by Jennifer Lloyd

COLD SPRINGS - California Southern Baptist ministers' wives got in their vehicles and cruised to Jenness Park Christian Camp the weekend of May 15-19 to attend a retreat entitled, "Any Road, Any Cost."

The 50's road-trip theme was evident all over the camp. Guests were treated to a soda fountain, slider hamburgers and fries in a drive-in diner atmosphere, and camp staff dressed in poodle skirts, horn-rimmed eye-glasses, white t-shirts and rolled up jeans.

The speaker for the weekend, author Cindi McMenamin of San Marcos, reminded the women that the road-trip God calls them to is an adventure if they ride with Him as their driver.

"I want to invite you back to the intimate adventure of serving the living God," McMenamin challenged the women. In the four main sessions she spoke of the roads of surrender, aloneness, endurance and the road to freedom and fulfillment.

McMenamin recalled her desire to write a book on finding spiritual rest. She said, "I prayed, 'Lord teach me to rest.' Two days later the storm of church transition descended. I poured over Mark 4:35-41 and realized that when Jesus wanted to take the disciples to a new place, He took them through the storm to that new place.

"I had originally wanted God to teach me to rest; but God wanted me to learn to trust. When we don't trust God while we are on His road, we are 'rest-less.' When we really know who God is, we can trust Him to take us down any road," McMenamin asserted.

Arnet Heath from St. John Baptist Church in Sacramento said about the main sessions: "The speaker has helped me begin to embrace the road where God has placed me. I need to move forward without fear.
"God is on the road. He knows about the detours. He is paving and preparing the way."

Kristi Foss and Meg Slivoskey of North-Pointe Community Church in Fresno led worship for the weekend.

Julie Greenwalt from NorthWinds Church in Fontana was the 2009 Ministers' Wives Retreat coordinator. The annual event is sponsored by the California Southern Baptist Convention healthy church group. Greenwalt said she had two primary goals for the weekend, including relaxation.

"This goal was easily met by the amenities provided by the Jenness Park staff," Greenwalt commented.

Her second goal was to give pastors' wives an opportunity to see what aspects of their lives they need to surrender to God and to give them tools to help in the surrendering process.

"Cindi McMenamin helped us meet this second goal," Greenwalt said.

"Another way we reached the goal was to allow women to experience a prayer path."

The prayer path consisted of six stations in different locations. In station one the women were to hold a blob of clay in one hand and a block of wood in the other. They were to ask God about their heart's attitude toward Him in respect to the dough or the block. In station two the women were to drop marbles into a vase of water representing worries they were surrendering to the Lord. For station three the women looked into a mirror and considered themselves as God's creation.

The women took off their shoes in station four and reflected on the idea that when one is in God's presence she is standing on holy ground. In station five the women stood in a wading pool of sand and considered their footprints and the imprint they are leaving on the world. Women spent time praying for others and the world in station six.

Several of those in attendance remarked on the impact of the prayer path experience. Martha Alicia Ayala from Iglesia El Buen Pastor in Lake View Terrace, rejoiced, "I was so impressed with the time of prayer. We prayed in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We took off our shoes to pray. His ground is holy ground."

The Ministers' Wives weekend is vital to the role many women fill as they partner with their husbands to shepherd God's people. They find camaraderie, support and partnership with others in similar situations.

"My soul was thirsty for relaxation and renewal. God quenched the thirst that I was longing for this weekend. I was very encouraged," remarked Miesha Dottery from St. John Baptist Church in Sacramento.

"Sometimes, as a result of frequently meeting people's needs, I forget what a privilege it is to be a pastor's wife," remarked Jeanine Ferris from Sonora Baptist Church in Sonora. "We encourage people in crisis, grieve with those who experience loss and counsel those in conflict. This weekend reminded me that it is a blessing to have such a calling.

"I was also reminded that during the storms of my life Jesus is right there in the boat, and He is resting."

Ferris contemplated with tear-filled eyes, "The amount of encouragement I receive during this weekend each year is enormous. Every Southern Baptist ministers' wife should attend this weekend. A lack of finances should never deter a lady from coming.

"In fact, church finance committees should include this weekend in their annual budgets as a demonstration of appreciation for their minister's wife," Ferris asserted.

The weekend also provided a time for women of cultural distinctions to meet and share. A Spanish-language gathering ran simultaneously with the English-speaking track. A total of some 170 women enjoyed the road-trip adventure, many of whom drove home ready to share the love of Christ in their churches.