7-Day Eastern Caribbean
- Departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Stops in Grand Turk, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and Half Moon Cay
- Returned to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
The Appointment of Delay
How do you approach delays? Do you get annoyed? Aggravated? Go with the flow? Something in between or choose an extreme? Our theme this year was “unbreakable” and it was geared towards a reflection of the year 2022 but when we arrived on ship, it became a mantra.
Our speaker of the week, Pastor Pedro Perez Pathfinder Director of Florida Conference, reminded us when things went wrong that, “It’s part of the training.” Rick Warren, author of ‘Purpose Driven Life’, echoes this when he says, “Life is a test, trust, or temporary assignment.” This mission trip definitely felt like a test, trust, and temporary assignment all while being part of the ‘training’ for mission work.
From day one the ship was delayed by 2 hours from departure for luggage reasons. Our on-ship coordinator was switched twice before the departure and again once more when we arrived on ship. Our worship experience was somewhat hampered from audio visuals missing the first night, and the project on one of the islands at the prison was altered because of safety issues. Yes, we were constantly adapting to our appointment schedule of delay. It felt like our running mantra the whole week, “the appointment of delay” and “it’s part of the training.” 
There was beauty in this ‘appointment of delay.’ There is a text in the book of Proverbs chapter 16 verse 9 that says, “The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
We have all experienced delays in 2022; whether in COVID, work, personal life, and many others. If we hadn’t, we definitely experienced it on this ship. Pastor Pedro’s messages became that much more powerful because we were reminded of our theme of the week, “We are hard pressed on every side; but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-10.
When the appointment of delay came; we got annoyed, but were met by a grieving widow who lost her husband 2 months ago after 20 years of marriage. In the prison, we had to go in a different room but met a blind man who needed to hear the message of the gospel, when we arrived at the church, we met a young adult who lived a prodigal life but recently came back to God and became a missionary and had just finished writing a book. These are just a sample of experiences we had while on and off the ship.
When our gala night came, we ordered from the vegetarian menu and ended up waiting 3 hours for our food. We got annoyed, it was an appointment of delay, but we were not crushed or in despair. It was part of the training. We bonded over waiting from 5:30pm-9:30pm at the table. How do you approach your appointments when delayed? Do you not realize God may have delayed that appointment to have His appointment? We really like to make our plans, but when God is involved, He will mark our steps. Our trip was amazing, powerful, full of God divined appointments, and our group really did experience each other in ways we otherwise would not have if had gone according to schedule.
So when life goes off plan, off schedule, off your master plan, remember that life is not over. You may feel perplexed but don’t despair, you may feel persecuted but you’re not abandoned, you may feel struck down, but you are not destroyed. It’s part of the training. God has an appointment for you beyond your own. It is the appointment of delay and it is beautiful. With God, you are unbreakable.
Nathaniel Sevilla
See the full gallery of photos here.
The Significance of Small Things
by Gabrielle Kiele
“The kingdom of God…is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” –Mark 4:30-32, NIV
My journey to Cruise with a Mission this year started in Alaska. My flight out of Anchorage was delayed an hour because of de-icing issues. Sitting in the plane, I had a conversation with God. “Ok, if You really want me to go on this mission trip, You will work it out.” “Alright, if I miss my connection, I’ll catch the next flight, or the next or next. As long as I get to the ship by Thursday morning, it’ll be ok. Even if I have to take a cab directly from the airport.” “Ok, if my suitcase gets lost, I can make do with the two changes of clothes I have with me, if I have to.” And so on.
When I arrived in Denver, I learned that my next flight was also delayed, so I asked airline staff if I could still make it. Well, I needn’t have worried at all…because my next flight was on the VERY. SAME. PLANE I had just stepped off of! There was no way I was missing that flight, because I was already on the plane. And my luggage wasn’t going to get lost because it was already on the plane. I felt as if God said to me, “Well, that’s great; I’m glad you’re learning to trust Me. And it’s nice you have all these back-up plans, but don’t worry, I’ve got this.”
Small Group
Our Cruise with a Mission group this year was small, only 11 people. Because of various factors, not all of us were able to participate in every project, so sometimes it was much smaller, even. But we were able to touch many lives, including fellow cruisers, ship crew, people we met at ports of call, and even a gecko.
These are just a few of my own experiences.
Grieving Widow
When I boarded the ship in Ft. Lauderdale, my key card wouldn’t work to get into my room. As I was standing in line at Guest Services (for the second time!), Pastor Nate happened by as well, since the audio-visual equipment hadn’t been set up for our meeting. While we were chatting, the lady in line behind me (whose card wasn’t working, either), started asking us about our group. We learned that this woman’s husband of 20 years had just died two months before. She asked us to keep her in our prayers, as, understandably, she was having a really hard time. We hugged and prayed for her right there, and invited her to our meetings. I don’t think either of us saw her again after that, but it seemed to mean a lot for her to meet and have the support of other Christians. And to think, if my card and her card hadn’t malfunctioned, and the equipment had been set up, and we hadn’t all three met at that specific time in that line…!
Crew “Sisters”
At one of our evening meetings we were joined by a couple of ladies who worked in Guest Services. They were helping us arrange for offloading some supplies at one of the ports, but hung around for the whole meeting, too. It turns out one of the ladies is a Seventh-day Adventist, and the other, also from the Philippines, was also a Christian. They said it was “refreshing” to fellowship with us, and that they hadn’t had the opportunity to fellowship with other Christians in the whole time (6 months?) they had been contracted on the ship. The next morning as we bowed for prayer before the mission, another crew member asked to join our circle.
A Cup of Cold Water
We had trekked up a long hill in San Juan (Puerto Rico), handing out sandals and packets of food and hygiene items to needy folks along the way. It was a beautiful, but sweltering day, and we were tired by the time we got to the top. As we walked throughout the streets, the people were grateful for our gifts. In one street a woman was happy to choose a pair of sparkly sandals, then offered us cold water from her bodega, which I dare say, we were as blessed by as she was by sandals.
Not a Sparrow Falls
And yes, the gecko. We painted a couple of walls at the Adventist school on St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands). It was great to interact with the kids as they played and went between classes. After lunch we went back out to finish up a couple of more coats of paint, but discovered that the wind had blown some weeds and clippings onto our first coats. As I was trying to pick some of them off before the paint completely dried, I came across a little gecko, no more than an inch-and-a-half long. He was stuck to the paint and couldn’t get away by himself. So I carefully got him free, trying to wash off the paint as best I could, and set him in the grass. I don’t know where he scurried off to, and I don’t know how well he survived, but I do know that he most certainly would have died if someone hadn’t helped him out of the paint.
Every morning I pray that God will shine through me and show those I meet how much He loves them. I smiled later when I realized that, on that day, He shone His love to an itty-bitty gecko through me. And I was reminded of that old song, “if God so loves the little things, I know He loves me, too.”
Mission, Home and Abroad
Cruise with a Mission 2022 might not be remembered for huge projects accomplished, or large evangelistic series with thousands of souls saved, or anything big like that, but I believe it did make a difference. Things that may seem small to us, like a smile, a kind word, a hug, or a bottle of cold water may actually make a big difference to those who receive it. And sometimes, it may be even in our own lives that the biggest difference has been made.
I invite you, reader, to join us on a future mission trip. You will meet new people, make new friends, experience different cultures and languages, and have the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life.
But don’t let your ministry be limited by faraway trips and exotic locales. Every day, in your life at home, school, work, you have the opportunity to share God’s love and the joy of His good news with anyone you meet. You don’t have to preach sermons, do huge projects, or even say anything at all, to shine just a little bit of light in someone’s life. And that little bit of light might make all the difference in the world.
Gabrielle Kiele writes from Fairbanks, AK, where she is currently trying not to combine frostbite with her Bahamian sunburn!
Meet the Speaker
Pedro has worked with young adults in summer camps, camp meetings, Pathfinder ministry, and public campus ministry over the years as a family pastor, youth pastor, and conference Youth Ministries Director. He and his wife Claudia currently have two young adult children of their own and live in Orlando FL. Pedro enjoys seeing young adults wrestle with what it means to follow Jesus faithfully on their own and help them to enter adulthood courageous and confident of God’s presence and calling in their life!
Meet the Director
Hey Friend!
So glad you are thinking about going on the Cruise With A Mission (CWM). My name is Nathaniel Sevilla. I went on my first CWM trip in 2019. Like you, I tried to plan my finances and details before my first trip but the truth is, I’ve been contemplating going for years! I first heard of CWM back in 2012 when a pastor-friend of mine was leading the trip but I never made the leap. What took me so long? By profession, I’ve been in full-time pastoral ministry since 2009, got married in 2013, and now we have two boys at age 3 and age 1. I first met my wife in 2010 while I was helping in an evangelistic series in Silver Springs, Maryland. We both discovered we have a passion for missionary work. In fact, at some point in our lives, we plan to go overseas and serve as missionaries. It’s simply part of our relationship to serve. CWM was always in the back of my mind but I could never make it happen until last year. It’s taken time to get to this point but I’ve put off this trip long enough. Most excitedly, I’ll be leading as the Director now. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be doing this with you. It’s been a long time coming. We have a lot planned for this trip. There are many people involved to make this happen and God knows what is needed to spread His Word in this world today. Don’t wait to sign up or overthink it. If God calls and you feel like its time take the leap and step out in faith. Let’s see what God does next.
– Nathaniel Sevilla