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Boy's Chrysalis Flight
2/14-2/16, 2015
Briarwood Retreat Center
Dallas Women's #256
2/19-2/22, 2015
Mount Lebanon
Dallas Men's #257
4/16-19, 2015
Sabine Creek
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If you know any woman who would benefit from Kairos Outside, and visit the Guest tab for the reservation form. |
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Dallas #256 Women
2/19-22, 2015
Mount Lebanon
Dallas #257 Men
4/16-19, 2015
Sabine Creek
Click here to view Walk Rosters
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. if just attending 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.
The Prayer Vigils are now available online for the 2015 Walks. Please click go to the Walk Roster and click on the Prayer Vigil to add your name and pray for the Pilgrims!
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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T-Shirts!
Available for sale at any Dallas Emmaus Community Gathering
Help your neighbors stay on track while singing our Emmaus version of The Lord's Prayer!
Short Sleeves - $15
Long Sleeves - $20
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Pilgrims and Caterpillars are Needed!
He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Mark 4:9
The Boys Chrysalis Flight and Women's Walk #256 will be here before you know it, and we need to show our community support by providing Caterpillars and Pilgrims for this Flight and Walk! In 1970, there was a movie released called "Suppose The Gave a War and Nobody Came?" Suppose, on the other hand, that God called a team to conduct an Emmaus Walk, called Pilgrims to attend, and we as an Emmaus Community never did our part to connect the two. In a few weeks, Women's Walk 256 will begin at Mt. Lebanon, and as of today, we only have 11 Pilgrims registered. Our first Boy's Chrysalis Flight in almost two years is scheduled to take place Feb. 14th-16th (Saturday through Monday) at Briarwood Retreat Center, and as of today, there are only two young men registered to attend the flight! In the corporate world, we often hear the term "sense of urgency", so if there were ever a time for urgency within our community, it is now, not tomorrow or next week!
Maybe this is your Pilgrim's or Caterpillar's time to draw closer to Christ. We can share God's love and abundance with up to 30 women on the Walk or young men on the Flight. If you know of a Pilgrim or Caterpillar who is ready spiritually, mentally and physically, please pray and seek God's guidance to see if this is your time and your Pilgrim's or your Caterpillar's time.
We ask you to be in prayer for this Walk and Flight, for those Pilgrims and Caterpillars who may still be rewarded with the experience of God's grace and renewal of the Walk and Flight, and for those whose servant hearts and hands who will sponsor and shepherd these women and young men.
May our hearts, eyes and ears be opened, and the fire still burn within us to move these women and young men closer to Christ.
Applications and forms for Emmaus Walks can be found at
www.dallasemmaus.org
Applications and forms for Chrysalis can be found at
www.thebutterflyer.org/documents/chrysalisapp.pdf
Chrysalis is the youth version of the Walk to Emmaus and is open to young people ages 15-24 who have completed the 9th grade.
The deadline for registration for the young men's Chrysalis Flight has been extended to February 9th!!!
Also, Candlelight will be Sunday night, February 15 at 8:00 p.m. so please come if you can. We are in great need of Agape/Palanca for both flights.
Please sign for the both prayer vigils by clicking on the below links for the indicated flight:
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2015-2016 Dallas Emmaus Community Board Elections
Your Dallas Emmaus Board of Directors consists of twelve elected Community lay members, each serving a three-year term. Each year, four new lay members are elected to the Board, and four lay members roll off. Similar to a Walk team, each member of the Board has a specific role, and it takes all members of the Board working together for all of the work to be done.
Ballots are now available for the 2015-2016 DEC Board elections. Two men and two women will be elected. Candidates for the men's slots are (in alphabetical order): Keith Chapman, Lee Hansley, Nathan Howard, & Bill Obetheir . Candidates for the women's slots are (also in alphabetical order): Pam S. Davis, Carlene Knebel, Donna Price, & Kathy RIchmond.
Voting can be done in one of two ways:
- Download and print out your ballots (Click here to download - DEC ballot), mark your selections, sign the ballot, and mail it back to Dallas Emmaus Community, P.O. Box 2361, Rockwall, Texas 75087
- Ballots may be picked up, completed and turned in at the Candlelights for Women's Walks #256 at Mt. Lebanon, Saturday, February 21, and the Boy's Chrysalis Flight at Briarwood Retreat Center on February 15.
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT ALL BALLOTS MUST BE RECEIVED IN PERSON OR POSTMARKED BY MARCH 31, 2015!!!
Our community is blessed with willing volunteers and elected servants who give of their time and talents for the Lord. Please do your part. Please take a moment now to pray about and then vote for the four new members of your choice for the 2015-2016 DEC Board of Directors. Deadline for ballots is March 31, 2015.
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Message from the Community Spiritual Director
Jonah Was A Wimp
Jonah prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live." (Jonah 4:2-3 NRSV)
Jonah was a wimp. God called him to proclaim a message of repentance to the people of Ninevah and the very first thing he did was run away. Rather than obeying the call of God, Jonah made a mad dash for a cruise ship, the open ocean, and a far away country. He thought that he could escape the call of God by just getting out of Dodge. In this he was very much like most of us: we, too, are afraid of, and are prone to run away from, the calling of God. This is especially true, as was the case with Jonah, when God's call looks in the least bit difficult. Most of us don't want a tough task ... we want things to be easy, simple, quick, convenient, and comfortable! Heaven forbid that the calling of God might cause us to stretch our faith muscles any, or risk the possibility of personal failure, or hardship! So, lest we be a bit too hard on Jonah, we should always remember that he did what we so frequently do ... he ran from God. Or, rather, he tried to run from God.
After having been caught running away, after having been tossed into the sea, swallowed by a great fish, and barfed out upon dry land, Jonah receives the word of God a second time. This goes to show that, even when we mess up, even when we try to run away from God, even when we fail to do what God calls us to do, God not only does not give up on us but, indeed, God gives us second, third, and fourth chances to follow God's Will. Scripture is clear here: "The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time...." (3:1) It wasn't that Jonah remembered what God's calling was, or decided to follow the orders he had been given earlier; no, Jonah actually received the word of the LORD a second time. This is good news for us: if we miss it and mess up when God speaks to us, we can have hope that God will speak to us again.
After receiving the calling of God a second time Jonah set off to preach his way through Ninevah. He managed to make it a third of the way across the city, having preached for a full day while traveling, and during that time the people heard his message and - shock of all shocks - repented of their sins! Indeed, the King of Ninevah was so taken with the call to repentance that he ordered the entire city to put on sackcloth and ashes, abstain from food and drink, and to repent all evil practices. Jonah's calling, was successful! One would think that Jonah would be pleased that the people of Ninevah had repented.
Quite the contrary, Jonah was not in the least bit happy. After all, he had been through a great deal! He had been caught in a storm at sea, tossed into the waters, swallowed by a great fish, spent 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of that fish, and then been sub-orbital barfed from the Mediterranean to the shores of the Euphrates River. After all of this, Jonah wanted to see some action! He wanted to see the dirty rotten sinners of Ninevah smitten! And, so, he whined to God. He claimed - in one of the most outlandish lies to be found in the Bible - that God's leniency with the people of Ninevah was the very reason he had run away from God and not wanted to do God's Will! "I knew you were going to forgive them, and I didn't want to see that! I want fireworks! When I ran away from you I got my punishment, now I want to see them to get their punishment! Smite 'em, God!"
Again, we find in Jonah a mirror for ourselves: we want grace for ourselves, but we don't want it for anyone else. We want success on our own terms, not on God's terms. We think we know better how God should go about His business, and when God doesn't do things the way we think they should be done we are prone to want to take our toys and go home. We get angry ... "angry enough to die!" (4:9) And, like Jonah, we have no justification for our actions. We might pretend as though we do, but we are lying and wimping out just as assuredly as was Jonah.
When God calls, we should listen and not try to run. When God calls, we should do as God says and follow God's Will for us. And, when God produces a result, we should be willing to accept God's Will even when it conflicts with our own desires, designs, or expectations. In truth, like Jonah, we have no choice. God is in charge, so we might as well bow to the inevitable.
DeColores
Rev. Greg Neal
Community Spiritual Director
Dallas Men's Walk #97
Table of Luke
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Message from the Community Communications Chair
Love Letters
"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are."
1 John 3:1a
My goodness, where did January go? It seems just a short time ago we were all wrapping presents and putting up decorations, then sighing with relief at having enjoyed and survived another Christmas/New Year's holiday. Time flies by like an ever rolling stream. The stores are now decorated with brightly colored, glittery red, pink and white hearts and chubby cherubs shooting arrows. Yes folks, it's February, the month where we send flowers and celebrate "love".
Some years ago, my husband and I were involved in cleaning out his family home after his mother moved into an assisted living facility. If you've ever had occasion to do it, then you know what a long and difficult job cleaning out the family homestead can be. There are boxes and boxes of keepsakes to be sorted through and treasures long forgotten to be rediscovered. That would be the romantic way of saying we all keep too much "stuff". While in the midst of sorting through fifty years worth of papers, cards and pictures, we found a true treasure. It was a love letter written by my father-in-law, Donald, to my mother-in-law, Martha, while he was away serving in the army during World War II. Yellowed with age, the musty smelling paper crinkled as it was unfolded. There was nothing profound in the letter, just simple words expressing a man's love for his wife and infant daughter and his longing for home, family and friends. Simple or not, to Martha that letter was special and so, she kept it for more than 50 years. Only God knows how many times that letter was taken out and read again over the years. During our cleaning spree, I was the lucky person who found the letter. When I began reading it, tears came to my eyes because it revealed to me the character and personality of a man I never had the privilege of knowing personally. At the end, I felt I knew Donald better.
Have you ever stopped to think that God has written you a "love letter"? It's long, 66 chapters in fact, and it's called the Bible. It is full of history, emotion, thrilling stories, wisdom, patience, warnings, songs, poems, prophesies, and even the greatest love story ever told. God wants us to read this love letter He's written to us, to study His words so that we may know His character, His desires and plans for us, and so that we may learn from the experiences of others who have gone before us in this journey of faith. What better way is there to know of God than to study and learn from His own words, where His great love flows from every word, every chapter, every story?
Today, there are places in this troubled world where God's love letter is forbidden reading. People down through the ages have suffered and many have died in the effort to obtain even a fraction of a copy of the Bible. As I sit here writing this, I have within easy reach, at least 5 or 6 different versions of God's love letter to me. I would venture a guess that the same is true for most of us. We have Bibles sitting on our bedroom nightstands, artfully displayed on our living room coffee tables or possibly gathering dust on our bookshelves. We even have Bibles on our cell phones which are constantly in our possession. With such easy access, then, do we take the time, or make the time, to treasure this special book, this love letter written especially for us by God?
If Bible reading/study is a regular part of your life, then, well done and keep it up! If it is not, my wish for you is that you begin again, today, to experience this great love story by reading the love letter God has written just for you. May you realize again, or maybe for the first time, the depth of God's love and may you, and I, all grow through the study of God's word. Read, study, grow AND share God's "love letter" with others!
De Colores
Melinda Propes
DEC Communications Chair
Dallas Women's Walk #133
Table of Rachel
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Message from the Community Lay Director
True Heart Agape
I bet you knew the day we call Valentine's Day is named for a Christian martyr and dates back to the 5th century and even has origins in the Roman holiday Lupercalia. Every Valentine's Day among the flowers and candy approximately 150 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year, and the average Valentine's Day spending has increased every year from $108 a person in 2010 to $133 a person in 2014. Those are some real big numbers on Valentine's agape.
I have to admit it gets me to thinking of all the agape that has been shared in all of the past Emmaus Walks. Now I am not advocating that The Walk to Emmaus replace Valentine's Day, but it is hard not to believe there are several comparisons. We have some mighty huge numbers for agape on past walks which include letters, candy and wearable gifts. I bet we even share a whole lot of The Holy Spirit on Valentine's Day.
Another way we are similar is we share our heartfelt love and friendship with each of the pilgrims on each Emmaus Walk. We may not keep the dollar amount of the cost that each sponsor or community member spends on writing letters, preparing wearable agape and supplying food for each pilgrim but the total couldn't be reasonably calculated anyway. You got to know why, if you have ever attended a Walk closing on Sunday. How do you put a statistical cost on all the emotions and the presence of the Holy Spirit on each pilgrim's face while sharing the experience of their weekend? You just can't.
Valentine's Day comes once a year but we have five Emmaus Walks this year, and two Chrsalis Flights. So, if you have someone you are planning on sponsoring get them registered! That way you and I can experience writing the letters, gathering the candy, preparing wearable agape and attending the gathering. Wow, I Love Emmaus....... pass the chicken please.
De Colores
Mike Pappas
Community Lay Directory
Mens Walk #138, Table of John
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Message from the Board
Questions and Answers
As treasurer for the Dallas Emmaus Community, the most often question I get asked is?
How are we doing? -
I could fill up my space with lots of numbers, but I think graphs say it best. We need more pilgrims. We put together awesome teams for the walks, but need awesome sponsors to fill them with pilgrims.
As the graph shows from 2007, we have had fewer pilgrims on our walks. Why? This is a great question, and the Board has struggled with it.
Do we need to lower our fees?
(However, the cost of the camp facilities has increased each year).
Do we need to have fewer walks?
(We did reduce them by one less men's and one less woman's each year).
Could we have other fundraising efforts to help keep Walk cost down?
(We do use collections at Candlelight Offerings to help defray the cost of the Walk as well as we Co-Sponsored a Golf Tournament last October - and we were blessed with collecting $1800 from the tournament - this plus a donation from a single source of $2000 brought our Golf Tournament proceeds (after expenses) to $3800. We also sold T shirts which provided $300 above the cost of the shirts.
Back to some more numbers. Another graph which shows our Walk Fees vs Camp costs. (This does not include offerings and donations). You will notice that the red line is the cost of the camp facility (this does not include supplies for the weekend which avg $700 per walk). You can see that we need full walks to cover our costs. We also have non-walk expenses each year - ie insurance, trailor maintenance, storage, upgrading and maintaining computer equipment, and other supplies for gatherings.
If this prompts any questions, please email: treasurer@dallasemmaus.org and I will try to answer your questions. If this prompts any desire to help our community keep costs for walks down, please consider making a contribution to the Dallas Emmaus Community, please send your donation check to Dallas Emmaus Community, PO Box 2361, Rockwall,TX 75087
De Colores
Laurie Bubel
Treasurer
Womens Walk #53, Table of Rachel
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Successful Sponsorship
Are you interested in sponsoring a Pilgrim on an upcoming Walk? Be sure to check out the "Successful Sponsorship" video that was recently posted on YouTube. Whether you are a first-time sponsor or a seasoned veteran, you're sure to pick up some great tips to help your Pilgrims have the best sponsorship experience possible. To view the video, click here
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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, view the Walk Schedule to get in touch with the 4th Day Director for the walk you want to serve on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See the email below from Kay Carroll, one of the 4th day directors, inviting you to the first team meeting to serve on the 4th day team.
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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 Dec. 2014 there are 588 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. 
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 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. |
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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