Women Minister to Hotel Staff at Annual Retreat

More than 220 women gathered from Nov. 4-6 in Ocean City, Md., for the Chesapeake Conference’s 2022 women’s ministries retreat, “Unleashed: #CrazyFaith.” 

Pre-registrations for the event sold out and attendance during the weekend reached max capacity.

“I’m happy that people responded well and that women are happy to be together,” says Anastacia Ferguson-Bansie, Chesapeake Conference women’s ministries field director. 

The retreat featured messages from Deeann Bragaw, women’s ministries director for the North American Division. Additional breakout sessions were held in English and Spanish on a number of topics. Carmen Esposito, a guidance counselor at Spencerville Adventist Academy, served as the Spanish keynote speaker.

Ferguson-Bansie says that the seminar on dealing with infertility and pregnancy loss seemed to resonate with many attendees, noting statistics that say that 1 in 4 women will have pregnancy struggles. 

An unexpected highlight was the retreat’s positive impact on hotel staff. According to Ferguson-Bansie, several hotel staff members reported that they were moved by the presentations and the kindness of the attendees, many of whom offered to pray with them. One female staff member even chose to stay and attend the presentations after her shift.

Ferguson-Bansie says she hopes attendees left the retreat reminded of the power of the ministry of presence. “Hold on to the measure of faith that God has given you and put that faith into action, whether it’s in your home, your family, or your church,” she says. 

The 2023 retreat will be held Oct. 27-29 at the Kalahari Resort in Pocono Manor, Pa.