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 | Upcoming Emmaus Events
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Sep 13th - 16th
Women's Walk 241
Sabine Creek
Oct 11th - 14th
Men's Walk 242
Mount Lebanon
Nov 8th - 11th
Women's Walk 243
Mount Lebanon |
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and
Kairos of Texas
Inside & Outside
If you know any woman who would benefit from Kairos Outside, please contact KONT by email |
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Women's Walk #241
September 13th - 16th
Men's Walk #242 October 11th - 14th
The Community is encouraged to attend the following events:
Send-off which starts at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Candlelight begins at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Closing will start around 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Please be careful not to arrive earlier than 7:15 p.m.
for the Candlelight services on Saturday.
The online Prayer Vigil supplements (but does not replace) the paper Prayer Vigil passed around at Candlelights and other DEC events for signature. Both Prayer Vigils are posted during Walks for Pilgrims to see who has been praying for them. Please follow the links above to sign both Walks' online Prayer Vigil.
There are still spots available for both Walks. Please prayerfully consider if you are being called to sponsor a friend or member of your congregation.
"The aim of sponsorship is to build up the body of Christ."
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The Chrysalis Restart Task Force will meet on Monday, August 13 at 7pm at University Park United Methodist Church in Room A321. Please RSVP to Community Lay Director Chuck Rohre via e-mail at laydirector@DallasEmmaus.org if you are interested in attending the event.
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 The Darling Downs Emmaus Community in Australia are requesting assistance from the Dallas Emmaus Community with completing their Prayer Vigils for their Men's Walk #68 (Click here) to be held August 16th through 19th and their Women's Walk #69 (Click here) to be held August 23rd through 26th. Let's take this opportunity to show our loving support for our brothers and sisters in Christ on the other side of the world. |
Message from the BoardPardon My Spiritual Accent
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. Acts 2:32-33 NKJV
ac·cent (aksent) A distinctive mode of pronunciation of a language, especially one associated with a particular nation, locality, or social class.
Accents can identify who you might be and from what neck of the woods you might call home. It's like a verbal calling card.
On a recent Walk, after we sang our meal blessing, one of our Assistant Spiritual Directors would lead us in singing:
A-A-Amen! A-A-Amen! A-A-men, Amen, Amen.
Sing it over!...A-A-Amen.
Thank you, Jesus!...A-A-Amen,
Hallelujah!...A-Amen, Amen, Amen.
The dining hall staff and guests sharing the cafeteria with us that weekend certainly recognized us!
One afternoon, that clergy was preparing for her talk and missed our blessing. We assured her that her 'Amen' response was alive and well in the cafeteria that afternoon. She asked, "But who sang my part?" A lovely Pilgrim who spoke English as a second language beautifully filled in, but trust me, there was nothing foreign about her rendition!
God's grace is translated during the Weekend into love spoken and practiced in many different ways, always with the accent of Jesus' sacrificial love. From the moment a Prayer Vigil hits your lap, to the faces of the community that shine in the Candlelight, you hear the accent of unconditional love. The eagerness and energy of Fourth Day Team service at set up and closing identifies Christian Action, as does our mission and service in our local churches. In our peripheral vision, we glimpse Team Assistants practicing unselfish, anonymous servanthood. These folks rise before the sun, and crawl into bed long after the Pilgrims-and most people-are asleep. The conference room team is an extension of the body of Christ. Team members on the Walk to Emmaus hear, see, taste (a lot!), touch, speak and sing with a spiritual drawl that says, "Jesus loves you, and so do I."
Our accent can grow weak when we've been apart from our community of believers. Accountability groups can strengthen your spiritual chords of Study, Piety and Action in your life and the life of your local church. We would love to share information on revitalizing the Emmaus movement in your church, or perhaps you would like to bend our ear with your success. Please let us hear from you at ChurchConnection@dallasemmaus.org. You can also use this email address to identify your church Emmaus liaison/contact person.
We welcome you to join us in service through the Walk to Emmaus as well as Sponsorship. You can still sign up online for Walks 241 and 242 Fourth Day service this year. As your first act of agape, join us in prayer by signing a Prayer Vigil at Candlelight or signing up online. You are also welcome to attend Closing. The details for these Walks and sign up information can be found online at www.dallasemmaus.org.
So you can partner with us as we do God's work in this community, be sure to keep your contact information current. You can easily do this online at the website above, under the Communications tab, Update My Information. You can also send us that information via mail to:
Dallas Emmaus Community
PO Box 2361
Rockwall, Texas 75087
Translating the language of God's love will transform you! Just know, it's easy to pick up the Spiritual accent. Before long, you will be singing "Amen!" -over and over again.
De Colores and many blessings, y'all!
De Colores,
Patricia Downing
Church Connection/Clergy Liaison Chair
Walk #155
Table of Esther
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Message from the Community Spiritual Director
One Bread, One Body
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
It has been ten years since I have been to elementary children's camp. I spent last week with over 200 elementary kids. My responsibility was leading a worship interest group with whoever wanted to come each day. The first two days were a bit discouraging. We had just a handful of children who wanted to participate. On the third and final day of camp, twelve children signed up to lead our worship experience. It made me wonder why there was such a large rush on the last day. Maybe it was the Oreos that I had available for those who signed up. Maybe it was because they finally realized how much fun worship could be!! Finally, one of the children said, "It is because we want to serve communion." Twelve children lined up, ready and waiting to be a part of leading the Lord's Supper for their fellow campers.
So often in our lives of faith, we sit by and wait for our turn to serve, or we wait for the right place to use our gifts and graces. The message of this passage from 1 Corinthians is that we are one body, and it takes all of us to be the body of Christ in the world. It takes the hesitant and the bold, the young and the more experienced, the well-versed and those who struggle for the right words. We are stronger together, bonded by the Holy Spirit, than we ever might be on our own.
- When was the last time that you rushed to the front to sign up for your place in the body of Christ?
- What lesson can you learn from a group of young kids rushing up for the opportunity to serve their brothers and sisters?
Rev. Stacey Piyakuhn
Assistant Community Spiritual Director
Walk #204
Table of Hannah |
Message from the Community Lay Director God's Handiworks
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:4-10
Emmaus, like many things we do in life, has its joyful moments and then, again, there is the tedium. We can get so caught up in the "busy work" of working on or supporting an Emmaus Walk that we can forget what a joy and privilege it is to be Christ's hands and feet in bringing the Pilgrims a little closer to Christ and building a foundation for their Fourth Days, living in the love and grace only He provides.
As the "handiwork" of God, the creation of His most perfect plan, we have the obligation and immense privilege and joy of doing good works in our families, our communities, our churches and within the Emmaus Community. Each of us is a little different, or in some cases, very different. God created some of us to be leaders, some to follow, some to plan and organize, some to execute, some to plan for and organize dinners while others find joy in cooking and serving them. Some within our community are magnificent speakers while others struggle with speaking before others. We are blessed to have talented musicians who bring God's love through their music while others cannot carry a tune in that proverbial fiberglass bucket, but they have a flair for making agape for Walks. As the Apostle Paul wrote, we all are needed and the body, without all of its parts, is ineffectual at best.
Over the entrance to one of the hallways in the church my wife and I attend is a sign that reads: "Your talents are a gift from God. What you do with them is your gift to God." I encourage each of you to do an assessment of your gifts, talents and graces and find your strengths that can help advance the Kingdom through Emmaus, Kairos, and Chrysalis, service in your local church or within your community. As importantly, I urge you to join me in recognizing the areas where you are more limited or could improve. Only through prayer and diligent effort can we honor God's purpose for us as his handiwork, realizing the full potential of what He made us to be.
In the process of recognizing how unique and "talented" we are, and how we can best be useful to God's Kingdom, I also pray that we will never lose sight of the fact that everyone around us is likewise the handiwork of God and deserves our love and respect. That, brothers and sisters, would begin the process of living our Fourth Day in reconciliation, humility, peace and love. As we learned in the Changing Our World talk, before we change our world, our community, our neighborhood or our family, we are called to begin with "me." Will you join me in beginning that change?
De Colores,
Chuck Rohre
Community Lay Director
Walk #186
Table of Paul
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Message from the Community Communications Chair
Reunion Groups
 A vital part of continuing the experience and closeness to Christ that we enjoyed on the Walk to Emmaus movement is an accountability group or a Reunion Group. Remembering back to your Walk, do you remember the Lay Director's talk on Perseverance? You were told during this Talk that "The weekly meeting of the Reunion Group is the premium we pay to persevere as disciples. To be effective, a Reunion Group must be: serious, sincere, discreet, and regular."
I'm in a Reunion Group. My Reunion Sisters and I have shared our ups and our downs, our joys and our failures, our dreams and our pain. We have held each other accountable, and our faith has grown strong. These women are sisters of my heart. Today, I write this article with a broken heart; my sweet, sweet Reunion Sister has lost her battle with breast cancer and has passed on to Heaven. She is now with our Savior and God.
Since discovering her cancer back in March 2010, we have held each other up. We have prayed and hugged. We have laughed, and we have cried. We have all been with her on her journey. Our Reunion Group was a place we all found peace and comfort. We have walked with Christ together.
As Matthew 18:20 says: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
Because of the Walk to Emmaus, we found a vehicle to help us be better Christians, leaders, women, mothers, and friends. If you are not currently in a Reunion Group or accountability group, I strongly encourage you to try to find one to join. My life has been enriched due to being part of this kind of group. I don't know if Heaven will have Reunion Groups or not, but if they do, my Reunion Sister will join!
Community Communications Chair
Walk #178
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TECHNICALLY INCLINED VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
The Dallas Emmaus Community needs a group of technically inclined women and men to serve the Community on a relatively short-term and in some cases, long-term basis.
For the short term, we need volunteers to assist in designing how we want our community database to function and to automate as many functions as possible, to include on-line registration, tuition payments and report generation capacity such as Walk lists, 4th day lists, etc. Individuals with knowledge of and practical experience with database administration software and their applications are particularly sought. The effort will also include the examination of utilization of a vendor and/or purchase of new software. This commitment will last 3 to 6 months, depending upon the frequency of meetings and needed follow-up.
A volunteer or volunteers are also needed to serve for the long term as the Community Database Administrator. Terry Hershberger, who has served us admirably in this role for many years, is stepping down as soon as his replacement is identified and trained. Many thanks to Terry for his work to revitalize the database and keep it up to date. This individual or individuals should be well versed in computer technology and database administration, have a flexible schedule, attention to detail and be self motivated.
If you have an interest in either role (or both) please e-mail Ruth Dunn (communications@dallasemmaus.org), Community Communications Chair, or Chuck Rohre (laydirector@dallasemmaus.org), Community Lay Director, to indicate your interest. Contact Chuck on his mobile phone 972.839.0884 for questions. |
 You can easily donate money to the Dallas Emmaus Community at any time by clicking here. PayPal is a secured donations system which directly deposits all funds into the Dallas Emmaus Community account. This is a great way to make payment for a pilgrim you are sponsoring or to keep the cost affordable for others who may not otherwise have means to sponsor a friend or loved one. |
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Help Wanted  Working on a Fourth Day Team is a rewarding way to participate in the Emmaus weekend as as the hands and feet of Christ, and the easiest way to stay connected with the Community. To sign up, email the 4th Day Director for the walk you want to serve on. |
DEC is on FB
Next time you are on Facebook, search the Dallas Emmaus Community, then select the "Like" button to be updated on the latest news and events including Candlelights, potlucks, prayer requests and more. "Share" or "Suggest" the page to your friends so they can stay easily connected to the Dallas Emmaus Community too. As of March 1st 2012 there are 445 likes!
IMPORTANT TO NOTE: You do not have to be on Facebook to see what's going on... click here to see what's it is all about. Email Melinda O'Brien with any questions.  |
Looking for an opportunity to serve in a powerful ministry? Visit Kairos of Texas online to find out about the units and areas of ministiries near you.
Kairos is a prison ministry whose success is dependent on the community of faith support in providing agape such as prayer chain signatures, cookies, and financial donations. If you are interested in knowing more about how you can participate, or to find out how to attend a Kairos closing, email the editors for information.
"... whatever you did for the least of my brothers, you did for me."
~ Matthew 24:40
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Contact Information
214-502-4072
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