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Special News Items
This page last updated August 14, 2008
Message from Gene Gerber, Community Lay Director -- July 26, 2008
To my brothers and sisters in the Cedar Rapids Emmaus
Community, DeColores!
Do you remember the Walk to Emmaus? No, I’m not asking if you remember your
walk, or even the last walk where you worked or volunteered. I am asking if you remember the Walk to Emmaus
and the Cedar Rapids Emmaus Community.
Do you pray for the teams and pilgrims as the walks approach and during
the weekends? Do you write agape
letters or make table and pillow agape or agape snacks? Do you sign up on the 72 hour prayer chart,
the speaker prayer chart or the kitchen volunteer chart? Are you talking to others in your faith
community about the Walk to Emmaus? Are
you offering to sponsor them on a walk?
Many of you do and I thank you, but some days it seems like those who do
are a small percentage of the total community.
No, I’m not suggesting that you need to do something for
each and every walk that is hosted by your community and yes, I truly do
understand that there are other realities in life that also need to be
addressed. I am asking if you remember
that this is your community and that
it will flourish or whither by your
hand. By your prayers. By your willingness to be a servant to
people you may not know and may never meet.
I am asking if you remember the fire that warmed your heart as you
prayed the words “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle
in them the fire of Your love.”
Please do not take this as a smack. It is not intended as such. It’s a reminder that this is your community
and that it needs your involvement if it’s going to be able to continue to do
the work it was formed to do; to help build Christian leaders who understand and
live the ideas of love and service that Jesus modeled for us during His life
and ministry and through His death and resurrection. And right now your community again stands in need of your
service.
When the record setting flood waters of the Cedar River
inundated Salem United Methodist Church in June, both the Emmaus and Chrysalis
communities lost much. The response has
been wonderful and some of what was lost is already being replaced; Living
Waters UMC is hosting Agape Workshops to replace lost banners and agape gifts,
the Emmaus members in the Grinnell area are replacing the lost song books, the
Upper Room Emmaus office has offered to help us replace the brochures and other
Emmaus materials, and the list goes on.
Moving our walks to Pictured Rocks United Methodist Camp
means we don’t need to replace the mattresses and roll away beds but it also
means higher facility costs. Now that
we have lost the use of Salem we are fully realizing the wonderful gift they
were providing to the Emmaus community in terms of the cost to use the
facilities. The Pictured Rocks Camp
Director has worked with us to help reduce our costs but it will be higher than
what we can sustain with our current financial model. The CREC board has agreed to hold the line on both pilgrim and
team costs for the three walks remaining this year but it will be necessary to
increase costs for both pilgrims and team members in 2009 if we are to stay
financially solvent. For the 2009 walks
the registration fee will increase to $65 and the requested team member
contribution will increase to $85.
There are other losses that will cost money to replace. We saved the desktop computer, copier, and
projector but lost the laptop computer and the button maker. We lost the Christ pictures and candles that
were placed in the Sanctuary, Chapel and conference rooms. Again, the list goes on.
Your CREC board is asking for your help. I am asking for your help. If you can help with the Agape Workshop,
please do that. If you can sign up on one
of the prayer charts, please do that.
If you can volunteer to help during the upcoming walks, please do
that. In addition to the “normal”
needs, we expect to have some new opportunities to volunteer. One such opportunity may be valet parking
attendants for Send Off, Candle Light and Closing. While there is plenty of parking at Pictured Rocks, not all of it
is convenient to the main lodge.
We can also use your financial assistance in helping to
cover the costs that will be incurred in replacing the critical items that were
lost and new items that may be required with the change in location. Donations can be sent to: Cedar Rapids Emmaus Community, PO Box 8593,
Cedar Rapids, IA 52408-8593.
Donations are, of course, tax deductible and can be designated specifically
for Emmaus or Chrysalis if desired.
Undesignated gifts will be used as needed in support of either or both.
I don’t know about you but I love Christian music. If you’re familiar with the song by
NeedToBreathe called “Washed By The Water”,
you may have recognized that the chorus could be our theme song this year. The words are simple and yet so appropriate to
what we are going through and express what we know to be true:
Even when the rain falls
Even when the flood starts rising
Even when the storm comes
I am washed by the water
We have been washed by the water and have the opportunity to
start anew. While the path we find
ourselves on may be rough at times, we know that God is faithful, and we trust
that, just as He led those before us as they brought this Emmaus Community to
this place and time, He will lead us through this patch of wilderness into a
new land of promise.
In His service,
Gene Gerber
2008 Community Lay Director
July 8, 2008: Walk 135 is rescheduled for Sep 11 - 14, 2008. Remaining 2008 Walks (135, 136 and 137) will be held at Pictured Rocks United Methodist Campground, Monticello, IA.
Link to Pictured Rocks United Methodist Camp web site: http://www.picturedrocks.org/
See "Community Links" page for opportunities to help with cleanup after 2008 floods (June 29, 2008)
Emmaus International Newsletter
Download and read the latest Emmaus International Newsletter from the Emmaus and Chrysalis International office.
Online CREC Newsletter
Get the latest CREC Newsletter (pdf file) and keep up with current events in the Cedar Rapids Emmaus Community. Don’t forget about the next walk. Are you on it, or helping with it?
SponsorshipTraining Schedule & Locations: Updated 2/9/08
The next Sponsorship Training opportunities will be at:
January 19,
2007
Orders are no longer being accepted for
Emmaus Apparel due to the small number of orders received. We have not been
able to meet the minimum quantity requested by the printer. Refunds are being
sent to anyone who had an order pending for a t-shirt or sweatshirt. Orders for
embroidered items are being filled and will be ready by the end of January.
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