One of the main attractions at the fifth South American Pathfinder Camporee is a special booth dedicated to Pathfinder Club history. Thanks to donations from 56 countries, a collection of more than 50 thousand items from the Pathfinder International Museum is on display. 

Among these objects are pictures, uniforms, and manuals, as well as 7,500 event patches—including nearly all Camporees conducted by the Adventist Church in South America. There are only five patches left to complete the collection made possible through trading and donations.

At the booth, visitors make a journey through history, in chronological order, from the formation of the Club in the United States to the present day. “I am very excited to see the intense growth and how our children even today continue to proclaim Jesus message through Pathfinders Club,” says Irina Alejandora, the architect of the project. Alejandora came from Trujillo, Peru.

For Professor Jair Weltom from the Federal District, the display brought back memories from  the 28 years he dedicated to the association. “I remembered the time I spent wearing a cap and cream-colored uniform. [The museum] is good for the new generations to see that we have a history, that Pathfinders didn’t start by chance,” he emphasizes.

Preservation of History

While adults enjoy visiting the museum to remember lived moments, everything is new for the teenagers. “I liked seeing other countries’ uniforms and it was great to see the history that made Pathfinders Club the great movement it is today,” says Nicole Santana, a 12-year-old student from Goiânia, Goiás.

Two friends from Curitiba, Parańa took the initiative to create the museum. Carlos Araujo, the administrator, and Nelson Pires, a businessman, collected patches and decided to organize the museum after participating in the 2014 South American Camporee. Today, they  have legal registration and a board composed of members from various parts of Brazil. The goal is to build physical headquarters next year in Curitiba, Florianópolis, or Balneário Camboriú.

The collection of the International Pathfinders Museum will also be available to see on the Internet. According to the organizers, pictures of the items will be available at the institution site, which is scheduled to be launched in the second half of 2019.

A Worldwide Organization

The Pathfinder Club was made official on a worldwide level in 1950. The first South American Club began its activities in 1955, in Lima, Peru. In Brazil, the first clubs were organized in 1959, in Santa Catarina and São Paulo.