Updates from the Women's Retreat at Sea
Friday, August 8 - Formals, Dreams and Missions
Our port of call was in Ketchikan, Alaska. Our group split into two groups with one group preparing to give a lecture at the Ketchikan Adventist Church on depression and alcoholism. Mable Dunbar, Ph.D. and Women's Ministry Director for the Upper Columbia Conference spoke. The NPUC was asked to give this lecture because of Alaska's high depression and alcohol consumption rates. According to Dunbar, only eight states have higher rates than Alaska in alcohol consumption and their consumption rate has been consistently the highest per person for every year that statistics are available. Also, according to Dunbar, native-Alaskan women face an even higher risk of physical violence than their U.S. counterparts. The lecture was free and open to the public.
The other half of the group volunteered in low-income elderly housing. They cleaned apartments, so that the residents there may maintain their "live-on-there own" status.
As a side bonus, the local women's shelter was located right next to the Ketchikan church. Northwest travelers ran over and delivered gift bags to the residents and prayed with the shelter directors. There were extra gift bags filled with lotions, candles, stationery and etc... and these were left for surprise gifts for sisters in the Ketchikan Church.
On board the ship again, the women's team enjoyed worship under the direction of Diane Pestes, Oregon Conference Administrative Assistant; Corleen Johnson, Oregon Conference Women's Ministry Director; and special music by Margie Rice, Christian recording artist; Alaska facts by Sue Hess, Alaska Women's Ministry director; ice breakers by Wilma Bing, Washington Conference Women's Ministry director; and special worship thoughts by Rhonda Whitney, Oregon Conference Community Service director; and Deborah Harris, motivational and prayer lecturer . Carla Baker, North American Division Women's Ministry director, was also present to help in the worship.
Friday evening found the Westerdam women invited to formal attire dining with professional photos taken throughout the evening. Proudly our NPUC women rose to the occasion with many in long evening formals, looking radiant and beautiful. The travelers then made their way to evening worship and ended the day with singing, praying, worshiping and retiring for Sabbath rest.
Coordinator of the trip, Sue Patzer, and NPUC women's ministry director stated before the trip "Women especially are reluctant to just go to Africa or some remote place and take up mission work. So the church sought ways to actively ignite and excite women into service. "We want women to know that giving and serving can be a way of life that is both adventurous and rewarding," said Patzer. "Many women today were already making plans to launch missions in their own neighborhoods and cities upon their return home. It seems Patzer's dream has been met.
Thursday, August 7 - Good Deeds... Good Food
Yesterday, some 50 women representing the North Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, walked the streets of Sitka, Alaska volunteering and doing outreach. The Daily Sitka Sentinel lent some coverage by announcing the blood pressure checks on page 5 of the Sentinel, which read " A free blood pressure check will be available Aug. 7, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Lakeside Grocery. Members of the Northwest Adventist Women's Ministries, traveling on the M/S Westerdam, will be doing this and other community projects while they are visiting."
The first group of travelers was able to visit a second women's shelter, present them with $655 and do some much-needed internal cleaning for the shelter's kitchen. The shelter director voiced her appreciation for the donation and said that the shelter's refrigerator had just gone out, so they would use the funds toward the replacement of another. This same group also presented the Native American Hospital SEARHC's head of nursing with approximately 50 infant layettes. Many of the items were donated by and collected from congregations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Adding to the list of good stops, this group finished by presenting the local fire department with Trauma Teddies --a large assortment of stuffed animals to be given out during times of crisis to calm children and serve as distractions during highly stressful times.
The second group visited the Raptor bird refuge and was able to clean cages, sort feathers and organize back rooms for the museum. Some even got to cut up rats for the bird's lunch!
The third group went over to the public library and aided locals by indexing and putting bar codes on new books.
Gary Waterhouse, pastor of the Sitka and Juneau churches, organized much of the travel with local members of the congregation, who came out to meet us at the ship.
When the mission team returned to the ship, there was a warm glow of purpose and the good feeling of service. Later at worship, the ladies expressed blessing after blessing for being a part of this unusual outreach retreat
Our waiters on the Westerdam welcomed us to an all-you-could-eat chocolate buffet. It was a perfect end to a perfect day.
Wednesday, August 6 - Everywhere We Went We Found --- Our Sisters
Nearly 50 green hats draped in "Adventist Women Making a Difference" logos disembarked onto the cozy cobbled streets of Juneau, Alaska on Wednesday. Rhonda Whitney, Oregon Conference community outreach director, challenged us to not judt to go out and make a noise, but instead to go out and plug in a heart. Sue Patzer, NPUC women's ministry director and our commander-and-chief, arrived to water the WAVES Women's courage..
And there we were--painting, weeding, passing out literature, visiting shelters and conducting health checks.
The Juneau Empire News reporter arrived and asked "why a bunch of women would spend their vacation painting for total strangers?" "Oh we're not painting for strangers," said Sue. "We may have never met these people, but we are painting for our brothers and sisters. We are part of a worldwide church, and that makes them FAMILY." Local members then came to greet, help and feed us soup. There's something about that Adventist soup that tastes the same, no matter the recipe, when eaten with fellow believers, it tastes the same the world over.
And at the parks and recreation port, three rangers pulled weeds alongside us. We heard them debate, "Who? Yes, the Adventists have come to help. Or is it Add Van Tistssss? Well, yes the Add Van Tastes are helping us on their vacation. Yes, on their VACATION...." As we dusted the dirt from our hands and laid down our weeding tools, we left two more new ranger sisters, smiling and proudly wearing their own green "Add Van Tistssss" hats.
At the women's shelter, Mable Dunbar, women's ministry director form the Upper Columbia Conference, made a friend for life with the director of AWARE. Beyond mutual and professional respect, the women were able to talk about the role of religion in shelter work. The directors feel the best volunteers come from religious groups rather than government agencies. Here our green hat missionaries organized store rooms and cleaned. More sisters were made and our group was given books and welcomed back anytime. Under Mable's tutelage we were reminded "women are strong---the sister-hood even stronger."
At the health check, our green hat experts were able to pray with locals, make recommendations and even give away some equipment to a lady on state aid who had lost a parent to diabetes, and needed the equipment to test her other family members inflicted with the disease. Our ladies there gave out lots of prayers and smiles and and even had people sit with them and cry.
The tasks our green hat women did were inconsequential; however the tasks were a vehicle to show our Alaska sisters we care. We went to do some good, but we lost our hearts in the process.
Tuesday, August 5 - On the Board the Westerdam
As our travelers woke this morning, our day's itinerary had already been placed in our rooms' vanities with a list of places our caption had safely taken us into the night before.
Room service is waiting in the corridor. "Good morning Misssssss Chammmmmberrrlinnnn!" my waiter says with broken English. "I see madam slept in --for your convenience I brought breakfast to Madam's room." Sure enough, my waiter had anticipated my need for a quick breakfast and review of the day's news. He brings my newspaper perched upon a gourmet tray of fresh fruit and cereal. Minutes later my pillows are fluffed, my linens and toiletries replaced and my room is cleaned. There is even a note asking if I wish for fresh fruit to be placed in my room. I marveled that every women here receives Cadillac treatment.
"Is madam leaving?" My helper wishes me a good day and asks if there were anything else he can do to serve me. As my roommate and I walk down the hall, we are greeted by our actual names with smiles and slow tips of the head--almost like little bows. Everyone aboard the Westerdam receives these same smiles and little head tip bows.
At the lunch buffet, the head chef looks at my tray rather worriedly, "Madam needs more protein. Is madam a vegetarian?" I answer, "Yes madam is a vegetarian." To which the chef races back to the kitchen to load my tray with non-animal entrees. We sit down to eat at white heavy linen and fresh flowers, even the flowers seem to meet a certain standard. The waiter slides my chair in as I sit, and spreads the big cloth napkin in my lap. My plate holds beautiful fan-flamed-oranges, hand-carved pictorial melons and delicately cut kiwi. Everything aboard the Westerdam is done with deliberate beauty and service. No job is too small not to be done perfectly. And no job is too plain not to be done without pride. Even the shoe shiners act like they own the ship. In fact the jobs themselves don't seem to matter. The only thing that seems to matter is how the jobs are done, and that they meet the captain's wishes.
I brush a crumb from the linen and look at my third plate. During the course of the meal, my plates and used silver have been systematically removed by smiling happy servers. Nothing happens by chance here. The reporter in my brain demands to know, how and why. "Is Madam done?" Yes madam is done. But madam wants of copy of the Westerdam's mission statement. My waiter crouches down right there, "I write it for madam.....right now." I clear my throat, it appears on the Westerdam that even the lowest member of the totem pole knows the Westerdam's mission and can recite it on the spot. And guess what! I have it memorized now, too: "Through Excellence, we create once-in-a-lifetime-experiences -- every time!" And then there is a special promise to all employees, whether large or small, from the Westerdam's CEO that says "These are very high standards and require substantial effort to achieve. Everyone must be constantly alert and work hard....I expect each of you to give your best efforts every day, and I promise you mine."
I turn my head and look at the vast ship I am on. "Is Madam Chammmmmmberlinnnnn okay?"
Yes, madam is okay. Madam is just dreaming of what we could create. Dreaming for a church just like the Westerdam---- where every guest feels like a Cadillac and every member's joy is to carry out only the captain's wishes ---the Church. Westerdam.
Monday, August 4 - Good Night this is Your Captain
Last night my roommate and I returned front elegant dining and spirit-filled worship to our Holland America cruise ship room. A soft nightlight was shining downy on our fluffy white linen and our covers had just been carefully turned back.... There was a chocolate mint glowing on the pillow with a note saying, "Your caption and crew wish you a restful sleep tonight as we look to tomorrow's horizons." As my roommate and I slipped into our warm pajamas and lay down, it was a comfort to know we could rest while our captain, much more knowledgeable than we, would navigate us through the big vast Pacific ocean as we slept.
Once in the night my roommate and I awoke to our ship pulling, jumping, jerking and bumping in turbulence--- even the large Westerdam was shaking amongst the waves. I clutched the nausea-relief patch against my neck (a gift from my traveling mates as they watched me go green --literally grow green with motion sickness at dinner). And then I held the note and the mint from my captain. It would be okay. My captain had said he would stay awake all night and steer us through the turbulence. He had promised to show us tomorrow's horizons. I lay down and completely trusted. I slept ... yes I slept.
In the morning my roommate and I picked up another note from our captain "Good morning traveler, while you rested I steered you ... past Vancouver Island. Today I will lead you through the Cape, the west side of Moresby and Graham Island, Cape Bartlome, the Hazy Islands and the Chatham Straight. Here is a list of exciting things I would like you to try while on board...."
It was a new dawning for this take-control, type-A-workaholic-- an awakening, that while I rested, my captain delivered. I laughed at how foolish I would have been if I had followed my natural desire to run up to the captain's quarters in my slippers last night to tell him how to do his job. And how silly it would have been if I had laid on a deck chair, shivering through the night, watching to make sure he did what he was supposed to do. Yes how foolish to try to be my own navigator, yet how refreshing just to trust the captain. How sweet just to sleep and let him direct my course.
I clutched the mint and patted the motion sickness patch on my neck . The boat jolted again, but I smiled, because I can trust who's in charge, and I can't wait to see today's horizons...
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