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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I pray that everyone had a wonderful and Blessed Easter Sunday. Easter is not over after the Sunday celebration – it is just beginning and continues throughout the Easter Season to Pentecost Sunday! This year Pentecost is on June 9^th. We will have one more Gathering during the Easter Season, on Saturday, May 18^th at Burnt Factory UMC. The Worship gathering at 6:30 PM will be proceeded by the Day of Deeper Understanding (DDU) at 4:30 PM, and the Pot Luck at 5:30 PM.

This spring Lonnie DeHart and Mary Snyder were scheduled to lead the LV89 and LV 90 walks. We had to postpone these walks (they are not canceled – just re-scheduled) because we didn’t have enough pilgrims.  We must have 20 men and 20 women pilgrims to hold a walk. Lonnie and Mary have agreed to lead the walks this fall – let’s make sure we have plenty of applications.

Let me tell you why I am continually focusing on the number of applicants and pilgrims. Each fall the leadership of our local churches does a sermon series on Stewardship. Just as the leadership of our churches is called to be good stewards of the Churches finances; the LV Emmaus Board of Directors and I are called to be good stewards of the community’s money. In the past, the Board and Community has made the decision to hold walks without sufficient pilgrims.  This results in the weekend costing more money than is brought in through fees for the pilgrims and the team.  It is not a sustainable model.

My husband and I have been participants in this community for two decades. We have sponsored a number of people that have blessed this community with their service.  Who do you know that you can sponsor? Remember the Walk to Emmaus is an experience of Christian spiritual renewal. It is a short course in Christianity – and designed to inspire, challenge, and equip our Brothers and Sisters in Christ to action in their homes, churches, and communities.  Surely you know someone who is ready to be inspired, challenged, and equipped for this mission.

If you are looking for an inspirational movie – may I suggest I can Only Imagine. It is a 2018 film about the song of the same name by Mercy Me. My husband and I both enjoyed this very much.

Gatherings:
Our next gathering will be at Burnt Factory United Methodist Church, 1943 Jordan Springs Rd, Stephenson, VA 22656. We will have a DDU at 4:30 pm, for those that haven’t attended one. I hope to see you there!

DeColores
Pam Sallada
LVE #30 (table of Abiding Peace)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The new board and I are very excited about what is happening in our Community! Although we are disappointed that we are not having spring walks—we are already preparing for the fall walks!  We have dates for these weekends and have already called people to serve as the Weekend Lay Directors.
The weekends are later than normal, this couldn’t be helped; it was the only dates available from the 4H Center.  The Men’s weekend is scheduled for Thursday October 31^st – November 3^rd. I can’t think of a better place to spend Halloween weekend than on the mountain. The Woman’s weekend is scheduled November 21^st – 24^th, when I told my husband the dates his immediate response was “Are you kidding me—isn’t that Thanksgiving weekend?” No, it is not Thanksgiving, it is the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Imagine what Thanksgiving would be like one week after your walk to Emmaus!!
I remember when I was first asked to walk way back in 1998; I remember how excited I was when I came off the mountain, and how happy I was that I had experienced the weekend. Who do you know that is ready for the weekend? We need pilgrims for the weekend, and that means we need applications. If you are thinking of sponsoring someone please get the applications in as soon as possible. We need to have 20 men and 20 women to make the weekends happen. The deadline for applications is mid-August, I am calling the community to overwhelm the registrar with an abundance of applications.
If you aren’t thinking of sponsoring someone – why aren’t you?
We are always looking for volunteers to help make Loudoun Valley Emmaus Community thrive, so please ask a board member what area you can volunteer in.
Gatherings:
Our next gathering will be March 16, 2019 at Marshall UMC. I hope to see you there!
There will be no April Gathering since Easter is the following day, so please mark your calendars – and have a blessed Easter.
We will have a DDU at Burnt Factory United Methodist Church immediately before the gathering in May, for those that haven’t attended one.

DeColores
Pam Sallada
LVE #30 (table of Abiding Peace)
sallada@aol.com

My name is Pam Sallada, I walked on LV 30, and I sat at the table of “I don’t remember”, it was in the spring of 2000. In December, your LV Emmaus Board of directors elected me to be the next Community Lay Director. I am humbly aware that I am not prepared for this responsibility and I covet your prayers for me, for the Board of Directors, and for the entire LV Emmaus community.

Please join me in the Prayer to the Holy Spirit:
“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and we shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth. Oh God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy your consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

This spring we did not have sufficient applications to fill walks. Several years ago the board established a rule that we must have 20 pilgrims on a walk in order to hold that walk. Since then we have waved that rule several times. The rule was established in support of stewardship of our resources. Whenever we hold walks with fewer than 20 pilgrims—the community loses money. Although we are a nonprofit organization, we cannot continue to lose money and maintain that status.

I pray that we will have enough pilgrims to hold walks this fall. Remember The “Walk to Emmaus” is a concentrated three-day course in Christianity, designed for people who want to grow spiritually, or understand our faith more fully. The walk is an opportunity to develop servants with a deeper understanding and faith. Do you know someone in your Church who is ready to take the walk?

De Colores.
Pam Sallada
LV-30
sallada@aol.com

The outgoing Board elected Pam Sallada as the CLD for 2019, Linda Crowder as the ACLD, Ce Pike as Treasurer and Amy Taylor as Secretary.

After I sent invitations to candidates for WLDs, asking them to pray before responding, Mary Snyder and Lonnie DeHart accepted the Board’s offer to lead the next Women’s (March 28-31, 2019) and Men’s Walks (March 21-24, 2019).

Please join the Board in welcoming the new leaders, Board Representatives, Weekend Lay Leaders and the Community’s New Spiritual Director, Rev. Faith Weedling, from Bethel UMC in Warrenton.

Outgoing Board Members are:  Barbara DeHart, Lonnie Dehart, Gwen Hess and Cheryl Monroe-Medonich.  When you see these faithful servants – who went above and beyond this last year in meeting new needs and plugging gaps – please say hello and thank them.

On Friday, December 21, 2018, Pam led a Team Selection Committee meeting and Mary and Lonnie have begun calling Community members to join their teams.

How can the Community help?

As stated in a previous urgent message, Pilgrim applications need to be received no later than January 18, 2019 so the Board can make important decisions.  The applications for Pilgrims and Sponsors were included in that earlier message and can be found on our website.

Please join me in praying for our Board, its Leadership, the Community and the two teams which will respond and lead our Community’s next Walks.

DeColores and Thank You,

Phil Hannum, LV#5
CLD 2018
dryjordan@gmail.com