News & Notices

Newsletter - October / November 2008

To our newest Community members, who have just enjoyed the Emmaus Experience, WELCOME, from the Port Elizabeth Emmaus family.

 IMPORTANT DATES to diarise:

 A message from our Community Lay Director

Beloved family of Emmaus,

On behalf of the Emmaus community I welcome the newest family members. You have been shaken, rattled, emptied, filled on this roller coaster of an experience. As you go into your 4th days I leave this simple story with you.

There were five sponges in a kitchen sink. Each member of a family had been cleaning up different areas of their home. The sponges looked the same. The only way to discover what each cleaned up is to squeeze each sponge to see what comes out.

• Cola
• Tile cleaner
• Motor oil
• Drain cleaner
• Floor wax

Amazing … all look the same until they're squeezed.
                                    … Christians are not too different.

The world you return to has not changed and as life squeezes you, (and it WILL), different things come out - tears, remorse, anger, pride, regret, greed, untruth … and Just like the sponge, only what was put in can be squeezed out.

So I encourage you to

• stay in touch with your Redeemer,
• stay in touch with your Emmaus family,
• meditate on the input of these past three days,
• bless your own church community in servanthood.

so that when life puts the squeeze on you … the Agape Love of God, with which you have been soaked these three days, will be the thing that will ooze out.

I encourage the wider community to attend the Bring and Share Post Walk gathering, and other gatherings, to rekindle the joy of the Emmaus experience.

Emmaus is by no means a money making enterprise, and in spite of rising costs, most Walks just break even, praise the Lord. In this light, on behalf of the Board, I thank all those who have so generously given free will donations to Emmaus. I assure you that these monies are used wisely, and mostly to sponsor clergy who work on Walks.

I wish those preparing our first Chrysalis flights much joy and perseverance as you work toward blessing our youth in July 2009.

De Colores, Ed Hill

 A message from our Community Spiritual Director

Beloveds in the Lord Jesus Christ, our living Redeemer:

Welcome to the Emmaus family.
 
Many in this family remain unknown to you. Yet they have prayed, served, and given of themselves in many different unseen ways that you might experience afresh and know the extravagant love of God our Father in His Son....that you might be seized and overwhelmed by the passionate love of Abba Father for His Blood-redeemed ones.
 
Such love is highly contagious, spreading like a wonderful plague. It changes us and all those we encounter along the way, wherever we find ourselves. It is the most irresistable power in the world. We receive and experience it best in the fellowship of believers, the Body of Christ. But the truly marvellous thing is that the more we share of it with others, the more we lay down our lives for others, the more we are engulfed by that love...
 
May all of you who read this remain rooted in that Love, whose wellspring is Jesus Christ. May you grow daily in His love, as you share of it in all your daily Divine opportunities with family, friends, fellowships, and especially with the unsettled, love-starved world around you.
 
Blessed Fourth Day to you
De Colores !
Terry Beadon. 

 CHRYSALIS

I often struggle with doubts about my salvation. Is that normal?
Why does God love me so much?
How can God keep loving me after I’ve sinned so much?
Is there anything that could cause God to change His mind and stop loving me?
How can I possibly do everything expected of me in the Bible?

These are but a few of the many questions our youth are struggling with.
Do you want to be a tool in the hand of God to help our youth and try to answer their questions?
God gives people dreams because he wants them to become part of His dream in some way or another – His big dream of healing this broken world and its people.
I attended a flight in Pretoria during June 2008. This was an incredible experience for me and my passion to help children fulfill their dreams has once again been rekindled.

If you want to be part of this dream then please volunteer to be involved in Chrysalis (the Emmaus for our youth).
There are so many ways to get involved –

• praying for the preparation of the flights,
• making agape,
• making banners,
• serving on the team,
• preparing a formal dinner on the Saturday afternoon of the flights etc.

Flight dates are as follows:

Boys flight #1 : 10 – 12 July 2009
Girls flight #2 : 17 – 19 July 2009

“The world is waiting for a new generation of leaders – men and women whose mission involves more than power and profit, whose morality is not contextual; and whose whole lives reflect God’s grace “– John C Bowling

Fly with Christ
Alwylene Allwright

 FUNDRAISING

What a Mighty God we serve!! Thanks and glory be to Him for an extremely successful GOLF FOR GOD Golf Day, held at the Zwartenbosch Golf Club in Humansdorp on 18 October. Some 117 golfers participated in beautiful weather conditions.

Our grateful thanks to our Fundraiser for the hard work and selfless dedication to the task of organizing the raising of funds. Emmaus was blessed with a generous amount, generated by the Golf Day, to boost our coffers.

Thanks also to those generous Emmaus folk who donated some tremendous prizes for the event, and those serving the snacks at the halfway house.

Truly …. this was a Golf for God day, and He is greatly to be praised.

A sincere thanks to all our faithful family members who so generously financially supported Emmaus through the year. Your contributions went a long way to keeping us financially secure.  Praise God for you.

Should anyone have any brilliant ideas for fundraising, and who might enjoy assisting with putting the idea into action, the Board should be most grateful to hear from you.  Contact Kay at 042 2951832 or kaybill@cybertrade.co.za.

 Walk # 40

As LD for the Ladies’ Walk #40, Kerryn was truly excited by the fact that 40 is such a Scriptural number,

[quote from her first letter to her team:

“40 IS A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER!

• Remember when Noah was in the ark, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights after which the dove brought back an olive branch.
• Moses was on the mountain with God for 40 days, receiving the commandments on tablets of stone.
• Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and wondered in the desert for 40 years before settling in the promised land.
• King Saul and the Israelites were taunted by the Philistines for 40 days before David killed Goliath.
• God gave Nineveh 40 days to repent, which they did and God spared them.
• Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days and conquered temptation. 
• 40 days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven.” ]

 WHEN YOU COME OFF THE ‘MOUNTAIN’
 AND RETURN TO THE ‘VALLEY’

We pray you have enjoyed the amazing, mountaintop Emmaus Experience!! Most folk who attend an Emmaus Walk find the ‘mountainous air’ on an Emmaus Walk exhilarating and refreshing. When we return to our own church community, the ‘valley’, we perhaps find the ‘air’ there perhaps a bit dry, like Ezekiel’s bones, in comparison. The truth is that we live in the ‘valley’ and this is where our rubber hits the road.

We could compare Emmaus to a cycle, not unlike the water cycle. A ‘body’ comes from out of the ‘church’ as a vapour of water being drawn up from the earth, it undergoes some blessed changes in the fresh upper atmosphere (Emmaus weekend) and then is released again like refreshing rain on the family of God.

Emmaus is one of many Gifts of Grace that helps to build up the faith of believers through renewing their commitment to live a life of piety and humble Christian servanthood. The cycle also continues as folk, blessed out of their socks at the Emmaus Walk, return to work on future Walks - to bless others in turn.

The story of Cleopas and his companion (who met Jesus on their journey to Emmaus [Luke 24]) does not end with them returning to tell the other disciples they’d seen Jesus resurrected. “While they were still there Jesus appeared to them all again” and v.45 “He opened their minds to understand the scriptures”, .. “He led them to Bethany” ....“He ascended into heaven” .... v.52 “and they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great JOY, and they were continually in the temple blessing God”.

The amazement of this Walk to Emmaus is over, but not complete, and it continues into the ‘Fourth Day’ as you return with fire in your soul, to your own church family.

Stephen D Bryant in What is Emmaus? Says “Emmaus has a leavening (using the biblical image of leaven in the bread) effect in congregations. It does not depend on congregation-wide participation, but on the impact of a few revitalized, committed persons in the total chemistry of the church.” Yeast is used in small amounts but is powerful beyond understanding. Bring to your church family your enthusiastic witness, but remember to be realistic . We all accept, with Grace, that it is not our duty to re-invent our church but to simply witness to what God has done for us. God, through the working of His Holy Spirit is there to do the rest.
 

 What happens at “Gatherings” and who should attend?

Various gatherings are organized in an effort to bring the ‘Family’ of Emmaus together. Not only do we enjoy meeting up with those who have shared this incredible journey, but we also bring along our own family members to share in the delight of such gatherings … families within the Family … binding together.

Gatherings take many forms and are held at various venues. However, three things are certain ….

Emmaus people know how to

enjoy food together !!

enjoy fellowship together !!

enjoy worship together!!

We have, in the past, gathered at various Churches in Port Elizabeth, and in the Karoo at Steytlerville and Jansenville. We have also gathered at Jeffrey’s Bay, at Kenton-on-Sea and at Bushy Park Farm. Each gathering has something unique and special to offer, so the idea is NOT to miss any one of them! We have enjoyed speakers on various subjects, experienced special ministry Services, sleep-overs, sightseeing by boat and game drives. Who knows what lies in store?!

Make an effort to be there whenever you can. Fill your vehicles by inviting others to travel with you, and by so doing, enjoying Emmaus fellowship even while getting to and from the gatherings.

 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ….

PILGRIMS:
It is crucial for the Community of Emmaus to prayerfully consider and obediently follow the promptings of our Lord, to invite pilgrims to Walks.

[ Don’t know quite how to sponsor a pilgrim? Simply ask the person who sponsored you, or contact the Lay Director. It is quite a responsibility, commitment, pleasure and a privilege to invite someone to attend a Walk. When you “invite” you become their sponsor. ]

TEAMS:
Volunteers to work on Walks are vital to the continuity of the Walks to Emmaus. You will find a volunteer sign-up form on the website, on your 4th Day CD, or simply call a Board member and request a form.

COMMUNICATION:
The easiest way is by means of e-mail Newsflashes and occasional notices in the freebee newspapers. Please seek to print out for folk whom you know are not connected, as a gift of agape, so that we can, indeed, keep in touch with as many of our family as possible.

 AGAPE GIFTS

Through His amazing Grace God always raises up a willing person to fill the gaps. Just such a person has come along to fill the gap for the Agape portfolio on our Board, and with the assistance of another with experience, this set of Walks was again blessed with wonderful gifts all made with love. The abundance of the Love of God goes far beyond our human understanding. Scripture confirms it over and over and over. Eg.:

• Ps 33:5 .. the earth is full of his unfailing love.

• Eph 3:17-19 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the Love of Christ, and to know this Love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

• John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

When we (this now includes you) make our agape gifts and give them on an Emmaus weekend, it is to drive the point home that ...

“.... God loves you soooo much!!”

Each gift is made with loving hearts and fingers, knowing that many will be blessed through the receiving of them.

How many agape gifts, you ask?
Per Walk we ideally have in the region of 65 separate types of gifts.

• For a Ladies Walk: pilgrims only = 36 gifts; conference room team plus pilgrims = 65 ; full teams plus pilgrims=75.
• For Men’s Walk: pilgrims only= 30 ; conference room team plus pilgrims = 50 ; full teams plus pilgrims = 65.
• If really industrious and generous for one set of Walks = add the men’s and ladies together!

Please let Blanche Hohls (Tel. 082 7501811), the Agape person on the Board, know what you will make, for whom (ladies / men / everyone) and how many. This helps her to plan ahead.

** The way to package and submit your agape gifts: pack them into a 2litre ice-cream tub, or appropriate size container. Clearly mark the container with your name (or group name), the number of gifts and for whom (‘ladies’ ‘men’ / ‘Conference Room’ ‘Dining Room’ ‘Beds’(this will be those for pilgrims only). Put your own name as reference to have the left over items returned to you .. to hopefully top up for the next Walk.

 EMMAUS P.E. CD

You will have been blessed with much joyful singing on your Walk.

During 2006/7 many of the Emmaus, P.E. musicians and community members got together for some serious (funfilled) recording sessions to make our very first CD.

Should you wish to purchase a CD, (@ R50.00 ea) the person to contact is Judi Slade, 084 604 2226, 042 294 1429 or lewslade@telkomsa.net, or just watch out for her at the Post Walk Gathering.

We pray you will enjoy many happy hours listening to your CD.

 GRACE IN ACTION

In 1819, a young English naval lieutenant named John Franklin led the first expedition to prove the existence of the Northwest Passage to chart parts of what is now known as the Northwest Territories in Canada.

On this expedition the British refused to use the fur clothing, igloos and fresh meat used by the native people because they thought they knew better than the ‘savages’. They wore their woollen uniforms, ate canned meat and dragged their own sledges rather than use snow dogs. Sadly their decisions led to disaster as men walked until they fell in their tracks and attempted to eat their own uniforms for nourishment.

Occasionally they were rescued from death. Hear the words of Dr. Richardson, the surgeon of that first expedition:
“ The Indians treated us with the utmost tenderness, gave us the snowshoes off their own feet, yet keeping by our sides that they might lift us when we fell.”

Richardson’s journal entry is the image of Grace in action - the needs of one being met by the sacrifice of another with gifts freely given so that another might live.

One definition of Grace is the unmerited Love of God that is freely given to those who have done nothing to deserve it. Or, to put it another way, Grace is God’s gift of snowshoes to those of us struggling in deep drifts. Grace is God walking beside us to pick us up when we fall, to help us stand upright and keep moving. And while this Grace comes to us in an infinite number of ways, there are those means of Grace, those sacred moments, in which we are visited in a special way by the Holy Spirit and experience God’s Love anew. 

 ACCOUNTABILITY GROUPS

Meeting together in small groups gives us the opportunity to
1. keeps the fire alive,  2. keeps us accountable, [remembering our promise we made to “count on Him” as He “counts on us”], and  3. also provides opportunities to design and make agape gifts for the next Walks. (A variety of at least 65 gifts per Walk are required, so the sooner we begin the better it will be.)

Find the group in, or closest to, your area, call the ‘Contact’ person and make a plan to attend.
 

DE COLORES !!

PE Emmaus website:  www.pe-emmaus.co.za

Date Added: 2008-11-01

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