A six-day Pathfinder tour across southeastern Mexico culminated on the Seventh-day Adventist Church's World Pathfinder Day, September 19, with baptisms and celebrations throughout the Southeast Mexican Union. Church leaders reported 164 people were baptized during the tour.
Held under the theme "Speak, Lord," the tour brought together Pathfinders, parents, club leaders, and church members for spiritual programs, baptisms, and special activities.
For Víctor Martínez, Southeast Mexican Union Youth Ministries director, the conversion stories shared along the tour route were among the most meaningful moments. He said the Pathfinders’ response to the messages, music, and testimonies turned each stop into “an experience of worship.”
The Southeast Mexican Union reported that 660 Pathfinders have been baptized so far in 2026. Since 2020, the territory's Pathfinder Ministry has contributed to 2,368 baptisms.
Daniel Torreblanca, Inter-American Division Youth Ministries director, joined the tour and met with Pathfinders and families at several stops.
He emphasized the role that Pathfinder units and counselors can play in the spiritual development of children and adolescents.
“Discipleship is a process of imitation,” Torreblanca said, explaining that leaders have an opportunity to model Christ through the way they live and relate to young people.
He encouraged counselors to view each Pathfinder unit as a small family where relationships and consistent spiritual mentoring can help young people develop their relationship with Jesus.
Preparation for the baptisms began months before the tour. Pathfinders interested in baptism were guided through Bible studies by pastors, club leaders, and families. Other Pathfinders were able to help fellow club members prepare after being trained to share the Faith of Jesus Bible course.
Church leaders said the collaborative approach creates opportunities to connect with Pathfinders whose families are not part of the Adventist Church.
Raquel Hernández from Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, said community invitations and social media promotion of Pathfinder activities have attracted children from families of other faiths. As children get more involved in the club and begin Bible studies, Pathfinder leaders develop relationships with their parents. As those relationships deepen, parents are invited to learn more about the Adventist faith.
Manolo Camacho, South Quintana Roo Mission president, said involving children and adolescents in mission prepares them for future leadership.
“God can use a child, an adolescent, and young people in His mission,” Camacho said.
Pathfinder leaders said that several baptism decisions made during the tour illustrated how the Pathfinder ministry is reaching entire families.
In Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Heidi Jackeline Valdez had taken her sons, Nahim and Alan, to children’s activities at the Adventist church since they were young. Later, a cousin invited the family to join the church's Pathfinder club.
During the tour’s stop in Chetumal, Alan told his mother he wanted to be baptized. Valdez initially thought he might be too young to make the decision. As the evening unfolded, she decided that she also wanted to be baptized.
“People have always told me that God is with me; I want to be with Him,” she said.
Valdez and Alan were baptized together at the Santa Elena Seventh-day Adventist Church by Samuel Gómez.
In Ciudad del Carmen, Jade Gámez, a member of the Jehová Shalom Pathfinder Club at the Belisario Adventist Church, had completed Bible studies but continued postponing baptism.
During the tour, she decided she was ready and was the last person baptized that evening. Her mother, Sara Gámez, received permission to leave work so she could be there for her daughter’s decision.
The Pathfinder tour concluded in Villahermosa, Tabasco, where the influence of the Pathfinder Ministry extended to an entire family.
Angélica and Betsabé Fernández, members of the Cabsel Pathfinder Club at the CENEVA church, had attended club activities with support from their father, Marcos. Marcos regularly drove his daughters to church but chose to wait in the car rather than go inside.
Concerned about their father, the girls asked their local youth pastor what they could do to help him make a decision for God. The pastor encouraged them to continue praying for him.
On the final day of the tour, Marcos came inside the church for the program. When an appeal was made, he responded, choosing to be baptized alongside Angélica, Betsabé, and his wife, Georgina, who had already completed their baptismal preparation.
The Pathfinder tour also recognized leaders working to establish and sustain Pathfinder clubs. Seventy-three leaders received medals for planting new clubs.
“Our desire is for every church to have a club,” Martínez said.
For Martínez, the 164 baptisms reflected the spiritual influence of Pathfinder Ministry.
“We recognize that Pathfinders are sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit,” he said.
Martínez said the hundreds of Pathfinder baptisms so far this year reflect the Ministry’s broader role in discipleship.
“Pathfinder Ministry is an agency of internal evangelism,” he said. “From within the church, it seeks to make disciples by involving leaders and parents.”
The Adonai Pathfinder Club at the Berea Church in the South Tabasco Conference was recently launched with 14 members. Under the guidance of Trinidad Gómez Álvarez, the club has focused on supporting spiritual growth. Five of the members are now preparing for baptism.
The original article was published on the Inter-American Division news site.
