*EASTER, 2000 is on April 23d. Therefore, the Spring Walks are scheduled a little later than usual. E-31 (Men) will be held 4/27-30/00; E-32A (Women) will be 5/4-7/00.

*The duties of the newsletter chair person were redefined and renamed "Communications".

*October Board meeting rescheduled to 10/1/99. Board meetings are open to any member who wishes to attend.

*Due to the dates for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, there will be no Gathering in December, 1999.

*Storage of EMMAUS Supplies was discussed in a location other than the attic at Camp Overlook. (See the article entitled "WE HAVE A NEED - CAN YOU HELP?".

*The problem of clean-up on Sunday of weekends persists. Many more volunteers are needed. (Surely with all the folks in our community, there are those who could help with this task. Contact Bill Jordan at (540)942-5410 or jordanre@juno.com to assist in October. - Editor.)

*The Board is investigating possible locations for Gatherings, other than Massanutten Presbyterian. Locations are being sought in the Staunton-Verona, Harrisonburg, & New Market areas with the prospect of holding Gatherings for 3 months at each location. Hopefully, the new locations will commence in January 2000.

Yes we do! For several years, Ron Robey at Camp Overlook has been gracious in allowing us to store our Walk to EMMAUS Supplies at the Camp. We know he will continue to let us do that. Our problem is that the storage space is over the dining hall on Agape Hill. Access to the space is awkward (There is no pull-down stairway.} and is limited to times when the dining hall is not being used. This makes it difficult to inventory and replenish supplies.
A possible way to resolve the problem is to obtain a utility trailer that is secure and dry. The trailer would be kept at Camp Overlook (probably in the camp ground) and moved to wherever the walks are being held. This would make it convenient to get to supplies for a walk and to store them away after a walk.
So, do you have, or know someone who has such a trailer and would be willing to donate it? We have had an offer of a trailer with just a platform bed, which would take considerable work and expense to make it into a supply trailer. Even if you don't know of a possible donation, perhaps you could make a special financial donation towards the purchase of a new one.
Along the same lines, it has been pointed out to the Board, that the Prayer Chapels on Agape Hill are sometimes distracted because of the noise in the Ritchie Building. It was suggested that this could be resolved by getting a campertrailer that could be renovated into a permanent prayer chapel. As with the supply trailer, it could be stored at the Camp and moved to the walks.
Perhaps you have other ideas about how to resolve these problems. We welcome your suggestions. Please send your ideas and offers to 1120 Meadowlark Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22802 or email to blesing1@gte.net .

De Colores
Bill Blessing

Some of your hurts
you have cured,
And the sharpest
you've even survived,
But what torments of
grief you've endured
From evils which never arrived.
-----Ralph Waldo Emerson-----

Augusta Kairos #5 is scheduled for September 30 - October 4, 1999. Please pray for the team as they begin training on August 21st. The Prayer Vigil List was passed around at the July Gathering, but there are many open slots remaining. If you can pray during the vigil, please contact Louise Jennings by email at kingsway@rica.net or by telephone at (540)433-5658 or (540)234-8896.
This will probably be another Cookie-less Kairos, so posters and "Dear Brother in Christ" Letters are the only way we can share Christ's Love. Posters can be brought to the September Gathering on 9/24/99.
Remember, Kairos is an EMMAUS-Type Ministry of the whole outside church to the inside church. Please share the call to support Kairos with your Sunday School Class, your Church, and Christian Neighbors. Closing will be at 4:30 P.M. on Sunday, October 3d. For applications to attend Closing or more information, contact Kingsway or Doreen DeVore.

De Colores
Doreen DeVore (540)433-8086

[When I returned home after being on the E-27 Team in April, I found an email from an Emmaus pen pal from West Texas. He told me about a friend who was having a really bad time - bad family relationships, not much church activity, depression. He asked me to write some encouraging words. Below is an exerpt from that message that I share with you. Dick B.]

MY FAITH JOURNEY
If there's anything I've learned in my faith journey, it's that God loves me, a sinner. God loves even me, ME! I've learned that there's no sin I may have committed, or will commit, that can separate me from God. God isn't going away. Sometimes we leave for a time, but God is right there waiting for us to return. God's grace is there for me. I can have the gift of His grace. I can live a grace-full life today, tomorrow, and forever! AND SO CAN YOU!!!!
As we travel life's pathways and our faith journeys, we can draw courage from what the Bible tells us about the early church. All of us have flaws. So did the first disciples. All of us are sinners. So were the first disciples. We're not really so very different from those first followers of Jesus. Maybe we're not such unlikely ones to benefit from His amazing grace.
Another thing I've learned, is that God will not abandon you. Friends, co-workers, even family may abandon us to sink or swim on our own. And I can't make it throught this life alone! But you know what, I don't have to! Jesus will walk with me all of the way, if I'll let Him. GOD WILL NOT ABANDON ME OR YOU.
In the Spring, I served on a team for a 72 hour weekend of spiritual renewal (called the Walk to EMMAUS). I heard many stories about broken, shattered lives that have been restored to happiness through God's amazing grace. Even in their darkest hour, these folks were not forgotten by God. You see, God's grace worked through many folks and circumstances to bring them back to Himself, and HE CAN DO THE SAME FOR YOU.
I encourage all of us to be a part of a local church community. One where we are comfortable with the people and with worship. And I encourage us to be active in some small group activity - Bible study, prayer group, weekly accountability group, choir - your choice. I firmly believe that God works in our lives through people. It's through the Body of Christ Christian Community, that we find understanding people. That's where we are uplifted, supported, prayed for and with, and learn to share the joy of Jesus. And I'm confident that some, perhaps many, will be blessed by you and what you have to offer. The Bible teaches us that there are no "Lone Ranger" Christians. God didn't plan it that way. I just don't think that I could make it without Christian Community.
The Pharisees charged that Jesus ate and drank with sinners (like you and me). Every time we eat and drink the Lord's Supper, we are claiming that Jesus chooses the same kind of dinner companions today. Praise God for His choice of dinner companions!! Won't you come and join me at His table?

May God's love and grace enrich your life Today!

Dick Bodle

It's quiet. It's early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming. In a few moments, the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of the solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met.

For the next twelve hours, I will be exposed to the day's demands. It is now that I must make a choice. And so I choose:

I CHOOSE LOVE...
No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness.
I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY...
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical...the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE...
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE...
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Rather than complaining that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS...
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS...
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will see the God in others when it is hard to find. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS...
Today, I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS...
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.
]
I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL...
I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot rule the eternal. I choose self-control.

LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, & SELF CONTROL...To these, I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek God's face. And then when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

-----AUTHOR UNKNOWN-----

What a beautiful, light-filled walk team and pilgrims experienced at Blessings Lodge on August 5th throught August 8th. As we walked the road to EMMAUS, we focused on Christ as the Light of the World. We claimed the scripture (John 8:12) that if we followed Him we wouldn't be stumbling through the darkness because living light would flood our path. That Living Light is the presence of the Holy Spirit. It was at work in awesome ways during our time together as we became a family of people dealing with some of the brokenness in our lives and bonded together in love. We supported one another as we worked together and feasted on delicious food in the Blessings Lodge. We enjoyed the comfort of soft beds and air-conditioning too. We had a great place in which to spend time away with each other. We created a space in which everyone could be themselves and respond to the message of grace and love of God! It was a space, surrounded by a wall of prayer and infused with many, many acts of love. It was a place conducive to the working of the Living Light of the Holy Spirit. And how awesome that process was. So many things "worked together" to create the beautiful experience of the walk. How good and faithful God is to bless so many people in such extraordinary ways. Many saw the butterfly that appeared in the window above the cross and alter during "Dying Moments". What a blessing that was to so many, especially to the pilgrim whose loved one had recently died. So many evidences and expressions of His love for us and our love for one another were revealed during the weekend. One Pilgrim said, "I saw the chains wrapped around my fellow pilgrim's heart early on the EMMAUS weekend. But by Sunday, Christ had worked to free those chains and I was priviledged to witness this."
Let us continue in that spirit of love and fellowship during our fourth days ahead. Let us keep the Light bright in our lives by practicing Koinonia, Christ-centered sharing. Lets be active in our churches, in reunion groups, and EMMAUS Community monthly Gatherings. As we meet together, we share, fellowship, pray, sing praises, learn about God's will, and grow in Christian life. This is a pattern for us to follow to participate in the life of Christ. It enables us to take that Living Light that floods our path and reflect it out to others. I close with a prayer by Mother Teresa called a Faith-sharer's prayer -
Dear Jesus, Flood our souls with your Spirit and life. Penetrate and posses our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us and be so in us that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our souls. Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus. Stay with us and then we will begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. The Light, O Jesus, will be all from you. None of it will be ours. It will be shining on others through us.

Love and prayers to you all;
Brenda Robey

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
-----(Luke 23:42-43)
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On Golgotha, one thief was saved, so nobody needs to despair, but only one was saved, so that none of us may presume.
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Before we set our hearts too much on any thing, let us examine how happy those are who already possess it.
-----Francois de la Rochefoucauld-----
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The word "meditation" is rather an abused word...It would be much better to use the words "quiet time", in which a person shuts out the noise of the world, enters into himself and judges himself not by his press clippings, but by how he stands with God.
-----Bishop Fulton J. Sheen-----
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True love for our neighbor is to wish him well and do good to him.
-----Mother Teresa-----
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God has for you-
.....A light for every shadow.
.....A Plan for every tomorrow.
.....A Key for every problem, and
.....A Baum for every sorrow.

Gatherings: 9/24, 10/29,& 11/26, No December Gathering, 1/28/00
Board of Directors . . . . . 2nd Friday each month.
Walks: E-29 (Men) 10/7-10/99; E-30 (Women) 10/14-17/99
.....E-31 (Men) 4/27-30/00; E-32A (Women) 5/4-7/00
Front Royal Mini-Gathering - 1st Friday each month; Contact Don/Jacque Bowman (540)635-4948 for time and location.
Augusta Mini-Gathering - 1st Friday, Fishersville UMC 7 PM; Contact Cynthia Jordan (540)942-5410
Charlottesville Area Mini-Gathering - 2nd Saturday each month, Maple Grove Christian Church, 3210 Profitt Road. Contact Dick Faris (804)974-6970.

SEPTEMBER BOARD MEETING: Fri, 9/10/99 St. James UMC Pleasant Valley, Harrisonburg

SEPTEMBER GATHERING: Fri, 9/24/99 Massanutten Presbyterian Church US 33 East of Harrisonburg at SR 276 - 7 PM

OCTOBER BOARD MEETING: October 1, 1999

OCTOBER GATHERING: 10/29/99

Board of Directors Members:
Lay Director - Bill Blessing....(540)433-9957, blesing1@gte.net
Spiritual Director - Gary Ziegler.... ............(540)234-7689
Registrar - Dawn Monger ... (540)434-6518, shine624@aol.com

Clergy Members: Kevin Haynes, Raymond Rowley, & Gary Ziegler
Lay Members: Gail Auen, Bruce Ballengee, Pat Banes, Ken Craft, Penny Dollar, Beth Ann Huitt, Norm Johnson, Bob & Cynthia Jordan, Denver Kelley, Leon Miller, Wanda Miller, & Tom Powell.

Newsletter Editor
Dick Bodle...............(540)289-7194 email: dbodle@aol.com
Normal newsletter deadline is LAST Friday of each month. Articles should be submitted in writing and contain the name & telephone number of a contact person. Send copy to Editor, 194 Turkey Dr., McGaheysville, VA 22840