The Emmaus News Columbus Indiana Area Emmaus Community, Inc. March 2018 volume 26 issue 3 A Note from the Community Lay Director By the time you receive the newsletter, your board will be discerning on whether to move forward with Men s Walk #107 and Women s Walk #108. This is always a difficult time for your Community Board to make the decision whether to proceed with the Walks or Retire the Walks; believe me, retiring a Walk or Walks is the last thing we want to do. However, if there are not enough Pilgrims registered by the cut-off dates of March 6 th and March 13 th, then we must make that decision. We must have a minimum of 20 Pilgrims registered for each Walk by their cut-off dates. This is a contractual agreement we have with the Upper Room which is the governing body of our Emmaus Community. As of this writing, we have 6 men and 4 women. When we are faced with these types of decisions, it is easy to just give up well, if the community is not willing to sponsor Pilgrims, then let s just give up. This is not the answer that God is looking for from a body of believers. When God and Jacob entered their wrestling match, God could have overpowered Jacob and ended things instantly. Why then did God let the struggle go on? Here s the lesson: When God allows difficult times in our life, he doesn t solve it immediately. He lets it go on for a while because he wants to see if we re serious about seeking him. If God answered every prayer immediately, we would begin to think God was just a big vending machine: Put in a prayer, pull out whatever you need and go on with your life. So, here s the wake-up call. This is where the Community steps in. Some of you have already sponsored pilgrims we are praying for a miracle in the next few days! We are praying that many more will join us by paying it forward by getting your applications into the Registrar, Cindy Massey in the next few days for the Spring Walks. In the meantime, we seek guidance and wisdom from our study of God s word. In times like this, we remember the story of Daniel; we see a great pattern for us to follow when are faced with what is seemingly an impossible task: Don t panic; gather prayer partners; pray to God for help; ask God for supernatural help; worship God. That s what the Emmaus movement is all about in our Fourth Day reaching out to others with our prayers so God can show us his power through prayer and accountability partners. When we ask God for help, and trust him to provide, we will experience the peace of his wisdom and blessing. So, my brothers and sisters in Christ, I am reaching out to you to help us reach the goal of honoring God with bringing forth Pilgrims to participate in the Spring Walks. God is not going to bless a goal when is it motivated by fear. He does honor a goal that is motivated by a desire to demonstrate love to him and to others, because life is all about learning how to love that AGAPE love that each participant experiences on a Walk to Emmaus do everything in love. Remember the pledge we recited when we received our cross prior to the Walk closing; the Walk Spiritual Directors stated, Christ is counting on you and your response was, and I am counting on Christ. Well, Christ is counting on you to respond to the call for sponsorship; how will we respond to this call? I am looking forward to seeing you at the Spring Walk send-offs on April 5 th and 12 th! De Colores, Phil Newton
Dates for Upcoming Walks & Flights... Take note of our new chart to monitor Pilgrim Status for the Emmaus Walks on the website Men's Walk #107 April 5 8, 2018 Lay Director Kevin Koons @ Camp Lakeview Pilgrim Deadline is March 6th AND $20 off by March 6th Currently taking applications!!! Women's Walk #108 April 12-15, 2018 Lay Director Kim Bieker @ Camp Lakeview Pilgrim Deadline is March 13th AND $20 off by March 13th Currently taking applications!!! Chrysalis #67 and #68 April 28th-30th, 2018 Lay Directors Kenny Harrison & Jeanna Fredericksen @ Camp Hilltop Currently taking applications!!! $20 off deadline is Friday April 6 An updated version of the Pilgrim Application has been posted on the website. You may download it at Columbus Area Walk to Emmaus Pilgrim Application
A reminder from our Agape Girls The walks are upon us and we need you. We need agape for the upcoming walks and you could show your love for the pilgrims by making agape. Please consider providing these little gifts of love to the pilgrims and the team. 90 pieces will provide enough for both team and pilgrims. Lots of agape ideas are available on Pinterest and on 101Agape Ideas. Just make your agape and deliver it to camp at sendoff. Thanks for sharing God's love. Your Agape Team. Debbie Frey and Linda Leszcynski A from our Head Music AMOS 6:5 You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. God blessed us again with a wonderful spirit filled gathering. The Emmaus worship team 'awaken' is coming together real nice. Thank you Mark, Marissa, Carmie, Stan, Gary, Ben and Robb for a wonderful job leading praise and worship. For the March gathering we are blessed to have on team: Mark, Marissa, Carmie, Stan, Mark, Gary, Dick, Lee and Diana. The spring walk teams are formed. We have Robb Kloke as head musician for the men and Susan Criswell for the ladies. The music teams are full of God given talent and are jelling as a team. It's exciting to see how people come together with the common bond of Jesus Christ. We are still needing singers and players! I encourage all musicians in the Emmaus Community to fill out a team application if you are interested in serving on a gathering and/or walk music team. Or just email me and I can get you plugged in. WANTED: Vocalists Guitar Bass Keyboard Percussion Banjo Accordion Jug Violin/Fiddle Cello Brass Woodwind Mandolin Bagpipe Hambone Warsh tub Saw Blade Shovel Bells Ear pipe Foot horn Triangle Sitar Kettle Drum Chicken box Shag Pedal Jigger Tube ;-) Request a favorite song that you would love to sing at a gathering. Just shoot me an email. There has not been much response from ya-all on this, so I'm daring ya to send me a song. De Colores, Mark Neafus sootdaddy@gmail.com
Do you ever feel like you can t remember dates and times to Emmaus Events or need to double check a GUESS WHAT?? location of a gathering?? There is an up-to-date Community Calendar on the Website that the Emmaus Board has included all dates, times and locations for many events within the Emmaus Community. From the link tab you will see additional details. It is our hope that this location will help the Community keep track of all future events. Help us to add information and updates as needed by sending info to dkirkling@columbusareaemmaus.community Be sure to check it out!! SPONSORSHIP THIS IS THE TIME!!! Have you been praying about who God might be asking YOU to sponsor? I have. The application is in her hands now. This is a great time to be listening and being obedient to help others receive what we ourselves have received. Remember the songs, the prayers, the silence, the food, the inspiring talks, the food, the lasting friendships and the food! The Spring walks are just around the corner! Would you really want your friend(s) to miss out on all of this? Print out an application and get to it!! BE BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING TO OTHERS!!
Let s get to know our new board members Hi! My name is Brenda Stoner. I am one of the new 2018 board members and I am serving in the role of Team Selection. I moved from Seymour to Columbus about 6 years ago but my heart remains connected to Worthington where I enjoy spending time with my parents, 5 siblings, 3 nephews (Brent, Brady & Mason), 2 nieces (Helen & Brooklyn) and 5 precious littles that officially make me a "great" Aunt: Corbin, Brantley, Elli, Tristan & Bailee. God has also placed an abundance of special kiddos in my life who also call be Aunt Brenda - truly one of my greatest joys in life. I am blessed to be part of the Ogilville Christian Church and honored to be surrounded by godly brothers & sisters in Christ that make up my 'local" family. My work background is in Information Technology but I will not bore you with those details. I attended my Walk (#40) at Camp Moneto in the fall of 2001. Over the last 17 years, God has used the ministry of Emmaus to stretch and develop me in ways I would have never imagined - including this current role! If you would like to learn more about serving on an Emmaus Team or about Team Selection, please reach out. De Colores, Brenda Stoner Good morning! And every day is a great day to serve our Lord in some way. I was born of a Christian Family in Michigan and remember traveling the back roads to churches many Sunday mornings spreading the Gideon Story. My dad was a Gideon for many years before his death. I first accepted Christ as my personal Savior while a teen in Youth Camp. Just as on that summer evening I have worked to know my Lord better each day. My life continued to change through the outstanding Walk 55 that I experienced with the leadership of the Columbus Area Emmaus Community. I don t know that I ll ever get to the point that I know God as well as I d like, but continue to evolve is my daily walk and worship of HIM. I married my wife Nancy in 1962, but lost her to death all too soon in 2015. We had a daughter and a son, each of whom are now married and have a son and daughter of their own. One lives in Oxford, OH and the other in Chalmers, IN. My professional career has moved us from Michigan to Toledo, Ohio to Memphis, Tennessee and now to Columbus, IN since 1979. I m a retired CPA with all my work done in the manufacturing industry. One of my hobbies for years has been volunteering to do tax returns for the low income and elderly persons. For the last several years I retired from that hobby and started to do genealogy while we traveled during the winter months. Now I just putter in my woodworking shop. I m excited about working with the Emmaus Community as the Treasurer on your Board. De Colores, Jim Green
Prayer Chart sign-ups for Spring Emmaus Walks Men's Walk #107 Prayer Chart Women's Walk #108 Prayer Chart Sign up now to get your choice of times!!! Attention Emmaus Community Plug in and serve Residents Encounter Christ (REC) Jail Ministry Bartholomew County REC #2 Men March 2-4 Lay Director Karl Evans Prayer Chart Sign up- http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4fa8ad2fa0f49-bartholomew1
Community Gatherings DATE CHANGE!!!! March 23rd Sandy Hook United Methodist Church, Columbus @ 7:00pm (A-M bring Snacks) (Commissioning of Teams for Spring Walks & Flights) FUTURE GATHERINGS April No Gathering May 18th First Baptist, Columbus (Pitch-in) FALL WALK DATES Men s Walk #109 Oct. 18th -21st Women s Walk #110 Oct. 25th -28th Board Meetings Chrysalis Tuesday, March 6th, 6:00 pm @ The Rock 3990 Rocky Ford Rd. Columbus Emmaus Saturday, March 10th, 9:00 am @ Westside Community Church, Columbus Indiana Area Emmaus Community, Inc. www.columbusareaemmaus.community Emmaus Information Page (for community members) Username: columbus password: 4thday! Any WEATHER Delays check for an email at time of event