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NEWSFRONT
Pathfinder camporees make lasting impact
Brenton Stacey
Forty-five Pathfinders were baptised and
hundreds made decisions for baptism
during camporees in Australia, Fiji and
New Zealand over the year-end.
A Pathfinder is a Seventh-day Adventist
aged between 10 and 15. A camporee is a
mix of activity-based learning and worship.
Australia
The 2600 Pathfinders attending the
camporee in Australia, January 2-6,
marched through the streets of Waikerie,
South Australia, for their opening parade.
“We take pride in ourselves and in our
organisation,” says Pastor Tony Knight,
youth director for the Australian Union
Conference. “We wanted to say to the
townspeople, ‘Here’s a church doing
something significant for its young adults,
and it’s paying off.’”
The Pathfinders returned to Waikerie
during the camporee to build a sundial as a
gift to the community.
The camporee theme, Courage to
Conquer, focused on the biblical story of
the children of Israel and their quest to
enter the Promised Land of Canaan. Pastor
Knight and his team even built to
specification a replica of the tabernacle.
Several clubs from rural churches could
not attend the camporee because their
leaders could not leave their droughtravaged
farms. “We took a risk holding
camporee in South Australia at this time of
year,” says Pastor Knight. “But the dust and
the dryness suited us. The Pathfinders got a
real taste of what it would have been like to
live—as the children of Israel did—in
desert conditions.”
Almost 200 Pathfinders made a decision
for baptism during the camporee. More
than 250 asked for Bible studies. More than
400 promised to serve in their communities
as volunteers in the future.
Fiji
The 3500 Pathfinders attending the
camporee in Fiji marched through the
streets of the capital, Suva, January 10,
carrying placards with anti-drug messages.
P r i m e
Minister Laisenia
Qarase, in
a speech during
the opening
parade, January
5, described the
Pathfinders as
future church,
civic and community
leaders.
He also
spoke of the appropriateness
of
using his alma
mater, the
Queen Victoria
School near
Three union Pathfinder camporees took place this summer. Pictured are some
Pathfinders from Tonga at the Trans-Pacific Union Misson camporee in Fiji.
Korovou—established originally as a
training ground for future leaders of
Fiji—as the camporee site. “You children
of today are a country’s most valuable and
important resource. It is good for the
future of our region that you should come
together in this way now,” The Daily Post
reported the Prime Minister as saying.
More than 200 Pathfinders from the
Solomon Islands attended the camporee,
despite their country’s crippling economic,
political and social problems.
The more than 350 Pathfinders attending
from Vanuatu chartered the only plane to
fly to Fiji three times. “It flies only once a
week and seats only about 120,” says Joe
Talemaitoga, the communication director
for the Trans-Pacific Union Mission. “The
Pathfinders chartered the plane during the
early morning. They departed Vila at 1.00
am for the one-and-a-half-hour flight to
Nandi, then boarded three buses for the
three-hour drive to Suva.”
Pathfinders from Kiribati, Niue,
Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu also attended
the camporee.
New Zealand
Nine hundred Pathfinders attended the
camporee at Tui Ridge Park in Rotorua,
New Zealand, December 31 to January 4.
More than 140 were from the Cook Islands,
French Polynesia and New Caledonia.
Pastor Nick Kross—youth director for
the New Zealand Pacific Union Conference—and
his team established what
they called “net banking” for the camporee.
The system, which reflected the camporee
theme of Cast Your Net, used fish money as
tender. “We gave the Pathfinder leaders the
money to give to the Pathfinders as a
reward for good behaviour. It also acted as
an incentive for the Pathfinders to get to
know their leaders better.”
Pastor Kross and his team gave each club
a bankbook to record how much money
each Pathfinder received. The clubs banked
the money before each of the evening
programs and then watched for the total of
their account during a stock-market report.
“One club said it would aim to increase
by one the number of its Pathfinders for
each note of money it collected during the
camporee,” says Pastor Kross. The club
banked 50 notes.
The stage for the evening program
resembled a house on the shores on the Sea
of Galilee. A large net hung over the
program venue.
“We wanted camporee to be inclusive of
all cultures,” says Pastor Kross, “That’s why
we chose a geographically specific theme,
but one that linked beautifully with the
biblical story of Jesus and His disciples.”
More than 80 Pathfinders asked for Bible
studies during the camporee.
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February 8, 2003