Over the past few years there has been an increasing number of ladies itching to do something out of the ordinary. Something that combines their love of travel and their desire to serve with the need to relax and refresh while recharging mental, physical and spiritual batteries with other women of faith. Not all women are comfortable going on a mission trip to a faraway destination, a primitive area or a Third World country.
Making WAVES
With this in mind, the idea was born by Northwest Adventist women's ministries to sponsor "a women's retreat at sea"...a cruise with a purpose, along Alaska's scenic Inland Passage.
Making WAVES...Adventist Women Making a Difference included a relaxing seven-day Alaskan cruise, August 3–10, through some of the world's most incredible scenery on a deluxe cruise ship. On-board seminars presented by Deborah Harris, motivational speaker; Rhonda Whitney, Oregon Conference community outreach director; and music by Margie Salcedo Rice, Christian recording artist, ignited and inspired women while preparing them for our many off-ship outreach experiences.
Ports of Call
At three ports of call, Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan (towns only reachable by boat or plane), community outreach projects were arranged by Rhonda Whitney in cooperation with local Alaska pastors Gary Waterhouse and Charles Geary and their congregations, as well as community contacts.
Three Reasons for Outreach
First, it allowed cruise participants experiences for practicing to make outreach more than an act—a lifestyle.
Second, it gave the local Adventist congregation encouragement for reaching into its community through varied activities.
Finally, it presented many opportunities for the name Seventh-day Adventist to be positively represented in each community.
Not all outreach took place at ports of call. As on any mission trip, there were those catch-the-moment, faith-sharing experiences the Holy Spirit planned throughout the week that were not listed on the itinerary. And some of the outreach became "in-reach." One participant commented: "I no longer want to look at outreach as an event, but as my lifestyle—I've discovered a new ‘me.'" Another summed up her feelings this way: "I dream of the day our church is just like this ship—where every guest feels like a Cadillac and every member's joy is to carry out only the Captain's wishes."
After packing 50 infant layettes on-board, volunteers deliver them to Sitka's Native American hospital nursery.
Carla Baker, North American Women's Ministry director, was a valuable part of the retreat success. Organizing and cleaning at the women's shelters was a special joy to her.
Mable Dunbar, Upper Columbia Conference women's director (second from right) and friends visit women's shelters in all three ports of call.
Volunteers prepare gift bags and children's crafts at the Ketchikan Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Each outreach was intended to leave the community with an Adventist awareness and specific interest in their neighborhood. Here Corleen Johnson, Oregon Conference women's ministry director, cleans an apartment for an elderly woman.
Sue Hess, Alaska Conference women's ministry director, cleans a Ketchikan apartment.
Janices Forgey of Cowiche, Washington, and Piroska Orban of Ann Arbor, Michigan, check blood pressure equipment in preparation for offering health screenings in three ports of call.
Tracy Smith of Spokane, Washington, catalogs books at the Sitka Public Library.
Participants deliver trauma teddies to Sitka, Alaska's, emergency services. Each donated item came with a card listing the location of the local Adventist church.
Rhonda Whitney, coordinator of the retreat outreach, join volunteers who removed noxious weeds for Juneau Alaska's Parks and Recreation department.
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