A Note From The Chair…

Hello Community,

Hope you are enjoying all the beautiful weather we have been having. God is good.

We Remember:

Our community has suffered a great loss in the passing of long time faithful community member Ann Dawson. Our loss is surely heaven’s gain. Marion, our prayers are with you.

Upcoming Events:

We are busy preparing for Women’s Walk #40 in June, and making plans for a great time together when the entire Community is invited to take part in our first GSVE Campout and Picnic at the Clarksburg Field Days Camp-ground on September 26^th and 27^th. Plan now to attend. It’s always a joy to fellowship with the believers. I know we’ll have a great time.

Newsletter Submissions:

If you have any items for the newsletter, please send them to amyedler@horizonveiw.com or call 740-642-2938.

Sponsor a Pilgrim:

If you know a lady you would like to sponsor for the Women’s Walk, June 26-29, send the application to Denise Kiger at kigerd@nationwide.com or call 740-335-0016. You will probably have enough time to get a lady on the June walk if you act soon.

Mommy Fixes Boo Boo’s

I have a good friend I met on a Walk. She is a physician. She and her husband had longed for a baby for years. They, their families, their church and their friends prayed patiently for a child. Shortly after she attended her walk, they received a call about a beautiful baby boy in Russia. After a very special adoption, little B.J. arrived in America with his mommy and daddy. Now he is 3 years old, and when people ask him what his mommy does, he says “Mommy fixes boo boo’s.”

A little girl in a veterinarian’s office was holding a kitten with a broken leg. She didn’t want to let go of the kitten for the doctor to examine its leg. She was trying hard to protect that little kitten on her own. The problem was, her kitten’s broken leg would grow back even if she didn’t let go long enough for the vet to fix it properly. However, if the leg wasn’t splinted properly, the kitten would be crippled.

Are we like that little girl? Do we take our problems to God to fix, only to hold on to them? Do we cripple ourselves spiritually because we hold on to our problems and heart-aches?

As Christians, we can let go and know our Daddy God fixes boo boo’s.

As Mother’s Day and Father’s Day approach, know how much our Heavenly Father loves us. Let’s prepare to serve Him, because we love Him back.

De Colores!

See you at the Gathering

In Him,

Pat Arthur

Mother’s day is one of the more difficult days for me as a pastor. It can be a happy and joyous day, but it can also be a very sad day. Not every home is like the Cleavers, the Brady Bunch, or the Nelsons.

Some of us were raised in a good Christian home and have had wonderful parents and are now wonderful parents. I thank God for you and you should thank God also.

But some of you may have lost your mother or a child recently and your heart is grieving. Maybe you had difficulty with your own mother and she was not the ideal mother that we like to preach about. You might have guilt feelings about your own motherhood and blame yourself for your children’s problems, or are having marriage problems. Perhaps you never had a real mother and were raised in a foster home, or you are a single mother, struggling to raise your children.

With some of these thoughts in mind, maybe we can better understand Mrs. Zebedee who was the mother of James and John. Read what Matthew 20:20-23 says, “Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and kneeling down, she asked a favor of Jesus.” She asked Jesus to grant that her two sons sit on his right hand and his left hand in his kingdom.

Jesus finally tells her that this favor is not for him to grant but those positions belong to those who have been prepared by his father.

Mrs. Zebedee knew that her sons were very close to Jesus. They were two thirds of the inner circle which also included Peter. These three were at the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus. She was certain that when the Lord formed his kingdom her sons would have positions of authority and responsibility.

But she also remembered the story Jesus told about the laborers in the vineyard. She knew that some who labored very little would get the same reward as those who had worked so diligently all day.

We might criticize her for being so presumptuous. She wanted her sons to be part of the kingdom of God. This is not a bad thing for a mother to want for her children. In addition to them being a part of the kingdom, she also prayed that they would be actively involved in the work of his kingdom.

Mrs. Zebedee had great expectations for her sons and I think that this is a good thing. She wanted them to be more than doorkeepers; she wanted them to be in the thick of things. We have to admire her boldness.

Too many times, people are content to just sit back and let things happen, especially in the church. I often hear people complaining that things have gone badly because they have taken prayer out of the school. As one who has spent 29 years as a teacher, counselor and administrator in Ohio’s public schools, I firmly believe that we should never abrogate the responsibility for religious education to the schools. Religious training should be the responsibility of the family and the church.

There are plenty of teachers who want to tell students that they worship on the wrong day of the week, that they were baptized improperly, that Jesus was just a good man, or that God did not really create the earth and the Genesis story is just a myth.

We need mothers and fathers who will not give the religious education of their children over to someone else. We need mothers like Mrs. Zebedee who are looking out for the spiritual welfare of their children.

Why not ask for the very best for our children?

De Colores,

Les Grooms

Spiritual Director

2008 Walks

Women’s Walk # 40

June 26-29, 2008

Lay Director, Laura Miller

Men’s Walk # 30

Sept. 11-14, 2008

Lay Director, Danny Morris

Women’s Walk # 41

October 9-12, 2008

Lay Director, Linda Morris

2008 GSVE Board Members

POSITION NAME TERM YR. PHONE eMAIL

Agape 1 Pat Cook 2 740-634-3277 pcook1529@gmail.com

Agape 2 Savilla Ruggles 1 740-998-4843 huge@bright.net

Chairperson Pat Arthur 2 740-776-6501 pattiarthur@verizon.net

Chrysalis Joanne Charles A 740-354-4494 jcharles@shawnee.edu

Computer Kevin Pancake A 740-703-8782 pancake@bright.net

Good Shepherd Karen Edmonson 1 740-998-5650 bk_edmonson@yahoo.com

Housekeeping 1 Dena Benner 3 937-981-4162 db0142@dragonbbs.com

Housekeeping 2 Richard Schumacher 2 937-981-4296

Kairos Jim Mathers A 740-983-2120 jmathers@columbus.rr.com

Kitchen 1 Lorri Stewart 1 740-775-2379 jaslcs@horizonview.net

Kitchen 2 David Burriss 1 740-947-8194 dpburriss@roadrunner.com

Kitchen 3 Harley Barney 3 740-998-6523

Leadership Ed Ruggles 3 740-998-4843 huge@bright.net

Music Dick North 1 740-776-7420 rcnorth@verizon.net

Newsletter Amy Edler 3 740-642-2938 amyedler@horizonview.net

Outreach Rick Harper 1 740-998-3882 jrharper@horizonview.net

Purchasing Jim Penix 1 740-852-2792 jpenix1@columbus.rr.com

Registrar, Men Tony Siders 2 740-884-4622 tsiders@mail.gsn.k12.oh.us

Registrar, Women Denise Kiger 2 740-335-0016 kigerd@nationwide.com

Secretary Laura Miller 2 740-332-6003 laurabeth@wildblue.net

Social 1 Danny Morris 3 740-437-7472 capmorris@hotmail.com

Social 2 Jim Skinner 1 740-993-2118 2skin4him@earthlink.net

Special Projects Peg Beekman 3 937-981-9805 pbeekman@hughes.net

Spiritual Director Les Grooms 2 937-549-2113 theministerles@yahoo.com

Sponsorship Candy Dishong 1 740-596-4353 dishong@ohio.edu

Treasurer Arla Bush 3 740-773-7865

_{Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder}

Have you ever heard it said, “He has a face only a mother could love?” Whoa! That’s kind of harsh. What’s up with that? Are there people so ugly that everyone they meet is repulsed by them? Sadly yes. We are very visually oriented. We react to how a person looks whether we want to or not. And we have a harder time relating to people who look different from us. I’m reminded of a TV commercial in which a young man is interviewing for a job, but there’s an obvious stain on his shirt. The interviewer can’t even hear what the young man is saying because he is so focused on the stain. Are people who are born with deformities doomed to be universally rejected because they look different? No. There’s a phenomenon called bonding in which a new mother falls in love with her child, simply by holding him and gazing at his face. It doesn’t matter if the baby has an irregularity or deformity, his mother will still fall deeply, irretrievably in love. All she sees is her beautiful child. And once others get to know an individual with some kind of irregularity they don’t notice it as much as they once did.

Something similar happens with God, but instead of gazing at our faces, He sees our hearts—no, not our physical hearts—He looks at our thoughts and intents. What do you suppose He sees when He gazes on your heart? Is it beautiful, pure, perfect? Or is there perhaps something ugly there?

There’s a condition called hemangioma, a dark red splotch—usually on the face or neck. A certain percentage of children are born with this condition, which is sometimes called a port wine stain. The stain is caused by an overabundance of blood vessels near the surface of the skin. Because of the extra blood flow, until recently corrective surgery was impossible. The child would live his life disfigured. Would his mother love him? Of course she would. In fact, after awhile, she’d barely notice the mark that others found so jarring.

Spiritually speaking, we are all born with huge stains on our hearts. We have corrupt human natures that make our hearts truly ugly at times. We are stained with things like hatred, lust, and greed. We all have these characteristics, but God looks at us with love in His heart. He could go in and change us so that we no longer have these ugly stains. And He does when we ask Him to. But even before that, He loves us deeply and completely. He gazes at us like a new mom gazes at her baby. We become imprinted on His heart and are loved despite our ugly characteristics. We have no need for embarrassment when we go before God and confess our ugliness. He’s already seen it and He continues to love us despite it. Isn’t God good? Wow! What great overcoming love He has for us, His undeserving yet cherished children.

De Colores,

Amy Edler

Women’s Walk No. 40 June 26-29, 2008 Live-In Team

*Team Member*	*Position*	*Talk*	*When to Pray*
Laura Miller	Lay Director	Perseverance		Sunday Afternoon
Linda Morris	Asst. Lay Director	Christian Action		Saturday Afternoon
Peggy Allen	Asst. Lay Director	Fourth Day		Sunday Afternoon
Diana Skinner	Asst. Lay Director	Priority		Friday Morning
Pat North	Table Leader	Body of Christ		Sunday Morning
Charlotte Spires	Table Leader	Life in Piety		Friday Evening
Nancy Penix	Table Leader	Priesthood of All Believers		Friday Afternoon
Beth Hixon	Table Leader	Changing Our World		Sunday Morning
Katrina Barton	Table Leader	Discipleship		Saturday Evening
Debbie Pockras	Table Leader	Grow Through Study		Saturday Morning
Patricia Burriss	Asst. Table Leader
Beverly Damron	Asst. Table Leader
Sherry Thomas	Asst. Table Leader
Marilyn Snider	Asst. Table Leader
Susie Peck	Asst. Table Leader
Linda Jones	Asst. Table Leader
Roberta Strawser	Music Director
Sue Kelley	Music Director
Dick North	Spiritual Director	Means of Grace		Saturday Morning
David Titler	Asst. Spiritual Director	Sanctifying Grace		Sunday Morning

Help Wanted

Women’s Walk No. 40 is coming up June 26-29, and it’s a big job! We need to fill about 200 volunteer slots to help accomplish the Lord’s work. You know the drill, but in case you’re new to Emmaus or need a refresher, here’s how it breaks down.

Kitchen: We need 3-5 workers Wednesday morning at 8:30 am to receive foodstuffs and prepare the kitchen for the weekend. Thursday, we need 6-8 people to clean vegetables, make vegetable trays and get things set up at 1:30 and another group at 4:00 to set up for the send-off dinner and help clean up afterward. Friday, Saturday and Sunday we need 12 volunteers per meal to cook, serve and clean up after meals. Plan to show up at 6:30 am for breakfast, 10:30 am for lunch and 3:30 pm for supper. Sunday there is no supper crew, but there is a clean-up crew to return the kitchen to shipshape order. Contact Harley Barney at 740-998-6523, Lorri Stewart at 740-775-2379 or David Burriss at 740-947-8194 or signup online at GSVEmmaus.org

Housekeeping: We need a crew of 6-8 on Wednesday evening at 4:00 pm to set up beds and move things into place for the weekend. We also need crews to clean restrooms: Thursday, 4-6 are needed at 8:00 pm; Friday, 4-6 are needed at 9:00 am and again at 6:30 pm; Saturday, 4-6 are needed at 9:00 am and 6:30 pm. We need a group of 8-10 to prepare the church for Sunday school and worship Sunday morning at 6:00 am. A crew of 8-10 is also needed for clean-up Sunday at 4:00 pm. The final cleanup and inspection requires a crew of 6 at 7:00 pm Sunday. Contact Richard Schumacher at 937-981-4296 or Dena Benner at 937-981-4162, or signup online at GSVEmmaus.org.

Prayer Vigil: We at GSVE are committed to bathing each Emmaus weekend in prayer. To do that we need people to commit to one-hour prayer slots for the entire 72-hour weekend. The prayer vigil will be available to sign during the May Gathering. You may also sign up online by going to the GSVEmmaus.org website.

Calling all Sisters and Babe Chicks

Babe Chicks will perform Friday, June 27. Gather in the Youth Room at Trinity at 5 pm to participate.

Sister Act will perform Saturday, June 28. Gather in the Youth Room at Trinity at 5 pm.

Get involved. Bless others. Be blessed. That’s how it works.

Don’t forget Candlelight and Closing!

Candlelight: Saturday, June 28 at 8:30 pm in the Sanctuary

Closing: Sunday, June 29 at 5 pm, meet in the Fellowship Hall

Welcome Aboard Tom Tigner

Tom Tigner has come on board to help with maintenance of the web site and computer records. You’ll be hearing more in the future from Tom and seeing some changes in the web site. We appreciate his help and welcome him to the Emmaus effort.

See you at the next Gathering, June 19, 2008, 7 PM at Trinity UMC, Main and Mulberry Sts., Chillicothe OH.

Babysitters On Duty

We are blessed to provide babysitting services during all Emmaus Gatherings. There will be two sitters on duty in the nursery in the educational wing of Trinity to care for your children six years old and younger. Snacks and juice will be provided. If your child has special nutrition needs, please provide the appropriate snacks. This service is provided through the generosity of one of our Emmaus community members.

Time to Get Campy!

Mark your calendar,

Set the dates aside.

We’re planning a get-together,

Publish it far and wide.

September 26 & 27

On the Clarksburg Field Days Grounds

Emmaus folks will gather

From near and all around.

Friday evening we’ll camp

And put the hog on to roast.

Then Saturday we’ll fellowship

And proclaim the Lord of hosts.

There’ll be singing and worship

And praises oh so sweet.

And remember that as always,

When Emmaus meets, Emmaus eats!

A Note from the Chair…