Some 1,800 teenagers from across Europe met July 29 to August 6 in Zatonie, Poland, for one of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's most internationally diverse youth camps.
Some 1,800 teenagers from across Europe met July 29 to August 6 in Zatonie, Poland, for one of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s most internationally diverse youth camps. Known as a Pathfinder Camporee, the event is held by the Adventist Church in the Trans-European region every four years, and is focused on fun, friendship, and spiritual development. Local Polish young people were joined by groups from countries including: Britain, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Pakistan, and France.
One of the goals of the Camporee is to encourage friendships between teens of different nationalities, say event organizers. The young people were encouraged to complete the Camporee Friendship Award by visiting every national camp and collecting a stamp to indicate that they had done so.
Paul Tompkins, youth ministries leader for the church in the Trans-European region, was the main organizer of the event. He says one of the highlights of the Camporee was the Market Day, where Pathfinders raised funds for a mission project. Goods were brought and sold, games devised and services rendered with the aim of raising funds to build a church in the Padianwala district of Pakistan, and also to provide playground equipment for the nearby Kot Sundr Adventist school.
At the end of the event, the Pathfinders had raised a total of 37,254.56 Polish Zlotys (GBP 5,800/USD$9,100) for these projects. “The goal I had in mind was for GBP 5,000 to be raised from this effort, and it was absolutely amazing to see it come to fruition,” says Tompkins. “It is planned that the church can be built next year and that a group from the [Adventist Church in the Trans-European region] will be able to go over to be part of the building project.”
A group of some 170 Pathfinders also went into nearby towns four times during the Camporee as part of an “Impact activity,” where they met and mingled with the local community. The Pathfinders made friends with local children, gave away balloons and literature, and put on puppet shows and musical performances.
The Camporee ended with the Pathfinder flag being handed to the Danish Pathfinders who are already planning to host the Camporee in four years.
The Pathfinder movement is a worldwide organization operated by the Adventist Church. It is dedicated to assisting the social, spiritual, and physical development of young people.
