Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope this letter finds you well, filled with faith and anxious to serve the Lord.  As we come out of the Covid-19 pandemic, I have been working to develop a plan to bring the Community back together in a manner that complies with CDC Guidelines and renews our spiritual enthusiasm.  Over the last few months, I have sought and obtained input from a number of individuals, a few ad hoc committees and of course, our Board of Directors.  On Monday of this week, I met with the Board to seek approval of this plan, set a schedule of Gatherings and consider postponement of Walks 2020 (Men) and 2021 (Women).  I am pleased to report the results of our meeting and a plan for the Community going forward.

First, we agreed that we must resume our Gatherings in order to rekindle our Community spirit (see the schedule below), resume 4^th Day group meetings, develop Walk teams and identify pilgrims.  Second, we agreed to postpone the Walks until Mar 24-27, 2022 (Men) and Sep 22-25, 2022 (Women).  The change in dates will give us ample time to identify teams, assemble Agape, and ensure we are prepared logistically.

Here’s the schedule of Gatherings.

Our service to God remains our greatest commandment.  Trust in Him.  He has control of all that is happening.  Remain vigilant in his service, reach out to those who need help, a kind word, or a favor.  His greatest commandments call on us to Love Him and to Love One Another.  He is with us, ALWAYS!

De Colores

Tom Ruiz

Community Lay Director

Heartland of Texas Emmaus Community

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope this letter finds you well.  A few weeks ago, I wrote to let you know that we cannot safely conduct a Walk with the inherent requirement of bunking in the same dormitory for three days and nights.  To that end, I convened the Board of Directors to discuss the need to postpone the Men’s and Women’s Walks.  The Board agreed by a vote of 8-0 to postpone the Men’s Walk until September 16-19, 2021 and to postpone the Women’s Walk 2021 until October 21-24, 2021

I am writing today to inform you of a slight change in the scheduled dates for the Women’s Walk.  We have been asked by our good friends at Eagle’s Wings, if we would change the date of our Women’s Walk 2021 by moving it forward by one week from October 21-24 to October 14-17.  It seems that we were being given the 21-24 date based on the preference on one of the retreat center’s customers who had reserved those two weekends. Once they made their choice of October 14-17, we were offered the weekend of October 21-24.  That said their other customer has encountered a serious conflict and has asked if we can switch weekends with them.

The good people of Eagle’s Wings have been working extremely well with us as we continue to postpone our Walk.  Likewise, they have been gracious in helping us to set our annual calendar for several years past and future.  Making this slight change in our schedule to hold the Women’s Walk 2021 on October 14-17 is of great benefit to all parties, the other group, the Eagle’s Wings Retreat Center and our own Community.  In support of the request, I polled the Board for their approval to change the dates.  The measure carried by a vote of 8-0.

Our service to God remains our greatest commandment.  Exercising flexibility is a great way to serve our Lord.  It also benefits everyone concerned.

May the peace and love of our Lord be with you all during the days to come.  As ever, I remain your humble servant.

De Colores,

Tom Ruiz

Community Lay Director

Heartland of Texas Emmaus Community

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope this letter finds you well, filled with faith and anxious to serve the Lord.  To say these are trying times is both obvious and an understatement.  I know there is great uncertainty about the pandemic, vaccines and their distribution, and encumbrances imposed upon us by the various governmental edicts.  It is particularly trying to determine the course of our Community.  Although we are able to gather in small numbers, we cannot safely conduct a Walk with the inherent requirement of bunking in the same dormitory for three days and nights.  Moreover, trying to modify the Walk inhibits the depth of the experience of receiving the Holy Spirit.  To that end, I have convened the Board to address the need to once again postpone the Men’s Walk 2020.

The Board met via Zoom to address this need and we agreed by a vote of 8-0 to postpone the Men’s Walk until September 16-19, 2021 and to postpone the Women’s Walk 2021 until October 21-24, 2021.  We have confirmed these dates with the good folks at Eagle’s Wings Retreat Center. Walk Lay Directors Matt Schuessler and Paula Mays-Hall will remain in place.

We are working to renew our Community Gatherings schedule.  We are currently working to hold a limited attendance gathering to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.  Our tentative date is March 29^th.  We hope to then conduct limited gatherings every other month beginning in May or June.  Our greatest hope is to be meeting regularly beginning in July so we can work collectively to put on the Men’s Walk in September.

Our service to God remains our greatest commandment.  While we may not be able to fully gather together as a Community, we can continue to meet in our 4^th Day Groups.  I strongly encourage you to do so.  These small groups remain the backbone of the Emmaus Community movement.  If you are comfortable gathering together, please do so.  If you would rather spend time together via Facetime, Zoom or other electronic means, do that as well.  The worst thing to do is to do nothing because that is just the platform the enemy looks for to spread his evil ways.  Trust in our God.  He has control of all that is happening.  Remain vigilant in his service, reach out to those who need help, a kind word, or a favor.  His greatest commandments call on us to Love Him and to Love One Another.  He is with us, ALWAYS! Please be watching for announcements regarding the proposed gathering in March.

May the peace and love of our Lord be with you all during the days to come.  As ever, I remain your humble servant.

De Colores

Tom Ruiz

Community Lay Director

Heartland of Texas Emmaus Community