From the 3rd to the 6th of May 2024, more than 250 people, including parents, staff, pathfinders, and adventurers gathered in Newmarket-on-Fergus for the annual Irish Mission Pathfinder and Adventurer camporee. With nine clubs represented from around Ireland, the campground was buzzing with diversity of culture and unity in Spirit and truth. Seeing this number of people gather to unite and further, the Pathfinder mission is a blessing beyond what we could have hoped for.
On Friday the different clubs set up base and prepared tents for their campers to sleep in and prepare food which took a while, but with cooperation and a bit of teamwork the clubs were finished, and the first worship of the night announced the official opening of the camporee. Pathfinders completed honours such as duct tape, kings of the Bible, automobile mechanics, and basic first aid across two days of well-organised and fun-packed sessions led by staff from across the mission. They also participated in marching and drilling and put on an epic presentation for the whole camp!
On the Sabbath, the pathfinders and adventurers participated in an interactive Sabbath school activity that encouraged them to share what it meant to be a person after God’s own heart. They used nature and personal belongings to create visual representations of their thoughts. God blessed the camporee with a beautiful Irish Sun, so the activities were completed with the sun shining over the pathfinders and an incredibly bright sky. Pathfinders were not the only ones to have a blast though. Adventurers completed awards including Bible royalty, women of the Bible, and the Camper award. There was also a station of board games and table games that the kids could use at any time of the camporee. And they put it to very good use!
There were two nights of bonfires which saw the young people playing games and telling stories, while roasting marshmallows on the fire! It was a whole lot of fun! Activities and honours are a blast, but the camporee would not be complete without ample worship and praise to God. Pastor Andres J. Peralta, the World Adventurer and Pathfinder Director, blessed the camporee with electrifying talks that brought to life the central theme of the camp which was “After God’s Own Heart”. The theme of the talks centred around the story of David and the characteristics that made him a man after God’s own heart.
Clubs took turns leading praise and worship which was beautiful to see! As the camp ended Pastor Andres ended his final talk with an appeal for anyone who wanted to take a step into the arms of Jesus. So many young people made the decision and Pastor Peralta and Pastor Kevin Johns prayed over the group of young people. The presence of the Holy Spirit was tangible, and the blessing was felt by everyone, not just the pathfinders and adventurers.
On the final day of the camporee, Pastor Kevin Johns recapped the messages we had received and made an appeal for baptism. The Lord worked on the hearts of so many young people and many of them decided to be baptised. Hooray! God is so good! The Irish Mission is so thankful to God for how He has used Pathfinder ministry to impact the youth and children of the country and we continue to pray that events like this one will grow the mission even more!
Some of the pathfinders and adventurers shared their experiences. Richard from Ballinacrow said he loved the auto mechanics honour and he learned things like how to change the brake fluid, how to change a tyre, where antifreeze goes, and how to know when to change oil and how to do it as well as what to do if you put the wrong fuel in a car. He summed up the camp activities as being, quote, “Really fun.”
Joshua from Cork is an exchange student from Germany and he summed up his experience by saying, “The Camporee was for me: Definitely a new experience with a lot of things to reflect on. I was overwhelmed by the incredible community. I truly loved the message from Pastor Andres: After God’s own heart. In addition to that, the camp itself had a lot of highlights for me. Specially to do the Honour of Automobile Mechanics.”
