R. Steven Norman III
R. Steven Norman III
R. Steven Norman III
R. Steven Norman III
R. Steven Norman III
R. Steven Norman III
R. Steven Norman III
Rich Herard
Brent Hardinge
R. Steven Norman III
R. Steven Norman III
R. Steven Norman III
R. Steven Norman III
R. Steven Norman III
Brenda walker
Shane Stewart
Attending the “Forever Faithful” International Pathfinder Camporee is the experience of a lifetime. Every five years Pathfinders from across the globe travel to the town of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and just about double the town’s size. This year, August 11-16, 2014, they brought around 47,000 to the airfield, adding to the more than 66,000 residing in Oshkosh. More than 50 countries were represented, with more than 2,000 international Pathfinders making the journey and sharing camping space with gracious American hosts.
Pathfinders shared a variety of reasons for attending Camporee. The word that kept being repeated was “experience.” Pathfinders came to Camporee to experience a plethora of activities, but God was at the top of their agenda.
Jalen Lawrence, with the Lithonia Saints Pathfinder Club in Georgia, said he had heard that Camporee was “very spiritual, it enhances the mind. I wanted to experience it myself, more fun in daytime, more serious and spiritual at nighttime.”
The Lightbearers Club in Gainesville, Georgia, started a club this year and brought their Pathfinders. because “I knew this was something amazing, and I wanted our children to see what the International Camporee had to offer. This is a once in a lifetime thing,” said Zabrina Dorset, Pathfinder leader.
For Sidra Arnold, with the Mount Calvary Rockets Pathfinder Club, in Huntsville, Alabama, “I wanted to come to Camporee and had never been before,” she said. “I wanted to see what it was like and experience new things. It is amazing trying to trade new pins and meet new people.” Arnold thinks she met 100 people, and she loved pin trading.
For those not attending Camporee, it is difficult to understand the obsession of pin trading unique to this event. When you are in a new location tent camping with 47,000 Pathfinder friends, ages 10-15, who you do not know and who reside around the world, pin trading opens doors. The Pathfinders easily approach one another with pins in hand and strike up a conversation. Traveling along the streets at Camporee, Pathfinders could be found huddled together trading pins. This was everywhere. There was even a pin trading honor offered through Georgia-Cumberland Conference that was very popular.
Daniel Kuhlman, with the Chattanooga Eagles Pathfinder Club in Tennessee, summed up pin trading. “You can commune and meet people you have never meet. You trade little tiny pins people made unique with their own style, unique to them, or where they come from.” Kuhlman traded pins with people from Great Britain, Brazil, Germany, and Michigan, and saw others from South Africa and South America. He was very excited to trade for a set of pins from Great Britain that had six pins, three different colors and three different designs. “It was a great experience and I hope to come to the next Camporee.”
For many the path leading to Camporee was filled with hard work. Abner Perez, who was born in Cuba and now lives in Miami, Florida, attended with his club, the Pilgrims, and received financial help from family. Every Sabbath his family would give him $20, sometimes friends would also give him $20, and it took a year of fundraising to gather all the funds needed to attend. He said, “Being out here in the camp and nature you feel the Creation of God — everything He has done for you, given to you, to enjoy some people. You don’t [often] get that chance, but we are doing it.”
For Ruth Bellevue, with the Immokalee Spanish Club in Immokalee, Florida, it was about God. “I come to Camporee to meet new people and to get more honors and explore,” she said, “and gain a better connection with God.”
The same is also true for Zenia Cole, with the Lithonia Saints from Georgia,“ I wanted to come to Camporee to get a closer relationship with God, to earn honors, and just have fun and enjoy myself. One way that I experienced God was when I took the Ellen White class honor. I learned who she was and what she did for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.”
Zuleyna Ortiz, with the Soldiers of the King Pathfinder Club in the First Hispanic Church, from Nashville, Tennessee, said, “Going to school it is really hard to find Seventh-day Adventists. Here there are so many Adventists that it is just like a piece of Heaven. We can come together as one and just worship the Lord. That is the greatest gift I could have. I love coming here every five years.”
Each evening the 47,000 Pathfinders would gather near the stage to sing praise songs, pray in a variety of languages, watch videos from events throughout the day, hear a short sermon from speaker Sam Leonor, campus pastor at La Sierra University in Riverside, California, enjoy the antics of Ryan and Chico the Lion (ventriloquist), and watch the live play on the life of the biblical Daniel. This really impacted Katherine Trujillo, with the Pilgrims Pathfinder Club in Miami, Florida, “The story of Daniel actually touched my heart. I have never seen a live show like that. It was long, but it made me laugh and reflect on things I do every day and how to do them. It made me think about second choices, and how to be faithful to God in everything you do, to not be afraid to tell people about God, no matter what they say about you.”
For many being baptized at the Camporee was something planned for and special. About 600 made the decision to accept Jesus and join the Adventist Church. One unusual set of triplets from Greeneville, Tennessee, chose Jesus and were baptized Thursday night along with the other Southern Union Pathfinders. Not from an Adventist home, the three attend Greeneville Adventist Academy while their mother, a physician, works at Takoma Adventist Hospital. She wanted a good school for her children and looked into the Seventh-day Adventist School close to work, and the triplets love it. They joined Pathfinders and now are officially baptized Church members. From a large family, they are the first in their family to join the Church.
Pathfinders is truly a family event. One family from Spencer, Tennessee, brought four generations to the camporee: great-grandma Lenora Clark; Lenora’s son, Bobby Clark; Bobby’s son, Sean Clark; and Sean’s baby, Benjamin Clark.
“After a while Pathfinders is not what you do, it is who are you,” said Lenora, who went to Tennessee to drive to Camporee with her family and their club, the Spartans. She credits Pathfinders with keeping her involved in her local church. “I have had the chance to do so many things I never would have otherwise, like caving, canoeing, and camporees, starting with ‘Dare to Care’ in Colorado.”
Being around Pathfinders, both Bobby and his son, Sean, could not wait to join at age 10. Sean brought his son, Benjamin, who is attending his second Pathfinder campout experience, well before the age of one. “It is a wonderful experience. You learn a lot, meet a lot of new people, and it is just wonderful all the way around,” said Sean.
Pathfinders and volunteers, mark your calendars for 2019. The theme is “Chosen” and it will feature the story of the biblical David. Check out the details on the website: http://www.camporee.org/.
Appreciation goes to the team at CYE (Center for Youth Evangelism) who organize the International Camporees. They continue to provide fantastic Camporees filled with activities, honors, opportunities for service, live plays sharing biblical stories, and most important, the opportunity to worship God with Pathfinders from around the globe.
Interesting notes include the following: the TLTs volunteered 5,960 hours of service during the Camporee, the medical team volunteered 130 hours, $40,000 was donated for medical supplies, 130 Pathfinder honors were offered, 5,500 Southern Union Pathfinders marched in the parade, the Nebuchadnezzar statue was built in height of 45 feet, $40,000 was collected for the Sabbath morning offering, and there were 75,000 Hope Channel viewers of the evening program.
is the communication director at the Georgia-Cumberland Conference in Calhoun, Georgia.
Southern Union | October 2014
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