From the Desk of the Community Lay Director: 

Summer is almost over. I am so happy to look forward to cooler weather and some college football.

It is a good time for our community. People are talking about the spring walks! They're making plans already for the weekends to volunteer and to get pilgrims applications in, so they can be invited to the walks. 

Team selection will meet in October to start their work. Be in prayer for them and the teams that will be working to make the spring walks fantastic. 

At the last Board meeting, we had a community member visit to ask some questions and share some concerns. After the meeting she told with me how much better informed she was, and how some things that were explained reminded her of how it used to be when she was a pilgrim.  She remembered that we had waiting lists in this community for the walks, and how the letters of invitation were mailed out and how excited everyone got to get theirs.

That is what this board is trying to do. To have a community revival within this Emmaus family. To get everyone to remember how it should be. We do have a signed covenant with the Upper Room on how we will keep the standards and stay with the models of how the walks should be organized. This way the “Walk to Emmaus” experience will be consistent from one walk to the next walk, from one community to another community. That way we grow not only our community but the Emmaus community world-wide. 

Our board is praying all the time for God’s direction. I know that each one of you are praying for God’s direction also. God is going to bless our community. Let’s do our part.

DeColores,
Mike Martin  
PILGRIMS!! We need PILGRIMS!!!  

And how, you may ask, do we get Pilgrims? 

Simple. 

We need folks from our wonderful Emmaus Community to SPONSOR PILGRIMS. 

If you are unsure how to sponsor a Pilgrim, come to Sponsorship Training. We will have our next Sponsorship Training at 6:00 pm, Friday August 4th (just prior to the Gathering). 

Please come and learn how to be a great sponsor.
CURRENT PILGRIM COUNT

MEN- 20

WOMEN- 37

GOAL- 60 each
 2017 Leadership Development Events 

Per our Covenant Agreements with the Upper Room, all Board members, who have not previously attended, should be in attendance at a Leadership Development Event. 

All other community members are also welcome to and encouraged to attend!

MISSION :
Empowering Leaders through Emmaus & Chrysalis to be the hands and feet of Christ

VISION:
Fourth Day Leaders Embodying Jesus Christ

To Register : Please RSVP to  ladyandthestamps@gmail.com
Calling all Pastors!

Darrell Joiner, our Community Spiritual Director, needs to know if you have attended a walk. If so, he needs your information.

Also, if you haven't filled out a Clergy Willing Servant Form in awhile, please do so again to update your information.
Click on the BUTTON below to access the form. Fill it out and send it to Darrell. Click HERE for Darrell's email address.               .
Upcoming Events
Community Gatherings            

September 8th--Brunswick First UMC 7 PM

If you would like to offer your church to host a Gathering in the future, or would be interested in sharing a Fourth Day testimony, please contact David DuBois for more information regarding what is required of a host church.
Reflections from the Heart
The Phone Works Both Ways
Trisa Chancey
GIWTE #2
Table of Mary
How many times have you thought you should call someone, but then followed that thought with “the phone works both ways” as an excuse not to make that call?

Stop it!

We are the body of Christ. We are his physical hands and feet. Jesus never picked up a telephone, but I think he expects us to!

How about writing letters? When is the last time you put pen to paper and wrote someone a heart-felt note?

I think I was in first grade when I started my penchant for writing. I ate a box of Cracker Jacks that didn’t have a prize in it. When I expressed my displeasure, my mom encouraged me to write to the company. I did, and their response was to send me a box of all the current Cracker Jacks toys. My favorite Cracker Jacks toy was a prism I could look through that made the whole world look like a kaleidoscope.

Each of us who have been on the Walk to Emmaus has been blessed by the written words of people who are important to us. I still have each letter that was given to me at my Walk. I have even pulled them out and re-read them.They are a pleasant reminder of the positive impact my life has had on the lives of others.

I am privileged that my two biological sisters are also my sisters in Christ, and we have all been pilgrims on the Walk to Emmaus. So we are blood family, Christian family, and Emmaus family. As family, we are not all strong at the same time. Fortunately we are not all weak at the same time either! The three of us go through stages of two supporting one, or one supporting two.

Our extended Emmaus family is the same. That’s why our weekly reunion groups are so important. They keep us connected and help us be the iron that sharpens iron to help bring out God’s best in each other.

God does have us in his hands! And he chooses to allow us to be his hands and feet to those he places in our life. So pick up the phone or the pen. Reach out to whoever God lays on your heart!

DeColores!
Church Reps Needed

To help ensure that all GIWTE community members are receiving information about our community, the Board is seeking a volunteer from each church in our community to facilitate information distribution from emails and Facebook notices among your church's Emmaus group.

Please contact Lori Durham  if you are interested in volunteering to help spread news throughout the churches in our community.
An Open Letter About the Spring Walks

Mary T. Smith
Southeast Florida Walk to Emmaus #21

Hi All! 

I met with the Golden Isles Emmaus Community Board at their August meeting. It was a great refresher for me as it has been years since I attended a Board meeting. The Board was very receptive to my questions and concerns.
 
They are in the process of asking for Church Representatives from each member Church so that information can be communicated correctly through the Emmaus community within each Church. 
 
Apparently, in the past, the Golden Isles Emmaus Community had a lengthy waiting list of applications, so as a Walk date was released, the application call went in order of applications received. If someone up front on the list could not attend that Walk for any reason, another invitation was sent to the next application in line. 

Over the last few years, there has been no surplus of applications and people are now holding their applications to see if in fact there will be a Walk. Teams are formed and preparation for Walks is being done behind the scenes, but if enough pilgrims do not come forward via sponsors early enough, the Walk will be cancelled and the Team must form and begin again when a new date is selected. 

The Board has to sign a covenant with the Upper Room saying that they will not have a Walk if there are not at least 20 men and 20 women in their respective Walks.
 
This made me remember how it worked in South Florida on the Walk that Charlie and I went on. When we were initially invited to be a Pilgrim, we were told that the process was one of prayer and God’s Timing and that we could not be guaranteed when we would be called, only that we would be called “in God’s Time”. 

This Board is trying to return the process back to what it was always meant to be. They are correct in what they are trying to do. It has been so many years since my Walk (1993) that I really forgot all of the process which is prayerfully being called when your application comes up for the respective Walk. It always worked because people working were able to make arrangements at their work when they were called. I realize that might not be the case with our local military families, but in that case, their application would be held until the next Walk, and they would be asked again until they could attend.
 
Currently, there are 37 women pilgrims in waiting and 20 men.  The Board feels very optimistic that the March Walks will take place, but they do need more applications for men to be turned in now.
 
The next Gathering is at First UMC in Brunswick on Friday, September 8th. The Board is going to discuss the above stated process at that Gathering to continue to clear up any misunderstandings.
Golden Isles Walk to Emmaus Board Meeting

The next GIE Board Meeting will be held October 21, at 9 AM at Brunswick FUMC, Miller Building. There will be NO September meeting due to the Leadership Training at SSI UMC conducted by the Upper Room.

Emmaus community members are always welcome at Golden Isles Emmaus Board meetings, which are normally held the third Saturday of each month at the Miller Building behind Brunswick First United Methodist Church.