FROM THE PALANCA CHAIR "Celebrate Good Times...Come On"

It is official! We have now completed 100 Men’s and Women’s Weekends.

We offer all thanks, praise and honor to GOD for this accomplishment. It is only because of Him that we are able come this far to celebrate 100 Weekends and to witness the mighty things He has done through this ministry.

God’s mission in those 100 weekends has been for us to be His hands and feet as He touched the hearts of men and women through the years. Countless lives have been impacted as a result of making a weekend and coming back to serve on other weekends again to be a blessing to others.

The men’s and women’s weekends were truly GREAT weekends and GOD’S hand was in every detail. We thank our Pastors that took time away from their churches to come and be our Spiritual Directors on the weekends.

A special thank you to everyone who participated, whether on team, working behind the scenes with the many details such as set up, tear down, table decorations, donations, or praying in chapel...even providing refrigerators on site. We do have a generous and wonderful Via De Cristo community! Please know that your gift of time, service and resources was and continues to be a huge help and blessing. Together we are making an impact in our environments. We would also like to thank St John’s Lutheran Church for the use of their freezer and refrigerator off site! You are amazing and we appreciate you.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get better, the weekends were followed by a 100 Weekend Celebration at Memorial Presbyterian Church in Midland Michigan. Jeff Walk kicked off the evening and it was a night packed full of fun, music, great food and fellowship. It was highlighted with entertainment throughout the evening by our now very own local celebrities Kris Zastrow and Josh Burkhard. They were funny, colorful, humorous, insightful, encouraging, and did an amazing job entertaining us throughout the evening. In fact, if you are ever in need of any short clean and funny jokes, well, look them up - they have many!  As always, we also took time to pray as we gave thanks to God for all that He has done.  

Each attendee was given a lovely keepsake gift to take home. It surely was a wonderful evening to share with our brothers and sisters in Christ as we celebrated 100 Via De Cristo Weekends in Central Michigan.

While we celebrate this mile marker, we also are mindful that we haven’t arrived. We are already in the planning stages for the fall 101 weekends. God is so good! We ask for your prayers and as you pray that you would ask God to lead you where He needs your help for the fall weekends.

It is great to share our faith and work beside so many gifted brothers and sisters in our Christian community through Via De Cristo. I am in awe in God’s greatness, His leadership, and wisdom as He guides us through each weekend for every detail. On that note, as you know there are many moving parts and each one has been and continues to be intentional and important. Know that your willingness to come and help no matter what capacity God calls you to do is truly a blessing.

 On behalf of the Secretariat, please know that we appreciate you and are thankful for your willingness to join us in this mission to continue reaching, and equipping others with tools to grow in their faith as well.

God loves you and so do I!

Nancy Walk

Palanca Chair LVCCM