A dream...

Cruise with a Mission’s founder, Ron Whitehead, has a great passion for youth and young adult ministries.  In 1989 while Rocky Mountain Conference Youth director, he created the first national Adventist Winter Festival (AWF) in hopes of blending spirituality and young adult fellowship. There were 348 participants at the first AWF in Winter Park, Colorado. Over the years the number of participants reached more than 1,000.

Once this winter event was established, Ron contacted Bill Crofton, the Florida Conference Youth Director, about creating another event in a warmer climate with the same spiritual emphasis.

They dreamt about a spring break event at Daytona Beach but quickly changed their minds due to the heavy party atmosphere of Florida at that time. So after much prayer and research, Ron proposed a three to seven day young adult cruise and Bill quickly supported the annual event.

Over the years this cruise idea had numerous challenges to overcome. But all of these challenges were addressed when Ron met with a group of young adults in the Andrews University exhibit booth at the 2005 St Louis General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

After sharing the concept of a young adult seven-day “Cruise with a Mission” Ron pointed out the goals of the event which included organized worship and young adult fellowship, and the rest, as they say, is history. Cruise with a Mission 2007 marked the first year of the establishment of Ron’s idea.  Young adult leaders all over the country, with the assistance of the Center for Youth Evangelism staff and administrators, have dedicated their time and resources to the fulfillment of this exciting cruise. With God’s blessing, this cruise will continue to bring young adults together to change their lives for the purpose of spreading God’s message of service to those who could benefit from it most.