Hi Sky Emmaus

The Hi-Sky Emmaus Community has a remarkable heritage. In 1985, a few people from Midland attended Emmaus Walks. At that time the closest Walks were being held in Junction or Kerrbille. In 1986, some walks were held in San Angelo and others attended. About that time we began holding monthly community meetings although we were not yet officially a community. The meetings were held in a small Sunday School classroom at St. Luke's United Methodist Church. In 1987, we decided to become official. We applied for a cherter, elected a Board of Directors and began planning for the first two "best walks ever". Those walks were held in August and September, 1987 at Camp Butman, south of Sweetwater. We still did not have enough people to completely staff a team so people from the Concho Country Community in San Angelo helped us. But we were on our way and never looked back. Soon, however, we had grown to the point that no help was needed. We graduated to larger Sunday School rooms, to fellowship halls, to sanctuaries, and eventually to the sanctuaries of the largest churches in Midland. We realized that our success was in part due to the help we had received from others, especially the Concho Country Community. We were aware, in return, that we has a strong obligation to help other new communities. At that time, there were no other established Emmaus Communities for hundreds of miles to the east, west and north. The requests for help did come in and we responded. Some of the areas that we helped by providing team members and in some cases lay directors were Abliene, Amarillo, Big Spring, Lubbock, New Mexico, Odessa, Seymour and Snyder. We even helped one of our members go to South Africa to work the first Walk there. In time, one of our participants went to Nashville and served a few years as the director of the worldwide Emmaus movement. So, in a sense, our community has helped in sharing the experience all over the world. This community has been built on prayer and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God!