Men s walk and then again at the end of the Women s walk! Please be in prayer for those involved! So let me tell you my story.

Transcription

1 C r oss P oi nt N ewsl ett er opyri ght 2016 C ros sp oi nt Emm aus Vol XXV1I1 Number 4 Cross Point Emmaus Newsletter April 2016 Page 1 I can t believe the walks are HERE! So much prayer and work have gone into these walks and it s incredible to see God work all things for our good and HIS glory. Our God is GOOD, ALL the TIME! There are several things I want to touch on in this article and some are easy to hear and some will be difficult. F irst, our beloved Ken Long, the director of Cross Point camp will be retiring this month. His LAST day is April 15th and he and his beautiful wife Jody will be heading north to Stillwater! So if you see them, let Ken and Jody know what he has meant to you and your time at Cross Point. Please be in prayer for the person that God has in mind for this position with the United Methodist Conference. S econd, we will be making a huge and exciting announcement at the end of the Men s walk and then again at the end of the Women s walk! Please be in prayer for those involved! So let me tell you my story. W hen I went on my pilgrim walk in April of 2002 I never dreamed that I would one day become a Lay Director, I was absolutely living in the moment and had an amazing weekend. So when they told me we could come back and work I was so excited! My walk was 46A and they were having another women s walk that very next weekend! I asked if I could sign up to work that walk but my sponsor said they had a better idea. They brought me back down that next Saturday night and I got to go to a Candlelight service and be on the other side of the communion railing! Funny enough, I had the same amount of tears flowing that night as I did on my pilgrim walk! Well, from then on I wanted to know every detail of how the walk worked and what all happened during the weekends.

2 Vol XXV1I1 Number 4 Cross Point Emmaus Newsletter April 2016 Page 2 Karen s Story continued from page 1... I came back that fall and worked my first job as Table Agape and let me tell you, I had an absolute blast! Then I served with 3 yes, only 3 other WOMEN as Team Assistant, that s a total of 4 WOMEN, as team assistant and may I just say that we rocked it! Next was snack agape and cabin angel and sat out a couple of walks before I felt or rather God felt that I was ready for the inside team. It was a little different then so as the first time back in the conference room I was a table leader, then music team. I sat out working 1 walk before I was asked to give my first talk as an Assistant Table Leader then the Prayer Room, Music Team again. Gave two more talks before sitting out another walk. T HEN we got POWERPOINT! And I was asked to work the PowerPoint for the first 2 women s walks utilizing this wonderful machine! S o let s count this out, I served in 4 different areas of the Hands and Feet team, served as Table Leader and Table Leader giving a talk, served as Assistant Table Leader and gave two more talks, music team twice, prayer team once, (I pray I get to serve in those areas again sometime as God leads) and AV tech twice BEFORE ever being considered for ALD. I kept wondering what I was doing wrong. Why wasn t I being chosen for ALD? D id I upset someone on the board? Yes, I really did consider that question. (And by the way, I see now while serving on the board now twice that the Board goes through extreme discussion with every voice heard, a lot of prayer and we have even stopped what we were doing to seek God s guidance before making ANY decision concerning the Cross Point Walk to Emmaus.) Okay, shame on me! W T hen I was speaking to a dear friend who said these wise words, I always put on my application, where God leads HAT!? I had always marked where I wanted to serve, not where God could use me best, even though the places I served was where He could use me best! My next volunteer application I sent in I put those very words across the application where you mark where you would like to serve. I will confess to you that it took me a week to mail that application and when I did, I almost went into the Post Office to have them dig it out for me! But wait, God, I know it isn t about me, and I want Your will to be done, not mine. Wouldn t you know it, I was asked that very walk to serve as my first time ALD!

3 Vol XXV1I1 Number 4 Cross Point Emmaus Newsletter April 2016 Page 3 Karen s Story continued from page 2... G od has such great plans for us, so much better than what I could choose for myself! W hy do I tell you this? What is your reason for serving on the walks? Is it to edify yourself or the Body of Christ? If you have worked the inside team and then asked to serve on the Hands and Feet team, do you consider yourself too good for those positions again? To be a leader you must first be a servant. Jesus was a servant to the bitter end and God knows right where He wants you and when He wants you there. Trust HIM. S o I served as ALD twice, sat out a walk so I could concentrate on all things for my oldest sons senior year, came back a served as ALD twice more before being called to be Lay Director for Cross Point Walk to Emmaus # 96. B ut my story isn t over yet and I pray it never is... I came back to work as snack agape and then AV tech 2 more times. My prayer is that God will put on the heart of the Lay Director where I can be used best by God. You see, I m not done serving God by a long shot, I hope you aren t either. He has great plans for us! Karin Nuner, Community Lay Director Yum! Yep! I Do! Do you remember the mouth-watering snacks you had on your walk? Those were provided by the Emmaus community. It s that time of year again and we need the community to sign up to provide snacks for the next group of Pilgrims. It s easy to do! Just go to the Emmaus site and click on the Jelly Beans. Sign up now! If you would rather donate money and let me shop; see me at the next gathering or call me at (580) Candy Sherbert Snack Agape Board Rep

4 Vol XXV1I1 Number 4 Cross Point Emmaus Newsletter April 2016 Page 4 Saturday, April 9th 6:00 PM CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP th Ave NW Ardmore, OK Hugs are Good! Smiles are Great! Laughter is wholesome! Worship is Awesome! of all those voices... Sing Hallelujah to the Lord and Amen Amen, it shall be so, Hal- Who has enjoyed standing in line laughing at lowed be thy name. funny stories being shared in delightful fash- With this in mind, gather your dish, your voice, ion by Emmaus brothers and sisters? Who has enjoyed a delicious repertoire of culinary delights at a once in a lifetime smorgas- your lanyard, your Praisefulness and let us all gather together for Fellowship, Commissioning of the Men s and Women s Walk Teams and bord? For every fellowship meal is different grateful worship! because every gathering has its own character Last of all, for all those that have prior obliga- and personality! tion, homebound, workbound and so unable to Who has made a commitment to attend the April Fellowship Gathering & Commissioning? Hopefully hundreds! Wouldn t that bless our God and everyone committed to work on the inside and outside teams? Imagine the sound attend, be as Paul explained in 1 Cor 5:3 that being absent in the body, but present in the spirit, lift up prayer with the rest of the com- munity between 7 and 8 pm for the Holy Spirit to work His way and His will through each one serving Him during the walk.

5 Vol XXV1I1 Number 4 Cross Point Emmaus Newsletter April 2016 Page 5 John Dobson (pictured on the ladder) is the new Crosspoint Camp Coordinator, having taken over for John Castellow. John put out a call for a workday at the camp. Breakfast and lunch would be served to those that would come help. such as storm window installation, door panel repairs and paneling to be hung possibly. He was not getting his hopes John was blessed! up for anyone to show up. 20 volunteers came to work. And here they are: For he Ed Barton, Barbara Barton, Bob Singleton, did have Reece Kahle, many re- DeB Edwards, Felicia M. Paheco, Carl Whygle Jr, sponses Crystal Whygle, Rhonda Jackson, David Jackson, that went Jessica Jackson, William Jackson, Gavin Burch, like this, John, I would Mike Bell, Beverly Riley, Pete Keener, Toni Hignight, Mark Newman, love to help, but it is Easter Brianna Landeros, weekend and we already and of course John Dobson. have plans Yes, it was go- Almost all of the projects ing to be Easter Weekend. The kind of projects John was hoping to complete was painting approximately 100 bunk beds and several doors, needed touch up & to spruce up the inside of the cabins. There were also several small projects needing to be done were completed, even cutting of the brush! God is so good and for all those, a colorful treasure of good food, exercise and memories was granted.

6 Vol XXV1I1 Number 4 Cross Point Emmaus Newsletter April 2016 Page 6 All but three of the board members were present for the March 12th meeting hosted by Ardmore FUMC. The committees are gearing up for the Spring Walks. We do need your help with snacks and the prayer vigil. Please, please sign up for one or both! Even though the Spring Walks are just around the corner, the Board is preparing for the Fall walks! Stay tuned or attend the closing of the men's and women's walk to hear the big announcement. Let me encourage you it is not too late to volunteer for the hands and feet team. If you feel that God is calling you to serve please contact one of the Lay Directors or the Assistant Community Lay Director to get signed up. If you can't be there for the whole weekend, then show up when you can. Let someone know that you want to help and what day you can be there. Thank you Ardmore FUMC for hosting the Emmaus Community!! Lisa Gipson Board Secretary right around the corner, this scholarship money will be hit pretty hard. The amount of the scholarships available depends solely on the generosity from all of us in the Crosspoint Emmaus Community. Please pray about this. If the Lord lays it on your heart to contribute to this scholarship money, then please mail your contribution to: Greetings Crosspoint Community! The spring walks are upon us, and what a blessed time it will be! Now is your chance to bless someone by contributing to our scholarship needs. There are two types of scholarships Crosspoint Emmaus provides. One is for any Volunteer that feels led to work the 3 day walk but may need the blessing of financial help, and one is for any Pilgrim which would love to go on the walk but just can t afford it. With the walks Make any checks payable to Crosspoint Emmaus Community and let me know which of the scholarship types you would like to contribute toward. By doing this you will truly bless someone with an act of anonymous agape love! See you at the Walks! Travis Singleton, Treasurer

7 Vol XXV1I1 Number 4 Cross Point Emmaus Newsletter April Page Page CLD More Pictures next page

8 CROSS POINT NEWSLETT ER OPYRIGHT 2016 CROSS POINT EMMAUS Address: Phone: Newsletter th Ave NW Ardmore, OK Cross Point Emmaus We re on the web crosspointemmaus.org On the Road to Emmaus 13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles [a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.. 28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over. So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us? Luke 24: 13-16, 28-32