The Águas Pathfinder Club held an event on July 2, 2023, to invest Adrian Dias, a Pathfinder with autism, as a leader. He is the first person with autism to receive the leader's scarf in the Federal District. In this way, the event is a milestone in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Brasília and its surroundings.
Udolcy Zukowski, director of Pathfinders for the South American Division, explains that the organization receives boys and girls from 10–15 years old and provides each of them with the possibilities of physical, mental, and spiritual development. "We have this very important situation of having inclusion. In other words, looking for people so that they can be served within the club," he stresses.
Zukowski also points out that the club serves people with mobility or learning difficulties. "The Pathfinder ministry also works to help them develop and reach levels that, perhaps for others, might seem impossible. For example, what we are seeing here, which is an investiture of a person with autism. It really shows how open we are to inclusion," he explains.
"All people can reach new levels, new possibilities, new heights, new victories, if we give them the opportunity," Zukowski argues. In addition to recognition for dedication as a Pathfinder, receiving the leader's scarf is also a responsibility within the club and the church.
New Opportunities
"It is almost sunset when the day ends and a new one begins, full of new opportunities. It's like that at the time of the investiture, especially because we invest Adrian," emphasizes Pastor Ivay Araújo, director of Pathfinders Ministry for the Central Planalto Conference.
"We are giving the possibilities, through inclusion, for new leaders, new Pathfinders to come to the club, participate, and have this feeling, this privilege, that we have now. It is a mixture of emotions for being the first person with autism here in the Federal District that we invest in the leadership class," Araújo highlights.
Araújo also explains that Adrian worked hard and had the help of his parents and club leaders. "He is a counselor of a unit and had support from it. We hope to have more people who, through inclusion, are invested in leadership," he reinforces.
A Different Achievement
Dias is the son of Pathfinder parents and was diagnosed with autism at the age of nine. About the event, he defined it as "quite exciting."
"It was quite surprising how many people came, both from my present and my past. I enjoyed seeing people," Dias said of the presence of members of his former Pathfinder club. "It's great. Inclusion is something that should happen in any way, as long as it is not forced and is in a beautiful way."
His mother, Adriana Oliveira, who is also a leader of Pathfinders, points out that there are no words for the emotion she felt. "If there is anything we can say to summarize it, [it] is ‘gratitude,’" she says.
"The miracles that we saw God do in his life, the growth and development, him wanting to get here—he did it; he went after it, and it was not easy. There were difficult specialties for him to do, but he went and overcame the challenges, and we are very proud of him and grateful to God. The feeling is of great gratitude," highlights Oliveira.
Inclusion and Limitations
Above all, inclusion is fundamental for the development of an increasingly fair society. It is also about respecting limits and adapting tasks so that everyone can achieve new possibilities.
Thus, Adventist Pathfinder clubs play a key role in involving each child and adolescent in different tasks, seeking to develop responsible leaders.
The environment for Pathfinders, as well as Adventurers, is a place of welcome, instruction, recognition, and full development in distinct specialties, regardless of the differences and ability children and adolescents have.
An Inclusive Club
With outdoor activities, training, practical learning, and, above all, Christian values, the Pathfinder Club provides an environment for personal and spiritual growth and a sense of belonging.
Thus, it is possible to generate a feeling of an inclusive community in which children and adolescents are encouraged to participate in the various activities.
Possibilities
Adventist Possibility Ministries (APM) seeks to involve the church and its departments to support deaf people, blind people, people with physical disabilities or reduced mobility, people with some cognitive, intellectual, mental, or psychological limitation, orphaned children or those in vulnerable situations, those bereaved by the loss of a loved one, and caregivers. MAP aims to increasingly achieve the inclusion of all people who, for some reason, do not feel welcomed.
The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division Portuguese-language news site.