What Kind of Experience Can I Expect?
Ideally, Walk to Emmaus participants would come to the end of their three days moved to live
in God's grace forever, to serve Christ and humanity through the church, and to persevere in their
spiritual growth through participation in an Emmaus follow-up group. In reality, peoples'
experiences on The Walk to Emmaus vary widely. Though some will acclaim their Emmaus
experience as a life-changing event, it is not so for everyone. Nor should it be a life-changing
experience for everyone. Participants who come expecting a special kind of spiritual high or
mountaintop experience, based on what others have said about their experiences, sometimes go
home disappointed.
Emmaus exists to strengthen the discipleship of church people. How God uses The Emmaus
Walk to that end differs for each person. For some, Emmaus strengthens an already active
Christian life and church involvement. For a few, it is the beginning of an altogether new life with
God. For others, Emmaus serves as the impetus to move from an abstract commitment to Christ to a
practical lifestyle of Christian discipleship. For still others, Emmaus provides an opportunity to
link up with other Christians who want to form groups for mutual support and growth.
When asked about the benefit of Emmaus, some people will say they gained fresh insight.
Others will state they gained new grounding for their faith. Many will say they experienced love
and acceptance like they had never before known. Most everyone will agree that the Walk was
fun and that it resulted in lasting friendships.
Some people do not enjoy certain aspects of the Emmaus Walk, finding it too structured or
lacking in sufficient time to do as they please. Others will report they gained more from
subsequent involvement in the follow-up groups or as team members, where for them the
message of the Walk took hold.
No standard response to The Emmaus Walk exists. Though the form of the Walk is the same for
everyone, the experience depends entirely on each person's journey, temperament, life
circumstances, spiritual maturity, church background, and relationship with God. What is
important is that participants attend Emmaus out of a desire to grow spiritually and that they allow
God to use the three days to move them forward in faith. The three-day Walk is only a platform
from which to embark on a deeper walk with Christ for the rest of one's life.
