News from the Board
02-18-25: Greetings 4th Day;
Our Spring Walks are just a little over a month away, and God is working with the teams to prepare an event that will change lives for the team members and pilgrims. But as a community God has a place for growing not only those who are directly involved in the weekend event, but for those who seek to hear how He can use you, in showing servanthood and agape, to the teams and pilgrims as they journey together. Each time that we as a community come together to use our hearts, hands and feet to enhance the experience that we call the Walk to Emmaus, God returns blessings to us, as we bless others.
At the upcoming closings, I get to share with the pilgrims of Walks 105, ways they can
get involved in the community. I remember when I was a pilgrim, the servanthood I saw on the weekend from a community who didn’t know me, overwhelmed me, and I was wanting to know how I could be involved in serving God by serving others, like they had served me.
First of all, I got the message from that weekend, that the “WHY” of the Walk to
Emmaus was not about the feelings I was having, but what I learned the success of the 72 hours I had spent was to renew me as a Christian Disciple, so that I would go back to serve and strengthen my church. But there was another message shared, when the Community Lay Director got up at the closing and answered the question of how can I serve others the way they served me?
We all got to hear this when we did our walk, and it goes something like this:
We would like you to continue to be an active part of this Emmaus Community, and
there are many, many ways in which you can SERVE…
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First, you can Attend Monthly Gatherings – talk to your sponsor about making sure you are introduced to and attend these monthly events. Are you still attending monthly gatherings to show your support to the community?
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You can sign up for the 72 Hour Prayer Vigil. – When was the last time your name was on the 72 Hour Prayer Vigil? I hope it was on Walk 104, but there are spaces still available for Walk 105.
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You can… Serve Meals… We can especially use you on Friday morning breakfast, Saturday morning breakfast and both meals on Sunday.
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Write or make Agape individually or as a group. Please think back to when you received your Agape bags as a pilgrim and the blessing it was for you, God can use you in this way to bless the pilgrims.
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You can provide food Agape for the weekend. Snacks are an important part of the overwhelming love that the team and pilgrims feel and having it there available for the Kitchen team to continue to surprise the pilgrims with the amounts of food is really important to the event.
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You can Attend Candlelight – I have remembered Candlelight services that were so crowded it was hard to make a path through the barn, that only happens when all the community make it a priority to be there.
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You can attend Closing. This is important for the pilgrims, but this is also an important time when God can refresh you, as you hear the impact the weekend has had for each pilgrim.
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YOU CAN EVEN SPONSOR ANOTHER PILGRIM. As you read this newsletter there is still time to sponsor a pilgrim for Walk 105 both men and women, and as I challenged you last month, we need to fill the rosters of the pilgrims, not because we want a full house for the weekend, but because your church needs others you know to experience the love that is shown on an Emmaus Event, so they can bring new life to their church.
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Down the road, you could even Serve on an Emmaus Team if you are asked by one of the Weekend Lay Leaders. If you have been missed over the last couple of walks and have the desire to serve on a team again, or for the first time, I give you permission to talk to Chris Vaughn and Becky McCullough, the Weekend Lay Leaders for Walk 106, and let them know to pass your name on to the Weekend Lay Leaders for Walk 107, if they are not able to find a spot for you on their teams.
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One of the key things for each of you at this time is to get plugged into an Accountability Group either at your church, or with the new friends you made here this weekend. One of the strengths of the Emmaus movement is participation in a group that can help keep the fire alive in your life, when meeting with other like-minded people. If you are not in a group, currently, seek one out, because groups change lives.
I ask you as Community Lay Director, could you imagine if each of us as a community member would do one or more of these acts of service, how it would bring home the message of what the Walk to Emmaus is all about? I believe that God wants to bless us as we are a blessing to others, and if you have left these acts of service to someone else you are missing out on the joy of serving, that God provides.
Talk to God to find out which way He wants you to serve, next month for the East Ohio Emmanual Emmaus Walks 105. Christ is Counting on You.
DeColores
Charlie Brechmacher
Community Lay Director 2025
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02-13-25: As the Community Lay Director I want to remind the Community that Sponsorship Training will happen at 5:00pm (1 hour before gathering) on February 15, at the Uniontown UMC. The Lord has put sponsorship on my heart as I lead the community, because since covid affected our community in 2020, our numbers for subsequent walks have been down. I would love to see our pilgrim rosters filled for both Men's and Women's Walk this Spring, and that starts by asking God for His direction in who we should sponsor, and then attending the sponsorship training, to learn the best practices for being a sponsor. Decolores, Charlie Brechmacher
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01-25-25: If you or someone you know has web development experience, especially in PHP or a comparable language, we are hoping to enlist your services. Please contact Charlie Brechmacher through email at Cbrech@hotmail.com, or by texting 330-317-9479, if you or someone you know has the capability and desire to help us move our community forward by developing some new tools for our webpage.