Northwest Pathfinders Experience God’s Enduring Promises

There’s a quip about how life is 10% what happens to you and 90% about how you react to it. This is particularly true for the Pathfinder experience at this year’s International Pathfinder Camporee which saw a variety of travel adventures, the realities of having 60,000 people gathered in one place and the resiliency before, during and after an intense prairie storm.

Travel Adventures

Many Pacific Northwest Pathfinder clubs planned fun sightseeing outings on the road to Gillette, Wyoming.

David Perrin from Oregon Conference reported a “big loop” driving adventure with stops at Mesa Verde National Park, the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park, Great Sands Dunes National Park, the Focus on the Family and Adventures in Odyssey Visitor Center, and finally Rocky Mountain National Park — all before arriving in Gillette!

Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, Jewel Caves, Shoshone Falls, Deerlodge National Forest, Hayalite Reservoir, Mount Rushmore and even the Idaho Potato Museum also provided a break from the road for many Pathfinder clubs and families.

Seven clubs from Oregon Conference attended Idaho Falls Church on Sabbath morning, shared Nate Hellman. “We brought the attendance from about 40 members to a packed sanctuary,” he wrote.

Michelle Lemon from Idaho Conference shared a photo of a family van decked out with car art showcasing how they were bound for Wyoming from Idaho and sharing a message about God’s love.

Various clubs and families reported seeing “Believe the Promise” camporee-decorated vehicles along their drive and having opportunities to chat with fellow Pathfinder club members at rest stops.

Laurel Rogers from Oregon Conference shared one memorable rest stop experience where she overheard a Pathfinder mother from New York say that it was her twins’ birthday.

“The entire bathroom of total strangers — many not Pathfinders — erupted into singing, ‘Happy Birthday,’” Rogers recounted on a @NWAdventists social media post.

As Pathfinders traveled, the popular listening options were Discovery Mountain, Pilgrim’s Progress, Adventures in Odyssey and more.

Two teens from Cascade Eagles shared in a Washington Conference recap video how they flew to Denver, Colorado, and then rented cars to drive the final distance to the camporee.

“We drove in separate cars, so each car was a different experience. Audiobooks, music, we just had a fun time driving here,” they said.

Not all was fun and adventures: Multiple clubs reported mechanical issues with cars, whether hot brakes, broken air conditioning or other situations. Yet, each club saw how God provided for their needs.

“The first day, we started with the bus losing A/C, so it was a little interesting,” shared a Puyallup Pioneers Pathfinder in a Washington Conference recap video. “We all prayed, we got our A/C fixed and we all made it.”

Arrival and Activities

Arrival at CAM-PLEX Multi-Event Facilities in Gillette, Wyoming, brought a frenzy of activity for getting campsites set up. The North Pacific Union camping area is housing clubs from Oregon, Washington, Upper Columbia, Idaho, Montana and Alaska conferences. NPUC is also hosting Pathfinders from Palau.

Oregon Pathfinders shared a video clip featuring Pathfinders with their expectations for the week: lots of pin trading, honors, meeting new friends, making memories and learning more about God.

As Pathfinders started in with their camporee experience, they soon discovered the realities of having 60,000 people gathered in one place. There are a lot of people for one camporee facility! The exhibit halls and honor learning spaces are full, and some spaces have crowd control monitoring to let in a certain amount of people at a time.

The NPUC Creation Study Center museum led by Stan Hudson, NPUC creation ministries coordinator, and his wife, Cindy, is set up at the camporee. “Our booth is in the southwest corner of the East Pavilion,” Cindy shared. “We were wondering if the Pathfinders could find our booth. Silly me, Pathfinders take orienteering and hike over mountains. We have great volunteers. 60,000 Pathfinders is a lot of people to navigate through our honors and scavenger hunt.”

The Creation Museum is partnering with Geoscience Research Institute to present honor classes for Geology, Rocks and Minerals, Meteorites and Dinosaurs.

Peter Simpson, NPUC vice president for Hispanic ministries and ministerial director, and his wife, Carolina, NPUC Hispanic ministries administrative assistant, are volunteering at the Creation Museum. They are reporting seeing booth guests from Ghana, Hong Kong, Japan, Argentina and British Columbia, Canada, along with domestic clubs from Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee.

Northwest conferences are contributing many honor classes and activities with Upper Columbia Conference Pathfinders presenting multiple regional pilot honors for topics including: agricultural technology, animal rescue, astronomy, deep sea oceanography, equestrian vaulting, health evangelism, heroes of the Reformation, homeless ministry, integumentary system (an honor about human skin), musical notation, Oregon Trail, Pony Express, popcorn, Ten Commandments, thunderstorms, tide pools, tundra, Word of God and 3D printing.

Additionally, Idaho Conference is teaching basic pewter casting and pewter casting II and Washington Conference is offering a silk screen printing class and activity.

Oregon Conference meanwhile has activities like a cave maze and human foosball. Alaska Conference is sponsoring a Daniel & Revelation-themed escape room were small groups of 3-5 participants go through a collection of puzzle challenges to solve riddles using their Bibles to receive the final combination code for the lock to “escape.”

Walla Walla University is hosting the Great Ball Contraption activity in an attempt to gain a world record to bring the most built and finished models for testing. The goal is to attempt to run 400 modules.

Storm Interruption

The first full day of camporee activities was well underway on a hot day when a storm started brewing. As the dark clouds drew closer in the 4 o’clock hour, the initial instructions to shelter in place soon became an urgent directive to seek shelter in one of the facility buildings.

As the storm began arriving, Lara Dowie, Upper Columbia Conference youth ministries administrative assistant, posted on her Facebook profile a request for prayers as the second storm of the camporee flooded their clubs.

“Even though we flooded twice in 14 hours, everyone is still positive and working together,” Dowie said. “I love this team. One person quipped that the theme this year shouldn’t have been Moses. It should have been Noah!”

As the storm moved on, Pathfinders assessed their situation. The storm — with its influx of rain and wind — did cause some low-lying campsite flooding and damage. The main stage sustained some damage as well. However, there are no reports of personal injury.

“Sunrise Pathfinders from Walla Walla City Church fared well,” reported Carrie Bergherm on @NWAdventists social media. “The roadway to our site became a river and the campsite across from us had a lake in the kitchen tent and one camper tent in the water. The group next to us had their kitchen tent destroyed. Most seem to be in good spirits, and they set to work cleaning up.”

“Graham Standard Bearers sheltered in our van behind the hotel,” said Heather Holdener from Washington Conference. “We had our He is Our Song books and we sang and prayed the whole time. We were scared but we were believing the promise that God and His angels would keep us safe. Compared to some clubs we were extremely lucky. We just lost two of our EZ Ups and a little food. It was amazing to watch the spiritual battle of the Great Controversy that was happening all around us!”

Tualatin Valley Pathfinders from Oregon Conference along with Pathfinders from Montana all reported they were safe, although wet.

In early reports, the area dubbed “International Village” sustained the most damage, according to North American Division. Reports indicate that at least 40% of the international club campsites were wiped out, largely due to flooding.

With a canceled evening program on Tuesday night and delayed programming on Wednesday morning, clubs had a chance to regroup. There are many reports of random acts of kindness from fellow clubs and the Gillette community.

Diane Thurber, Christian Record Services president, shared how on Wednesday morning she went to a local breakfast restaurant called Lula Belle’s where the locals like to eat.

“People at the table nearest us wanted to know if we were out at the camporee,” Thurber recounted. “When we confirmed we were, one told us how he took a tent out to Cam-Plex as soon as the storm passed. He said he told his wife when he saw the storm coming that they needed to pray. His wife heard some campers needed dry bedding, so she filled two bags with bedding and gave two brand-new pillows. Another said her car is filled with supplies, and she’s heading to drop off them off after breakfast. Such wonderful people in Wyoming!”

Multiple club leaders commented how Pathfinders were keeping good attitudes and understanding how God’s promises endure even through the storms of life. The best visual reminder after the storm: a full double rainbow.

International Pathfinder Camporee continues through Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. Tune in via camporee.org each evening at 6 p.m. (Mountain) to watch baptisms and the “Believe the Promise” evening program livestream. Wednesday night’s program will feature Acts 1–2 of the story of Moses.

Safe in the Storm Photo Gallery