More than 1,500 Pathfinders gathered between October 7 and 12, 2025 at the first combined camporee of the entire state of New South Wales, in Australia. It was the first time that the clubs of three of the state's Adventist conferences — North New South Wales (NNSW), South New South Wales (SNSW) and Greater Sydney (GSC) — camped together at a single event, according to Adventist Record, the official publication of the Adventist Church in the region.
Under the theme 'Fearless in Faith', inspired by the biblical story of Esther, the six-day program combined worship, honour classes and outdoor activities. The spiritual outcome drew attention: more than 330 Pathfinders requested baptism over the course of the week, in addition to many others who asked for Bible studies, Adventist Record reported.
What happened
The camp took place at Yarra Holiday Park, in Stuarts Point, on the north coast of New South Wales, and lasted six days. The event's hallmark was not only the size — 1,500 people is a significant number for a statewide camporee —, but the fact that it was the first to bring together, on the same grounds, clubs that until then camped separately within the state.
According to Adventist Record, the program included theatre presentations, moments of group worship, honour classes (the so-called honours, equivalent to the especialidades in Brazil) and a series of outdoor activities. There was also a market day, with Pathfinders selling homemade products to raise funds, and a pin-swapping initiative between clubs and conferences — a common tradition at camporees around the world.
Three conferences, one single camp
The point that makes this camporee a milestone is the word combined. New South Wales, the most populous state in Australia, is divided by the Adventist Church into three administrative fields: the North New South Wales Conference (NNSW), the South New South Wales Conference (SNSW) and the Greater Sydney Conference (GSC), the latter covering the Sydney metropolitan area.
Each of these conferences used to organize its own camps. Bringing them together into a single statewide camporee required aligning calendars, logistics and leadership across the three fields. Leading the organization were the youth directors of each conference — pastors Dejan Stojkovic (Greater Sydney), Ashley Smith (NNSW) and Rangi Eiao (SNSW), according to Adventist Record.
For the Pathfinder reader in Brazil, a comparison is worth making: it is as if clubs from neighboring administrative regions, which had always camped on their own, decided to hold a single camporee for the entire state. The union multiplies the gathering, but also the behind-the-scenes work.
'Fearless in Faith': the theme
The chosen motto was 'Fearless in Faith', built from the story of Esther, the young woman who, in the biblical account, risks her own life to defend her people before the king of Persia. It is a thematic choice consistent with the audience: teenagers challenged to take a stand for their own faith, even when it comes at a cost.
Themes like this organize an entire week of a camporee. They guide the evening sermons, the dramatizations, the decoration and the activities — everything converges toward a single message. In the case of NSW, Esther's courage was the thread that stitched together the six days of programming, culminating in the appeals that led hundreds of young people to decide for baptism.
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The most cited figure about the event is spiritual: more than 330 Pathfinders expressed the desire to be baptized, and many others asked to begin Bible studies, according to Adventist Record. At a camp of just over 1,500 people, it is a high proportion.
The magazine's coverage records the leaders' emotion at the young people's response. "Seeing so many young people stand up and say 'I want to follow Jesus' made it all worth it", said pastor Ashley Smith, according to Adventist Record. Pastor Rangi Eiao told the same publication that "some of the parents and leaders were simply crying with joy".
A baptism request made at a camporee is not, in itself, baptism — it is usually the beginning of pastoral accompaniment that continues afterward, back in the club and in each Pathfinder's local church. That is why events like this work less as an endpoint and more as a nudge: the moment when the decision is made, to then be nurtured throughout the year.
What a camporee is, after all
For those just now arriving to the movement, it is worth explaining. Camporee is the great camp of the Pathfinder Clubs. It brings together several clubs for a few days in the same place, with an intense program: camp setup, competitions, honour classes, nature activities, drill and, above all, spiritual moments at night.
Camporees happen on different scales — club, region, conference, state, union and even division. The larger the scale, the rarer and more memorable the event. A camporee that brings together an entire state for the first time, like that of New South Wales, naturally enters the memory of those who took part.
In Brazil, the Pathfinder audience is used to field and union camporees with tens of thousands of participants. The Australian scale is smaller, in keeping with the size of the Adventist community in the country — which does not diminish the local significance: for the clubs of NSW, it was the largest gathering of its kind ever held in the state.
Where this sits on the Adventist map
Australia belongs to the South Pacific Division (SPD), one of the thirteen divisions into which the Adventist Church organizes its worldwide structure. The SPD covers Australia, New Zealand and a wide range of Pacific nations and islands. New South Wales is just one of the Australian states within that division.
Divisions are large administrative regions of the Church; below them come the unions, and below these the conferences and missions — the local fields, like the three NSW conferences that joined together in the camporee. It is the same logic that, in Brazil, places the clubs under the South American Division (SAD). Understanding this map helps to see why a statewide camp, coordinated across three fields, is a significant coordination effort.
For the Brazilian Pathfinder, news like this is a reminder that the movement is global: on any continent, the same scarf, the same ideal and the same honour classes bring teenagers together around faith, nature and service.