Every international Pathfinder camporee offers attendees unique educational activities and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. At “Believe the Promise,” halls full of exhibits, vendors, and on-site activities allowed Pathfinders to learn more about regions across North America and beyond —ideas, history, Adventist organizations and culture, careers, hobbies, skills, volunteer services, different types of honors (230!), or new ways to have fun. Here is just a taste of what the camporee offered. 

“It’s so hard to choose activities,” said Riley Boston, a Pathfinder with the Michigan Area Adventurers and Pathfinders, who wandered through Pioneer Village with several friends from her group at the event that hosted 60,000 in Gillette, Wyoming, last week.

The village, sponsored by the Carolina Conference, hosted a variety of activities and honors teaching canning, quilting, candle making, soap carving, leathercraft, herbs, and more. Many of the tools used in the village come from Stanley Pennington’s father and his wife’s granddad. Pennington, a retiree from Lenoir, North Carolina, grew up using these skills and tools and wants to ensure the next generation also knows about them.

Ava Carr and some of her Pathfinder friends from Chesapeake Conference’s Ellicott City Stallions Club scaled the Pacific Union College-sponsored rock-climbing wall outside of Energy Hall before tackling the obstacle course and ax throwing honor, among other activities and honors they engaged in during their time at the camporee.

Pathfinders interested in digging deeper into the culture and history of Egypt had many avenues. The General Conference’s Egypt Quest offered honors (of course) and a scavenger hunt throughout the hall, encouraging participants to learn more. 

The Archaeology of the Exodus honor, led by Dr. L.S. Baker Jr., Egyptian archaeologist, and Bible scholar, also tied into the camporee’s Moses theme with daily presentations and a virtual reality experience of the Exodus. Combining data from Egyptian archaeology, the Bible, and Ellen White, this honor answered questions such as: Where did Israel live in Egypt? Who was the Pharaoh of the Exodus? Why were there 10 plagues? What was the route of the Exodus? And more. 

Dinosaur Encounter provided a stage production complete with a life-like T-Rex and Triceratops that taught about dinosaurs from a creationist perspective. The Geoscience Research Institute also offered opportunities to learn about dinosaurs, including a photo booth, a scavenger hunt for a Triceratops pin, and the chance to dig for fossils.

AdventHealth, a major sponsor of the camporee, hosted an exhibit space of 11,000 square feet — often with a line of Pathfinders waiting to enter. It featured a replica of Legacy Motor Club driver Erik Jones’s No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE that drove in NASCAR’s second annual Chicago Street Race. Staffers hosted hands-on activities that helped Pathfinders learn about the health system and its mission of “Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ.” 

Beyond honors on nature, science, and service, the exhibit halls offered visitors an education on Adventist organizations, publishers, resources, and media ministries such as the Voice of Prophecy.

On Sabbath, attendees who remained at the complex met voice actors from Discovery Mountain, Voice of Prophecy’s audio podcast for children. Throughout the week, the booth featured a flight simulator, a prize wheel, and resources to help share the gospel. 

Eddie Schwisow, public relations director of the Voice of Prophecy, said they want to share resources for children to use in churches, schools, and neighborhoods. “Ultimately, we would like our Discovery Mountain listeners to become missionaries. We have resources to help them.”

A hall full of Seventh-day Adventist educational institutions and ministries allowed attendees to explore options for high school and college. Blue Mountain Academy, Pennsylvania Conference’s academy in Hamburg, offered a VR flight through the Appalachian Mountains, ending on the high school campus. 

Susan Thomas, a volunteer of Maranatha International and member of Allegheny East Conference’s Hillside church in Harrisburg, participated in one of the many volunteer opportunities: stuffing backpacks for local schools. “I think it’s awesome [to help] and to know that our young people, Pathfinders, are here to help other young people and bring the gospel to them.” 

The Campbell family from Maryland — Michael, Heidi, and Emma — and several of Emma’s friends who were in the Chesapeake Conference’s Atholton Faith Blazers Club in Columbia, Maryland, taught the Women in Adventist History Honor that they helped create a couple of years ago.  

“We want to promote Adventist history, but specifically … the contributions of women in our Adventist past,” said Michael Campbell, director of North American Division’s Archives, Statistics and Research department. “And so that's what this honor is about … celebrating those incredible contributions and hopefully inspiring a new generation of young women — as well as young men — to look at opportunities and ways that they can make a difference in the church and share the love of Jesus to the world around us.” 

The halls also represented the culture of Adventism with pins and gear from AdventSource and others. Among these, Danny Dubousque represented his brand, 1844 (https://www.facebook.com/eighteenfortyfour), a clothing line specializing in Adventist-culture-related shirts, caps, calendars, and more; and sold camporee stickers and “haystack” hats and shirts. “People love identifying with the Adventist culture,” he concluded. 

— V. Michelle Bernard is an associate director of communication for the Columbia Union Conference, and news and online editor for the Visitor magazine.