JULY 2024 NEWS
Greetings Big Bend Walk to Emmaus Community!
As I write this farewell letter to the community which has been a huge part of the last 24 years of my life, I struggle looking for the answers that would soothe my soul, attempting to understand why we could not keep the community going. In the end, it is above my pay grade and larger than my ultimate need-to-know.
The Big Bend Walk to Emmaus community served the Panhandle of Florida, the Big Bend of Florida, South Georgia, and LA (Lower Alabama). Over 3000 souls participated in 84 walks stretching from 1997 through 2024. I personally know many BBWE participants who went on to become pastors or leaders in their church or denomination. I know some people whose lives were turned for the better through their selfless participation in the community. I also know some people who came and participated, but never returned to another community event. In my reflection, I have discovered it is not our place to understand the end-results. We don’t need to know why it works for one person, and not another. We don’t need to know or understand why one community flourishes and another withers on the vine. Our calling is to participate! To be part of the community and share something of ourselves, whether through walk events, gatherings, Reunion groups, and, most importantly, in our local church. In this, the Big Bend community never actually really goes away. We will continue through the work we do in our local church and through our participation in other communities. I want to encourage you to reach out and find ways to flourish and to be a part of God’s amazing world. There are many ways to continue to participate in Fourth Day communities after BBWE closes its doors in the coming weeks.
- Bethlehem Walk to Emmaus (www.bwte.org)
- Bluelake Walk to Emmaus (www.bluelake.us)
- South Georgia Walk to Emmaus (www.sgwte.org)
- North Florida Tres Dias (nftd.org)
I want to let you know our final opportunity to gather is now less than two weeks away. We will gather on Saturday July 20, 2024 at Bethel United Methodist Church on the west end of Tallahassee. The address is 1470 Bethel Church Road, Tallahassee, Florida, 32304. We will convene at noon (Eastern) for a meal, with a time of celebration and reflection to follow.
At the conclusion of the gathering the BBWE trailers will be available for you to go through, if there is something of the community you would like to keep. The trailers and their contents are otherwise being donated to Blue Lake Chrysalis. You must be present to take something away, we will not hold items by request. I personally invite you to come out and share what the community has meant in your life and in your current walk with Jesus.
When it is all done, the board will be voting at their board meeting on the dispensation of funds in our bank account. Outside of supporting our neighboring Emmaus communities, we will be looking to support Upper Room Emmaus Ministries as well as the camp we were trying desperately to call home (Camp Crosspoint).
If we will not see you on July 20th I want to say, “thank you” for your participation and what it has meant in my life over these many years. I can honestly say there are probably only a handful of people I knew before my walk began in April 2000. Now I have more than 3000 I can call brothers and sisters in ministry. When I see you in the future we can celebrate the opportunity we had then, and even more the opportunities we can have in the future.
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)
In His Service,
Ken Peacock, BBWE Community Lay Director