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View this email in your browser Koinonia  DEC Newsletter September 20, 2022 In this Issue: From a DEC Board Member From a Community Spiritual Director  Day Four Restore Events In the Community Women's Walk Postponed From a DEC Board Member Greetings to all my brothers and sisters in Christ!  I hope this message finds you well.  It seems as if we may finally be over the sweltering summer temperatures.  As a northern transplant and dedicated gardener, this is a bonus season for me! In addition to all the pumpkin-spicey-goodness and spooky décor just around the corner, I can plan and plant a whole new crop of beautiful flowers. I admit to poring over my garden plan for hours, thumbing through plant catalogs like they were subscription magazines, and making endless lists of the plants that worked, those that didn’t and all the ones I want to try.  You see, for every hour in the garden sowing, I’ve probably spent two or three hours planning it. And there is surprisingly little sitting around and admiring the results. As soon as the plants are rooted and growing, I’m back to taking notes, researching Texas-hearty replacements, and figuring out how to make it better. As it is in my garden, this fall is a time for renewal in The Dallas Emmaus Community.  Opportunities abound to reinvigorate the Walk to Emmaus program and your board is poring over the plans, researching exciting new programs and planting new opportunities for you, the community, to serve. One of the most exciting new seeds we’re planning to sow is the Day Four Restore. This is a one-day Emmaus Walk-inspired session for our alumni to attend. Our hope is to pour you full of living water, so you can grow and bear more fruit.  The board just wrapped up our “trial-garden”, and we will announce the first two dates for the community to experience it in the upcoming few months. Want to share your seeds with other gardeners?  We have introduced a new column in Koinonia called, “In the Community”.  In it, we share the ways our Emmaus Alumni are making a difference where they live. If you or any alumni you know are enthusiastic about the work you’re doing in your church or community, we would love to hear from you. Send a short description of your mission and include the alumni, introduced in Emmaus fashion, and a photo in either .jpeg or .png to our general mailbox: info@dallasemmaus.org. Finally, we have two great ways for you to be a part of revitalizing our community! Have you ever put together a newsletter? Emailed communications to a colleague? Then you could easily be the Communications Chair on our board. Or, are you a woman who has served on our board in the past? We are also praying for an experienced female to step forward for the position of Community Assistant Lay Director.  The board is currently comprised of more than 50% first-time members that could really use the experience and knowledge you could provide.  Please prayerfully consider serving a term on our board to help grow this garden of disciples for Christ.       De Colores! Leslie Shrage Dallas Emmaus Community Board Secretary From a Community Spiritual Director FINALLY!!! We have moved out of the heat and into cooler temperatures.  And as the weather becomes more palatable, my thoughts immediately turn to where my horse, Cooper, and I can begin our fall trail riding adventures that don’t require traveling a full day just to be comfortable.  I am partial to several places within a four-hour driving radius where I can enjoy diverse riding experiences.  There is so much to do to prepared for our trips that often it seems exhausting.  The reason I do it time after time is that in our time in creation, be it the mountains, the prairies or drier areas, Cooper provides presence for me.  I know what you are thinking: of course, he provides presence because he doesn’t have much of a choice while he is saddled and bridled with me on his back in control.  The truth is that I do not control Cooper, but he cooperates with me and while he takes me along the trails, he mediates God’s grace for me.  With him I learn from the Holy Spirit about many things and the lessons are often about where I could better understand God.  He provides presence.  Cooper does not speak to me in words but in an unspoken language where I am free to hear God. Presence. It does not seem like a big deal, but it has had a profound impact my life and in my spiritual growth.     Presence is the gift we are called to give each other and the pilgrims we serve on our weekends.  Just as Cooper does not tell me how to live my spiritual life, he leaves that work to God’s Spirit.  Likewise, we are not called as servants to tell the pilgrims what they are to do on their spiritual journeys.  We tell them our stories and offer them explanation for how God’s grace moves within our lives, and we leave it to their internal teacher (everyone has one) to guide them into new spiritual dimensions.  By our actions and, I suggest, our lack of words, we point to Jesus and allow God to do the rest.  The outcome is out of our hands.  But we do something very crucial, we provide presence so they might hear the lessons for themselves. It is an important service we provide to the pilgrims, ourselves, each other, and God’s beautiful creation.  Thank you for your faithful service, friends!      Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10b).     Blessings! Pam Zolczer Day Four Restore Events How’s your Fourth Day?   If you are reading this, I hope you are having a fantastic Fourth Day.   The Walk to Emmaus Movement is about creating leaders for our local churches. The three-day event is educational and inspiring as we learn about God’s grace and how we work for God’s plan in the community faith.  Our families, our communities, our church depend on us to be the hands and feet of God to help make disciples and to build up God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.   But the work never ends. It’s tiring and we sometimes get weary of the work. There are times we run into resistance that is discouraging, deflating and we wonder if it is worth the effort.   I’m here to tell you, that it is ALWAYS worth it.   But everything has its season. Some seasons, we are outwardly focused, serving others and putting God’s love out into the community. And other seasons, we are inwardly focused, spending time in prayer, meditation and study, refilling our souls for the upcoming season of outward focus.   We’ve had a few difficult years in the Dallas Emmaus Community. Walks have been postponed due to the pandemic and lack of pilgrims. Walks have been cancelled outright. It’s been discouraging and we’ve got to find a way to revitalize the community.   Let me tell you about the Day Four Restore events.   Day Four Restore is a one-day retreat model designed to refresh the spirit and renew the commitment of those who have attended any Fourth Day movement event. The one-day event is open to those who have previously been on a Walk to Emmaus or Chrysalis event. The event includes two talks, one by a Clergy, and one by a Lay person. There are table talks and other events, along with a brief communion service.   The Dallas Emmaus Community will be holding several of these events throughout the next several months. We hope to get the community energized and engaged again. Look here in the Koinonia Newsletter for information about these Day Four Restore events. I hope and pray to see you all there.   De Colores, Larry Naeyaert Community Lay Director Walk #169, June 2003 Table of John In the Community One of the things we want to highlight in the coming months is how members of the Emmaus Community are making a difference in their churches. Please feel free to submit stories with pictures of ways in which alumni of the Walk to Emmaus Event are making a difference in their local churches. Working Together to Build Deeper Disciples Why do we walk?  We walk to strengthen the local church.  Below is a great example!   Specifically, “The Walk to Emmaus is a spiritual renewal program intended to strengthen the local church through the development of Christian disciples and leaders. The program's approach seriously considers the model of Christ's servanthood and encourages Christ's disciples to act in ways appropriate to being ‘a servant of all.’”   It's even BETTER when a Husband and Wife work together to help make disciples for Christ in their church.   Things we’ve done in the church since our Pilgrim Walks: Cindi  - Youth Group Director - Small Group Leader - Greeter - Plano Community Home East (PCHE) ministry for elderly citizens Mike - Senior High Sunday School Teacher - Administrative Council Chair - Finance Chair - Choir - Staff-Parish Relations Committee - Plano Community Home East (PCHE) ministry for elderly citizens - Greeter - Small Group Leader (current)   Both of us have served in all of the Emmaus laity positions on walks and both have served on the Board.   Mike and Cindi Donohoe   Woman's Walk Postponed Tee Women's Walk originally scheduled for November 3-6, 2022 at Sabine Creek Ranch has been rescheduled for:   February 23-26, 2023 Catholic Conference and Formation Center Dallas, TX Next time you are on Facebook, search for the Dallas Emmaus Community, then select the "Like" button to be updated on the latest news and events including Candlelights, Gatherings, prayer requests and more.  "Share" or "Suggest" the page to your Emmaus friends so they can stay easily connected to the Dallas Emmaus Community too.  The Dallas Emmaus Community has fully converted to Ministry Manager as our database for all community members' information.  If you have not already done so please take a moment to log in to verify or possibly update your information.  This database is used for team selection so it's important your information is up to date! https://ministrymanager.upperroom.org/ Looking for a Reunion Group? Did you know that you can attend any Tuesday Follow-up and find a Reunion Group?   Walk Follow-ups happen on the Tuesday following every walk and include both sharing time for the recent pilgrims and a time for them to try to form Reunion Groups.  If you are in need of a Reunion group, this would be a great place to start.  If you're interested in attending a Follow-up meeting, send an email to the Lay Director or Head TA of the walk for the meeting location.  Contact information can be found on the Dallas Emmaus website  at DallasEmmaus.org      Looking for an opportunity to serve in a powerful ministry?  Visit Kairos of Texas online to find out about the units and areas of ministries 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 Contact Information   Dallas Emmaus Community www.DallasEmmaus.org info@dallasemmaus.org 214-502-4072 Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? 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