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Blue Ridge Emmaus Community Newsletter
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Volume 15, Issue 2, March 2008
Please be in prayer for Pilgrims or Caterpillars who will be attending. . .
Girl's Flight #50 - March 28-30, 2008 (Click the link to view list---sign on required)
Men's Walk #56 - April 3-6, 2008 (Click the link to view list---sign on required)
Women's Walk #57 - April 10-13, 2008 (Click the link to view list---sign on required)
*Please note*
There are several location changes for these Walks so read carefully and take note. Directions are below. We don't want anyone ending up somewhere else.
Feel like sometimes you’ve lost your direction?
 Well here are some to help you along the way.
Directions to Camp Tekoa:
~Take I-26 to Exit 53 (Upward Road). ~Turn WEST towards Hendersonville (keep right on ramp). Travel on Upward Road and (crossing over Hwy 176) Highland Lake Road to Hwy. 225 (You will go STRAIGHT at Ingles.) ~Turn left on Hwy. 225, go .8 mile and turn right onto Little River Road. Follow Little River Road until it dead ends at the into Crabcreek Road ~Turn left onto Crabcreek Road and travel .4 mile ~Turn right onto Thomas Road. Go .2 miles, and the entrance to the camp will be on the left.
Directions to East Flat Rock United Methodist:
~I-26 East to Exit 53 (Upward Road). ~Turn WEST towards Hendersonville (keep right on ramp). Travel approximately 1.4 miles and at the 5th traffic light Upward Road intersects Hwy. 176 (Ingles grocery across the Highway). ~Turn left on Hwy. 176E and go approximately 1 mile to traffic light and East Flat Rock United Methodist Church is on the right.
Directions to Trinity United Methodist Church:
~From I-240, take exit 2. ~Turn west onto Haywood Rd. 2 blocks on the right. Parking is in back of the Church.
Q: What can I do This Weekend? A: Come and Serve!
Please note that you do not have to have a Pilgrim on the Walk to participate in any of these Community wide activities throughout the weekend. All members of the Emmaus Community are encouraged to attend Send-off, Sponsor’s Hour, Candlelight, Closing & Follow-up. You are also encouraged to work in the kitchen & dining room, lift up prayers in the Prayer Chapel, place your name on the prayer banner & pray up the Walk. Always remember the need for baked goods, snack foods and drinks. You may not have a Pilgrim on this Walk, but the Pilgrims and Team still need the support of the Blue Ridge Emmaus Community in all facets of the weekend.
Kate's Kitchen
GOOD FELLOWSHIP - GOOD FOOD - GOOD FUN
Come work in the kitchen and dining room for the next Walks - and share in the unique blessings as you serve the Pilgrims and Teams on these weekends. We're feeding body and soul by sourcing most of our foods now including meats, eggs, breads, and fresh fruit and veg from local farms and local producers - even our ice cream and breads are home-made in Asheville! From Friday break-fast to Sunday lunch, come any time to help prepare the meals and decorate the dining room - and share the love! Please join us in this rewarding fellowship as we serve in His name- Kate Miller (Tel: 828 252 7271)
Note: With food costs rising at such exorbitant rates over the last 12 months, we've had to raise our meal costs to all. As a result, we ask those sharing the meal with us to contribute Kitchen agape @ $4 per meal.
Prayer Vigil
Don't forget to sign up for the Prayer Vigil for the April Walks. Not only is it a blessing for the Pilgrims to see how many have been praying for the Weekend but it is our privilege and responsibility to bring the Walk to the Altar. To sign up click here. If you or someone you know doesn't have internet, please call Trudi Peters at (828) 628-1683.
PRAYER CHAPEL
Come and join us in the Prayer Chapel. We have a great time on every Walk singing, reading scripture and praying. What a treat it is to see the Holy Spirit at Work! It is an experience you won't forget.
Virginia and Lee Wilkinson, Prayer Chapel Chairpersons
Dining Room
Happy Spring!
God is so good. Have you taken the time to look around and see all that God is greeting you with every morning? The flowers are starting to pop open, the trees are starting to show some green. I love the birds who know that it is spring. They are so excited!
We are all excited about the up coming walks at Camp Tekoa. I am a little worried as to how many of you will be able to come and help in the dining room. I need you! The Pilgrims need you! And you can always take your break on the beautiful porch outside of the dining room and rock in one of the rocking chairs. You can see God's spring right before your eyes. What a treat!
Please, remember that if you need to stay at Tekoa for the night - it's free! Wow - talk about a plan.
Please, remember that we need dining hall agape too. It is such a surprise to the Pilgrims when they have all the agape at their tables. So, please mark your calendars and come on out to Tekoa. I look forward to seeing everyone.
DeColores!
Elizabeth Gray
As noted above, you can stay any or all of the nights at no cost for your room. (The actual cost is $17 per night per person). The Community will pay your cost for you. If you want to pay all or part of the cost, please let us know. Please note, you must bring your own sheets, blankets and pillows! All accommodations are group style and heated. Currently, very few have taken advantage of this offer. Don't pass this opportunity by! E-mail your room request to Community@blueridgeemmaus.org or call Phil Crouch at (828) 274-4554 no later than March 31st to be assured a space!
Send off:
Men's Walk #56 Thursday, April 3 @ 6:45 pm
Women's Walk #57 Thursday, April 10 @ 6:45 pm
For both Spring Walks, Send off will be held at Camp Tekoa,
211 Thomas Rd Hendersonville NC in the Dining Hall. Bring a snack!
Candlelight: 
This service will be held at East Flat Rock United Methodist.
Please come to support the Pilgrims and join in on that great Emmaus Fellowship, see your old friends, worship together, singing praise music and hearing a message. Service begins at 7:45 PM
April 5, 2008 Men's Walk #56
April 12, 2008 Women's Walk #57
***Remember Be quiet arriving and departing so as not to disturb the Pilgrims. What a wonderful way to show God's love and your support to the Pilgrims and the Community. So come to Candlelight! If any one would like to have lots of fun helping set up please contact Nancy Cole at (828) 231-6914. Set-up starts at 6PM rain, shine or snow!!
Closing:
Men's Walk #56 Sunday, April 6 @ 4:30pm
Women's Walk #57 Sunday, April 13 @ 4:30pm
Both will be at Camp Tekoa Dining Hall.
Come an empty vessel and get filled.
Follow-Up:
Will be at 7 PM on April 18, 2008 at Trinity UMC,
587 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806.
This is a special joint Follow-Up to welcome the newest Community Members from Walks 56 & 57.
Bring a snack to share. We're still hungry!
The newsletter is most enjoyable when there is fresh information each time. The Board welcomes submissions from Blue Ridge Emmaus Community. How did the Emmaus experience change or improve your life? Maybe you had a special experience in service during the Walk. Share about your Fourth Day if you wish. Please submit your experiences via e-mail to vanessacrouch@charter.net or mail to Vanessa Crouch, 311 Onteora Blvd, Asheville NC 28803.
Our first two walks this year will be back to back weekends. So, let's start planning early for our agape goodies. If each reunion group would make 1 or 2 items, we would have a good amount of agape. Individuals are also encouraged to make agape. Just a reminder, that things should not be signed except for a reunion group name. Rule of thumb for amounts: 65 for table and 40 for pillow agape. Then maybe one or two extra if something gets lost or broken. If you need ideas, please feel free to call or email me. Lori Freeman; 890-4220 or lawfreeman@aol.com.
- Also, it would be helpful if you could let me know what your group is making so we don't double up on treats
- PERSONAL AGAPE: If you wish to give your pilgrim any personal agape, please do so on the ride home AFTER leaving Camp Tekoa.
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Do you eat Altoids? Empty ALTOID tins needed ASAP to be transformed into Chrysalis agape. Please contact Julie Bagamary @ Gods6bags@gmail.com or 628-1746. Thank you very much.
Click here to View REUNION GROUPS
The most important next step after your walk is to join or form a reunion group. Reunion groups serve to keep you accountable for living your life to the Glory of God. They also serve as all important sources of strength when you needed it the most. The group provides opportunities to study the ways of the Lord and how to use the Word practically in everyday life. So join or create with others a reunion group. You will forever be grateful for taking this step. When you form your new group, please let the Chairperson of the community know the name, meeting time, meeting place and who the members are.
Note: If your reunion group is not meeting anymore, needs corrections or is not listed, please call or e-mail all changes to Vanessa Crouch at (828) 274-4554 or VanessaCrouch@charter.net
The goal of the community is to be able to have a Gathering every month. We are planning with God's help to have them on the 2nd Sunday afternoon 3pm-5pm in the month. Schedule is below. We hope that this will invigorate the Community toward more fellowship and fun and bring us closer to Christ. We would like to spread the Gatherings all around the community. If you would like to host a Gathering or Follow-up at your church, please notify Carolyn Dickens, 456-2829 or 508-8090. Check for the second Sunday afternoons in a month at your church - small, medium or large. You'll need to set up a place for worship, fellowship hall or sanctuary, have Communion supplies and furnish cups, utensils, napkins and plates. Let's give everybody a chance to visit the churches all over the Community. As Gathering chairman, I encourage all members to mark your calendar's now for these events so you won't double or triple schedule for that day and time. The Upper Room strongly encourages each community to gather once a month to touch base with old and new friends. Plus it is great food and fun. We have an opening for this 2008 and we need to plan for 2009. There is no rule that says your church cannot host twice in one year. In some communities some churches host as many as 3 or 4 times. I can't wait to see everyone at the Follow-up on April 18th. Bring you friend or family. The schedule for the rest of the year is below.
April - Follow up Walks 56 & 57, April 18, at Trinity UMC, Asheville 7 pm-9 pm +/-
May - Gathering, May 18th, Higgins UMC, Burnsville, 3-5pm Sunday afternoon 3rd Sunday since 2nd Sunday is Mother's day.
June - Gathering, June 8th, Laurel Hill UMC, Candler, 3-5pm Sunday afternoon
July - Gathering, July 12th, Camp Tekoa, late afternoon until about 6pm or 7pm. Swimming, boating, music, Bring a side dish or dessert. We'll supply the entrees and drinks.
August -Gathering, need a volunteer host.
September - Follow-up Walk 58, September 26th, Hendersonville, 3-5pm unless they wish to stick to Friday nights, then it's be September 26th at 7pm.
October - Gathering, October 12th, Long's Chapel UMC, 3-5pm Sunday afternoon
November - No Gathering in November because of Thanksgiving-see below.
December - Follow-up Walk 59, December 5th, Trinity UMC, Asheville, at 7 pm. Bring a snack and someone who you haven't seen at Emmaus for a while!
Click here for the calendar to view the most current information about Community Gatherings and events. DeColores! Carolyn
 Have you checked out our web page? It's a great source for up-to-date information! Especially between newsletters. To get to it, enter www.blueridgeemmaus.org in your browser (Oh, you've already done that)!. Some of the information is of a more confidential nature so we require a password for that! Here's what it looks like on the home page (on the lower left). You have to enter the username and passwords ao you can see the confidentail material. It's published in the paper version of the newsletter but to obtain it online, please send an e-mail with your name and Walk # to Community@BlueRidgeEmmaus.org. We'll confirm that information with our database and then send you the Username and Password. Please allow up to a week for a response. If you need a quicker response, call Phil Crouch at (828) 274-4554 with your information and he'll call you back as soon as possible with the Password. Please note the password is NOT capitalized!
If you want to be on the e-mail list for the Blue Ridge Emmaus Yahoo! Group so that you can get newsletters, updates and prayer concerns, enter our e-mail in the box like this one (above, left) which is on the lower left of the home page. You'll get an e-mail that you must confirm before being added. Click that link and you're all set! How easy is that? Now, go do it!
Want to help us save money? If you have internet access (which it appears you do), you can view the newsletter online. Simply send an e-mail to community@blueridgeemmaus.org and we'll put you on the electronic version. Each name moved to online status saves us about $1.50 a year in postage and printing costs.
Please pray for the servants on
Girl's Flight #50 - March 28-30, 2008 (Click the link to view list---sign on required)
Men's Walk #56 - April 3-6, 2008 (Click the link to view list---sign on required)
Women's Walk #57 - April 10-13, 2008 (Click the link to view list---sign on required)
Notes from the Community Lay Director
I am excited to have the opportunity to serve as your Community Lay Director the rest of the year. I look forward to working with the board and the community, and I extend a warm welcome to our new Board members and those who moved into new positions on the Board.
I would also like to express not only my thanks but the Boards for the wonderful job Phil Crouch has done. We can't thank you enough Phil for all your hard work for the Board and the Emmaus Community.
Last January Phil asked us all to thank about our commitments and if you would be willing to commit some time to the Emmaus community. I am also asking for you to commit to serving in some way, whether it is in the kitchen, prayer chapel, at candlelight or signing up to pray on the 72 hour prayer vigil. We need you to be an active participant in OUR Community. There are also some openings on the Board we would love to have filled. I hope you will pray and allow God to lead you where he would have you serve.
There are two upcoming walks in April, the men's walk April 3-6th and the women's walk April 10-13th. This will be a new adventure for us having them at Camp Tekoa. I realize for some the drive is closer while for others a little farther, but I hope this will not hinder anyone from serving. If you look back on your walk and remember what a blessing all those faithful servants gave you, how can you not give back?
Once again I look forward to seeing everyone at Camp Tekoa. You may contact me at (H) (828) 665-1646, (W) (828) 225-0810 or email- evafarren@charter.net.
De Colores
Eva Farren
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This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have.
~~~~~
Please join me in welcoming the newest servants on your Board of Directors. Eva Farren, Russ Davis, Trudi Peters, Peggy Weaver and Charlie Weaver.
They are the most recent people to step up and contribute to the Community. I have recently had the chance to ask people to serve on a Team. Many reasons are given when they couldn't. "My work schedule is way too hectic...I'm staying off to give others a chance...It's someone else's turn...etc." Well each Weekend we have tons of non-Team positions that need filling too. Kitchen, Prayer Chapel, Dining Room, etc. Each of these Weekends depends on about 3000 hours of service to make it happen smoothly-so that the Pilgrims can commune with God. Then once they've finished their Weekend, they become part of the Community and can serve others which keeps the hot coals burning.
I heard someone today talking about fire. He was helping put on a sunrise Easter Service. He hadn't had time to chop the wood for it but God provided the wood. He built the bonfire but wasn't sure how many people would be coming so he wasn't sure it needed to be lit. It turned out more than a hundred people showed up to be at that service and warm up to the glowing fire.
God provides, Jehovah-Jireh.
Has God provided you opportunities you've overlooked? It's easy for the world to reset our priorities but we must be open to what God is telling us. Perhaps, He's knocked on your door recently and you've sent Him away because you had lots to do. Please consider being still and listening to God's call when asked to serve. When you attended your Weekend, the fire was lit. Now is the time to come serve on the Weekends and warm yourself (and others).
De Colores! Phil Crouch (former Community Lay Director)
Click here to View the Board of Directors & Committee Chairs
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