ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Retreat Provides Escape with a Purpose Mona Fellers
by Ardis Stenbakken
Attendees pack gift bags to take home after the retreat and give to people in need.
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OUTLOOKMAG.ORG
December 2013
The Rocky Mountain Conference Women’s Ministries team held two Seaside Escape retreats this year, one for the women of the southwest in Farmington, New Mexico, and one for the northeast at Glacier View Ranch. Seaside Escape, based on the experiences of Sarah and Hagar recorded in Genesis, is an interactive retreat in which participants sit around tables in groups of four. With the interactive program women get to know each other and form new friendships. This year’s retreat was facilitated by DeeAnn Bragaw, and directed by the conference Women’s Ministries leader, Ginger Bell. On Sunday there were three Women’s Ministries leadership seminars led by Nancy Buxton from the
Mid-America Union, Ardis Stenbakken and DeeAnn Bragaw. But while the women were escaping from the stress and pressures of their busy lives, they were not forgetting others who are less fortunate. At both sites women brought toiletries, lotions and sanitizer, nutrition bars, religious reading material, and other goodies to place in gallonsize plastic bags. At the close of the retreat each woman took several bags home to give to needy persons with whom they come in contact. Many of the women loved the idea so much that they plan to continue making gift bags to have on hand in their cars. Ardis Stenbakken is a member of the Campion Church.