The Channel Islands Emmaus Community (CIE) has suffered the loss of two very active members over the last six weeks.  Pastor Steve Kaas passed away on December 23 and Amy Engledinger passed away on January 18.  Both of these people were wonderful examples of love for the Lord.  They both answered the call to discipleship that surfaces on an Emmaus weekend.  Please keep their family and friends in your prayers.
With these sorrowful events, I thank God for giving me the Christian faith.  The following words of Christ come to mind at this time: “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live even though he dies.” (NIV Jn 11: 25.)  So we can be assured that Amy and Steve are with the Lord.  
CIE Walk 28 is fast approaching.  Please pray for the appropriate pilgrims to be open to your invitation to join this Walk.  Pilgrim applications need to be into the CIE Board for review by the Board Meeting on 2/8/03 following the team Building activity.  Please keep the Lay Leaders, Carolyn Wojciechowski and Tom Hower, as well as the entire weekend in your prayers.

God Bless,
Ken DeVore (CIE 6) 

LOVE ALONE GIVES VALUE TO WHAT WE DO.

IN MEMORIAM

Amy Engledinger

On January 18, 2003, Amy Engledinger passed away.  Amy had been found at home in a coma and was put in the hospital on 1/8/03.  As of the following Saturday, Amy was reported to be recovering.  However, she passed away the following Saturday.  According to Kathy Wade, Amy's sister, her heart and lungs just stopped working.

Amy attended Walk #2 at CIE in 1990.  Since then, she has worked 12 weekends in various positions including: Cook; Cook Team Leader; Agape; Table Leader; Head Cook Facilities.  She was a very giving person and our community will miss her.  Amy made all of the knitted chickens used to cover eggs.

Amy's Memorial Service was held on Saturday, 1/25/03, at Bethel Lutheran Church in Santa Maria.  Many people were there from both CIE and Central Coast Emmaus.  Amy will be greatly missed by many Emmaus people.  May the peace of Christ rest upon her and her family.

Steve Kaas

On December 23, 2002, Pastor Steve Kaas passed away while visiting family in Georgia.  His illness came on very suddenly on Friday.  He went to the Emergency room on Saturday and was admitted.  He underwent surgery on Sunday but passed away early Monday morning.  Please keep Steve's family in your prayers.

Steve will be greatly missed by all of us in the CIE Community.  Steve attended the Walk in Pomona in 1990 became active in our community five years ago.  In those five years, he served as clergy on 10 walks.  He gave all 5 of the Clergy talks several times.  He also served as clergy on Boys' Chrysalis flight 3 and was Head Spiritual Director for Boys' Chrysalis flight 4.

Steve's Memorial Service was held on Saturday, 1/18/03.  At that service, it was evident that Steve had a large and giving heart.  He was eulogized by many people and by several organizations.  He will be greatly missed by the Channel Islands Emmaus Community.  May the peace of Christ rest upon him and his family.

We were all shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of Pastor Steve Kaas last month.  But, we do know that he is in God’s hands and that his Memorial Service is an opportunity to celebrate his life and affirm his and our faith.

In preparing for another Memorial Service recently, I came upon this “Parable of Immortality,” written by the Rev. Henry Van Dyke, an officiant at the funeral of Mark Twain.  I hope that it is a comfort and small source of encouragement in the days and weeks ahead:   
 

I’m standing upon the seashore.  A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.  She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.  Then someone at my side says, “There she goes!”

Gone where?  Gone from my sight … that is all.  She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side …  Her diminished size is in me, not in her.  And just at the moment when someone at my side says, “There she goes!” There are other eyes watching her coming and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!’

Who's walk is it?  Almost every gathering or team-building we hear a reminder from our Community Director that this is God's Walk not ours.  As Lay Director, God is teaching me this lesson over and over with Walk 28.  We take joy in knowing that God provides for us even in our times of despair and doubt.  Just before Christmas, Pastor Steve Kaas took his guitar and smile to heaven to help God bring joy to the angels and saints.

As I grieved his passing, I also began to doubt whether the Men's weekend would happen at all.  At that time there were no clergy signed up and fewer than a handful of pilgrims.  After New Year's I began calling Rev. Giovann
King, Rev. Mike Sheridan, Ken DeVore, and others to get advice on how to approach clergy and to discuss whether the weekend could proceed with part-time clergy.  I also asked for lots of prayer support.  Then on one day five clergy said that they would help with the weekend and one even signed up for the entire weekend.  God does provide despite our doubts.

Now my prayers have turned to team and pilgrims.  We need cooks and male-cook angels, especially for Thursday morning and afternoon when we set up and pray over the entire facility.  The next team-building session is February 8th in Ventura at First UMC.  Show up and sign up.  Call a buddy from your talk table to join you.  You will have fun and serve the Lord by reflecting God's light to the first-time pilgrims.  Speaking of which, I am
pleased to announce that the Board approved several more men and we now have sixteen signed up.  God is great!

Our first team-building went well, especially considering that we spent almost three hours at the memorial service for Pastor Steve.  He would have enjoyed seeing his family and friends give their personal witnesses and
testimonies for the Lord.  The theme for the men's weekend reminds us that our witness is strengthened by walking in God's light, serving in Christian fellowship, and accepting God's sacrificial love: 

Your brother in Christ, 

Tom Hower

There have been concerns expressed regarding the presence of community members of the opposite gender being present in the Pilgrim sleeping areas on Sunday morning during Mañanitas.  As a result of review and discussion by the Channel Islands Emmaus (CIE) Board of Directors, the guidelines for Mañanitas (the Sunday morning flower activity) have been significantly modified.  Beginning with Walk #28, only persons of  the same gender as the Pilgrims may participate in the Mañanitas activity.  This means that only men may participate in Mañanitas on the men’s weekend and only women on the women’s weekend.  Also, because communion is presented to the community at Closing,  morning communion for the community following Mañanitas will not be offered.  All other aspects of the activity will remain the same.

If you have any questions, please contact any board member.

• Did you go to the Channel Islands Walk to Emmaus or through another Emmaus Community?
• Did you become a part of the Channel Islands Emmaus and greater Emmaus Communities?
• Do you want our Channel Islands Emmaus and greater Emmaus Communities to continue to grow?
• Do you want there to be Pilgrims at our Men’s and Women’s Walks #28? 

Well then, give prayerful consideration to being a sponsor. No one goes on The Walk to Emmaus without being sponsored. Sponsorship is one of the most important roles there is for members of the Emmaus Community. 
If you decide to sponsor one or more Pilgrims, you will need to review the Responsibilities of Sponsorship and obtain copies your Sponsor’s Application and a Pilgrim’s application for each person you want to sponsor. You can find all three of these items in several places: 

• Click on the Sponsorship link on the e-Fishnet, if you receive the Fishnet via email, 
• Look in one of your Fourth Day packets, 
• Go to the “geocities.com/ciefishnet” website and click on the Sponsorship link, or 
• Email Diane or me at deedeem@earthlink.net, or phone us at our home at 661-254-4470 
• Come to the First Team Building on January 18th, 2003 

In Service to the Lord, 

Tom Morse and Diane Boddye

If you're not working this Walk because you couldn't commit to the whole weekend, please consider being an Angel.  Typical duties include cleaning Pilgrim sleep rooms, helping with the Church Coffee Fellowship
after Sunday Services, returning equipment to Logistics, and returning the church to its pre-Walk condition.
     
Additionally, there is a need for Guardian Angels during the women's weekend.  As a community, we have asked the Pilgrims to place themselves in our care.  They deserve our best efforts to ensure their safety.  Our Guardian Angels serve Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. the following morning, in four hour shifts.  Armed with flashlights and cell phones, they patrol the outside of the church and handle any problems.  Coffee and light snacks are usually provided.
     
Angels serve a vital role during the Walk and their service is appreciated by all, and rightly so.  But it is important to realize  that Angels are not part of the Walk team.  And in order to preserve the "Community" of the Walk, Angels are to remain behind the scenes.  As  such, Angels are not to socialize with the team, participate in zapping, singing in the speakers, or interact with the Pilgrims.
     
If you're interested in this special weekend ministry, please contact
Dan Bojorquez, (805) 659-4313  or  dcbojorquez@sbcglobal.net