 years ago and had been praying for connection and their place in the body of Jesus ever since. By the beginning of 2023 our 3 families began meeting weekly in our homes as a house church. By the summer of 2023 the number of families and individuals gathering in our homes as the body of Jesus has more than doubled. At the end of August of 2023, we met at a local lake where we fellowshipped together; shared the simplicity of the good news of Jesus the Anointed One and the value and symbolism of baptism; and then 5 disciples of Jesus were baptized! Since then, we continue to gather together weekly sharing life together in breaking bread, worship; prayer; digging into the word; and ministering to one another.

Jesus is relationally connecting more and more disciples together in this area. The house church group is made up of multiple streams from different pockets of the church here in St. Maries; and there is such a deep longing for Spirit led, intentional, relational community as disciples of Jesus. 

As I look back over this past year I am in awe of the faithfulness of our Lord and King! I am overwhelmed by His grace, mercy, and love. You see, honestly Becky and I have not really done anything—In weakness we said yes to Jesus and He has been faithful to do all of the rest. Imagine that, Jesus actually doing what He said He would do! —Who would have guessed?! Jesus is doing this amazing thing all over the face of the planet—He is building His Church, His bride, His Body into a living dwelling place for His presence to fill the earth.

I have been able to see firsthand Jesus build up His church in our small pocket of the planet by joining “living stone against living stone”–individual lives and families simply being committed to His Lordship and connected in fellowship by submitting ourselves one to another. King Jesus is connecting messy, weak disciples hungry for the fullness of the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven breaking through into our mundane everyday lives and relationships. 

En Gedi: 

This is the hard one for me. It’s not hard because I don’t believe in it; but rather seems hard to articulate clearly into words with an underlying concern that it might be misunderstood. I will preface this with a deeply wholehearted belief that under the Lordship of King Jesus in the Kingdom of heaven there is no separation of clergy and laity; that every disciple/follower of Jesus is called to be a priest and king; that every living stone in the church is called to “ministry”; that as such none of our identities in the Kingdom of heaven are rooted in titles/careers/talents/giftings but that our identities are firmly grounded in the foundation Who’s we are (we are sons and daughters of the living God–Yahweh’s priest/kings) because of Who we are in (seated in Jesus Christ with Him in the heavenly places). “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Thus, as disciples of King Jesus when we walk in submission and obedience to our King in whatever “good works” He has called us to put our hands and minds too, whether in work/career/ministry, the Kingdom of heaven forcefully advances. What is so beautiful about this truth is that Kingdom of heaven can powerfully advance and breakthrough in every aspect of anyone and everyone’s life. Whether you’re a plumber fixing a leaking toilet; a businessman in a corner office; someone working in an orphanage; or proclaiming the good news of Jesus in a foreign land, the power and presence of the Kingdom of heaven can explode through a life walking surrendered and obedient to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

In 2016 Becky and I, while praying about the “ministry/good works” the Lord had called us to and specifically in relation to our desire to steward a piece of land somewhere, we received the word En Gedi. En Gedi is an oasis in the desert of Israel near the Dead Sea. It was in the caves near En Gedi where David hid from Saul.

From this word, the Lord stirred in our hearts to walk with Jesus and His bride in a way that our lives, our family, and our home would be a place of rest and restoration. An oasis, where out of our hearts would flow rivers of living water! The call and ministry of En Gedi is to create a place(s) for the church, family, friends, the broken and really anyone to come and find rest and restoration in the presence of our God. This world so often feels like a dry and lonely dessert but in Jesus we know there is a wellspring of rivers of living water to restore our weary souls. 

The way we currently practically do this is by opening our home weekly to house church gatherings; fellowship; and celebrations with the body of disciples that King Jesus has gathered around us. And by opening our home and property for friends and family to visit. We have an RV hook up on our property and are so grateful that we’ve been able to host friends who stopped by while traveling with a camper trailer. This past fall we purchased a small older camper that we plan on renovating and setting up as a space for this very purpose.

We also feel stirred to walk this calling out by stewarding short term rentals. We have design plans to renovate our old barn into living space that could be used in this way. And would also like to purchase other properties to create these “oasis’ in the desert” as the Lord leads and provides.

Prayer Points: 

• Monthly Men’s Meeting
  There has been a stirring in the body here for an intentional time where the men (and older sons) could gather together and spur one another on in faith and accountability in Jesus. We plan to have our first meeting the last Friday of January and would appreciate prayers for this group of men as we seek to obey King Jesus and shepherd our families in His grace. 
  
• House Church Gatherings
  As the body continues to meet weekly in homes, please pray for the presence and leading of the Spirit of Christ as we lay down our own agendas and ask Jesus to lead and guide His bride into deeper devotion and intimacy. That the body would together fan into flame the grace gifts that have been given; that speaking the truth in love, we would grow up in every way into Jesus; that we would simply know our God and make Him known. 
  
• Provision/Business
  The Lord has provided and blessed us in so many ways throughout 2023. Our construction business has been slower this past year than we had anticipated. Please pray with us as we seek the will of the Lord for our construction business and provision in general. Jesus has always provided for us and we trust in His constant faithfulness. 
  
• Vision/Ministry of En Gedi
  Pray for us as we shepherd our family team to obey the Spirit of Christ inside us and live daily on mission with Him. Please pray for us to be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding as we walk in the calling and ministry of En Gedi. Please pray for the Lord’s provision and timing as we seek to create spaces and places of rest and restoration. 

In Christ,

Ryan and Becky Vandenberg
hello@engediacres.com
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