Youth programs don’t stop for coronavirus outbreak
As serious as the global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus is—and with over 5 million cases worldwide, it is very serious indeed—the Seventh-day Adventist Church continues an emphasis on youth nurture and development.
In Paraguay, a nation of 7.25 million people in the center of South America, that means taking the church’s Pathfinder program (“Conquistadores” in Spanish) for children age 10 and up, and the Adventurers (“Aventureros”) for younger children, online. There are 12,622 Seventh-day Adventists in Paraguay, approximately one for every 574 people in the nation.
Every Sunday in April at 10:00 a.m. and at 3:00 p.m. leaders of Pathfinders and Adventurers carried out live broadcasts through the official Facebook pages: Pathfinders Paraguay and Adventurers Paraguay with the aim of presenting a structure for each club to do the planned activities online.
The theme of the National Online Club Program consisted of launching creative and dynamic challenges including:
A piece of music or chorus
A short meditation
A chapter of the book of the year
The biblical year with verses corresponding to each week
Intercessory prayer
Progressive class activities for each Pathfinder according to their age
Development of a specialty.
In addition to these actions, the Pathfinder Ministry launched a daily challenge where the members shared it on social networks.
At the beginning of May, the clubs presented their annual plans and were challenged to start formal activities through the Zoom online video platform.
With their corresponding uniforms, Adventurers and Pathfinders along with their leaders held the club's opening ceremony to kick off this year's activities.
There are 2,021 registered members of the Pathfinders and 1,206 Adventurers in Paraguay, church officials said. On Sunday, May 10, the national launch of the "Leaders' Academy" took place. There, 11 Pathfinder, 10 Adventurer, and 18 Youth academies began.
This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site