October 29, 2008

 

Dear Community,

 

Over the past several months, the Grand Rapids Area Emmaus Board has asked you to pray for guidance and discernment as we consider the best course of action God is calling us to.  We have had prayer meetings at the board meetings and tried to have a 72 Hour Prayer Vigil over the weekend of September 11th.  Only six people, other than board members signed up for this prayer vigil.  We have not had a Spiritual Director in almost 2 years. We can no longer send out newsletters due to financial costs. We have less than $100 in the account and with expenses for having a walk and communicating via newsletters with you, along with insurance costs and Upper Room costs, it is currently no longer feasible to continue the community.  And yet, it is our belief that God is calling us to continue to train Christian leaders as identified in the Walk To Emmaus manual by increasing the attendance at Gatherings and scheduling and holding Walks. 

 

To do this certain conditions must be met.  We present this to the Community, not as a list of requests seeking God to bless our plans but as a test of our discernment, our ability to hear and see the work of the Holy Spirit in the Community and seek to join our efforts to that which God has already started.  We humbly ask God to confirm our understanding of His direction by planting in the hearts of His people, the means to accomplish these weekends.  If sufficient support, time, money, and resources are available, then we have confirmed that God is moving in marvelous and grace-filled ways in our Community.  If we fail to achieve the necessary resources to support the work of GRAEC, then God is calling His people to other ministries, other tools, other ‘means of Grace’ for the work He wants to do in this area at this time and we will undertake the work of disbanding the community.

 

The Board agrees that we need to meet these conditions in order to continue the work of the Community:

  1. We need 10 board positions filled by January 1, 2009 (there are currently 15 total positions on the board). The open positions are listed at the end of this letter.
  2. We need a committed spiritual director in place by January 1, 2009
  3. We need $2000 donated to us by February 1, 2009
  4. We need an additional $3000 donated to us by May 1, 2009

 

With these positions filled and money in the bank, we will be able to get back on our feet, communicate with you via newsletters, pay our bills and have money to have walks.

 

If all of these items are met, we WILL have fall walks. We will set the Fall walk dates at the May 2009 board meeting. Registration will be open, you will be able to send your registrations at any time. We are committed to having walks again and will not cancel them once the walk dates are set, regardless of how many pilgrims are registered.

 

Please pray earnestly for how God is calling you to be involved in this process.  Share the message of this letter with other community members who may not have seen it.  Forward the email to others or direct them to the website, www.graec.com, so that the Spirit has every opportunity to revitalize this community if that is His will.  Since we cannot afford a newsletter, we are counting on you to share the news with everyone you know in the community.

 

Please know that we have prayed diligently about this and discussed the logistics at great length. This decision has not been made lightly. We feel that this is the direction that the Holy Spirit has led us to.

 

Blessings,

 

Kristy Somsel

Communications Chair

 

Open Positions as of January 2009 are: Auxiliary, Candlelight & Entertainment, Database, Facilities Mgmt., Gatherings, Group Reunions, Other Ministries, Registration, Community Spiritual Director, Supplies & Team Selection