Women Making a Difference Through A Drop in the Bucket
Beth Ladd and Debbie Powell turned a desire to help disaster-stricken communities into A Drop in the Bucket, a ministry coordinating all-ladies mission adventures. Their volunteer teams serve organizations on the front lines while discovering that service strengthens their own faith and spiritual commitment.
- A Drop in the Bucket grew out of Ladd and Powell’s response to Hurricane Katrina.
- Groups of 6 to 10 women have served in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Idaho.
- The ministry hopes to train more leaders and multiply the number of trips it offers.
By Jennifer Taylor
From a Wish to Help to a Mission
Beth Ladd, a teacher and the wife of New Hope Christian Church senior pastor David Ladd (Everett, WA), met each Monday to pray with her friend Debbie Powell. After the 2004 tsunami hit Indonesia, the two friends said, “I wish we could go there and help.” After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, they said, “We can go there and help. Let’s do it.”
Like other volunteers around the country, Ladd and Powell organized a group to travel south and help the churches and people of New Orleans. However, their yearly “drops” have continued—to Louisiana, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Idaho—and the friends now lead “A Drop in the Bucket,” a ministry to coordinate these all-ladies mission adventures.
Being That Drop in the Bucket
“We look for organizations on the front lines and bring a group of 6 to 10 women,” Ladd says. “We’re working to train more leaders so we can multiply the number of trips we offer. Our motto is, ‘If you can only be a drop in the bucket, be that drop!'”
In addition to New Orleans, the groups have volunteered at children’s homes, Christian ranches, and tornado recovery sites in Joplin.
“We receive a much bigger blessing than the people we help,” Ladd says. “Participating in these trips boosts our own faith and spiritual commitment.”
