The fact that an Emmaus ministry experience passes from person to person reflects the relational nature of God and the manner in which God purposefully reaches out to people through people. Good sponsorship is vital to the Chrysalis community and therefore a few points need to be remembered.

Pray and seek God’s guidance before approaching a potential caterpillar, remember this is where a participant’s journey begins.

The aim is not to “get all my friends to go” to fill up a roster or to fix people’s problems. The aim of sponsoring is to bring spiritual revitalization to Christians who, in turn, will bring new life and vision to the work of the church in their congregations, homes, schools, workplaces, and communities.

After prayerful consideration, discern whom God wants you to sponsor. Work with another sponsor to prayerfully consider sponsoring more than one young person from a church so that they will have friends with whom to share the event and its follow-up.

Continue to pray for the person’s openness to God’s call to discipleship rather than how to persuade him or her to attend the Chrysalis Flight. Meet with the candidate’s minister to prayerfully consider the sponsorship.

Discuss with the candidate the purpose and benefits of Chrysalis. Share the elements and value of Chrysalis with the parents or guardians, this will help alleviate any concerns they may have. Explain the costs involved and seek a commitment from the candidate by asking them to complete the application form.

Include the participant’s parents in Send-Off, Sponsors’ Hour and Closing. Be there to encourage the participant along a fourth-day journey, help them feel included by taking them to gatherings, and assist them in joining a Next Steps group.

The sponsor must be someone the participant knows and looks up to. Sponsors do not serve as team members on the Flight with the people they are sponsoring. The absence of the sponsor gives the caterpillar the space they need for their own interaction with the experience of God during the Flight.

• Sponsor young adults who hunger for “something more” and who want to grow spiritually.
• Sponsor young adults who genuinely desire to know more about Christ and the life of faith.
• Sponsor young people who already attend church and youth groups, and leaders in the church youth groups.

Remember when we sponsor youth of various races, economic backgrounds, and churches young people come to see that they are one in Christ and that their true identity transcends ethnic, cultural, denominational, and economic differences.

Always pray and seek God’s guidance before sponsoring, your commitment to the young person extends into the fourth day. Sponsorship is an act of love for God and the participant. Through sponsorship, we become instruments of God’s design and prevenient grace.