Thirty years ago, in the area of Sta. Catalina, Zamboanga City, a poor area composed of Muslim and Christian residents, a simple experience started of lay Catholic women who consecrated their lives to the Lord as lay consecrated living together among the poor.

This group is part of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement, living the same spirituality of life-in-dialogue, but deepening it in the spirit of the Catholic Church. After a few years, the group was officially approved by the archdiocese of Zamboanga as a Lay Association in the Church.

 In a more recent time, other Catholics, married and single, men and women, joined their charism and mission, living in their respective families. This group started to be called the “Emmaus Circle”. Together with the Emmaus Dialogue Community members, the Emmaus Circle members formed the “Emmaus Family”.