The final stage of the 2023 Pathfinder Bible Experience took place on April 15 in Athens, Greece.

The event was attended by 68 teams from different European countries, including the United Kingdom, Greece, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, Finland, Montenegro, and others—a total of twenty-three countries. The focus of the meeting was the Gospel of John.

Ukraine was represented by three teams, which won first place at the preparatory stage on March 12. Then, during the all-Ukrainian meeting in Chernivtsi, two teams from Zhovkva, Eliezer-1 and Eliezer-2, and the God's GPS team from Pryluky had the best results.

The world quiz required teams of six to answer ninety questions. The difficulty was that a given question provided only thirty seconds to discuss and write the answer. The answers were evaluated by a coach and independent judges.

To start from the beginning, preparation was persistent and difficult. Every day, the rangers tried to devote one-to-two hours to studying texts from the Gospel of John. Every week, the teams met to discuss the material they had studied and research and resolve any issues of discussion. It was the individual work of the coaches with each child and their support and focus on achieving results that helped to reach significant success in learning the material.

Of course, the great desire of the children themselves to comprehend the meaning of the Gospel played an important role. Club leaders repeatedly called on parents to help, and many of them even studied the Scriptures with their children. However, teamwork played a major role in the preparation.

It is important to note that some grandmothers were happy to compose questions for their grandchildren and thus help them study the Scriptures. And the prayerful support of the rangers at each stage of the quiz united the communities.

The road to Greece was long and, of course, not without incident. In Romania, one of the minibuses, which had previously been involved in a humanitarian mission in the conflict zone in the eastern part of our country, broke down. The rangers and their escorts faced the prospect of spending the night right at the site of the breakdown, but the Lord took care of their lodging. The local Adventist community sheltered the travelers in their homes. The very next day, the vehicle was repaired, and the rangers continued their journey.

The journey of another team was no less dramatic. Due to technical problems, they arrived at the venue at the last minute before the start, so they had no time to rest or prepare. However, the Lord helped them to get through not only the difficult journey but also the quiz.

For the event, the organizers rented a large conference room in the President Hotel that could accommodate more than 1,000 participants.

The atmosphere of the quiz was incredible! In the same room, in different languages, for almost four hours in a row, children quoted the Gospel of John, which declares the good news of the Savior Jesus Christ to everyone. Many of the rangers knew entire chapters of Scripture by heart, so the level of preparation was very high.

Thanks to their diligent training and especially the prayerful support of the communities, the Ukrainian rangers achieved a good result: All three teams scored the maximum number of points and took first place. First place out of more than a thousand participants–their happiness and joy knew no bounds! The rangers realized their hard work was appreciated not only by the organizers but also, most importantly, by the Lord. The awards, badges, and certificates received by the winners marked a common triumph in God's work and once again reminded the world's Pathfinder movement of the dedication and perseverance of the clubs in Ukraine. And for the participants in the quiz from Ukraine, it is a reminder that the Lord supports, inspires, and guides His children, even in the face of the hardships associated with the conflict.

In addition to the tremendous, invaluable spiritual enrichment and experience, the rangers received incredible impressions from the trip and were able to attain a collection of unforgettable emotions and warm memories. These span more than 4,000 kilometers of roads in Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece; picturesque serpentines and passes of the Carpathians; ferry crossing of the mighty Danube River; many kilometers of tunnels in the mountain ranges of Bulgaria and Greece; the famous Mount Olympus; the opportunity to pick tangerines from trees and enjoy them right in the park of Athens; the clean Aegean Sea, where some of the rangers swam for the first time in their lives; excursions to the biblical sites of Athens and Thessaloniki; Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria; the unforgettable flavors of other big cities and small towns of four cultures; and finally, the thermal pools of the Kosyno health and recreation complex in Zakarpattia.

All this undoubtedly made a warm (literally and figuratively), unforgettable impression on all travelers. All the Pathfinders, their parents, and the congregations realized that despite the difficulties of memorizing a large amount of Scripture, the financial costs and time spent on the trip, and the many days of fatigue and excitement, the experiences with the Lord were worth it.

This unique opportunity to strengthen children in the Lord was realized thanks to the support of both parents and church members and the club ministry developed in the communities. Every Sabbath, almost without exception, the Pathfinders' meetings shape them into strong, resilient, courageous, confident followers of Jesus. And the delicious joint lunches after the meetings are a great end to the weekly club training.

Mentors and club leaders are happy with the results achieved by their students because children and teenagers are the future of the nation and the church. Therefore, it's important to develop and establish them in the Lord together. Pathfinder club ministry in Adventist communities is the labor that bears imperishable fruit.

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6, NKJV).

The original version of this story was posted on the Ukrainian Union Conference Ukrainian-language news site.