About 400 young people aged 12 to 17, coming from France, Belgium, Luxembourg and French-speaking Switzerland, camped from August 4 to 10, 2025 at the Moulin de l'Ayrolle scout site, in the department of the Gard, in southern France, for the third edition of the Franco-Belgian Union Adventist Youth camporee (UFBJA). The gathering, organized in partnership with the federation of French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino (FSRT), had as its theme the biblical story of Daniel and ended with 24 baptisms at the closing ceremony, according to the Actualités Adventistes portal, run by the Union itself.
For a Brazilian audience, it is the European equivalent of what in Brazil is called a campori: a large camp of several units and clubs gathered for a few days. The difference lies in the scale and the geography — here, instead of thousands of Pathfinders from a single country, the event brought together delegations from four nations that share the French language and belong to the Inter-European Division (EUD) of the Adventist Church.
What happened and where
According to the Actualités Adventistes portal, the camporee took place between August 4 and 10, 2025 at the Moulin de l'Ayrolle, a camp site located in St Félix de Pallières, in the Gard — a mountainous, wooded region of the Cévennes, in southern France. It was the third edition of the gathering promoted by the UFBJA, the structure that organizes Adventist youth in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
According to the official Jeunesse Adventiste page, the organization expected the presence of about 400 young people with their leaders, all in the 12 to 17 age range. Registrations closed on May 31, with requirements on the ratio between leaders and campers and the instruction that each group bring its own tents — details that convey the logistical dimension of an international gathering of this size.
The partnership with the federation of French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino (JA FSRT) extended the event's reach beyond the three countries of the Union itself. Swiss, Belgian and Luxembourgish delegations took part through their respective federations, while the bulk of the troops came from France, the host country.
The theme Daniel and the spiritual proposal
The thread running through the week was the story of Daniel, the young Hebrew who, according to the biblical account, kept his faithfulness to God even while serving in the court of Babylon. The Union presented the figure as an invitation to authenticity — the idea of living out one's faith consistently, without conforming to the pressure of the surrounding environment.
It is a framing that speaks directly to the event's age group. Between 12 and 17, adolescents deal precisely with the formation of identity and with peer pressure; by proposing Daniel as a reference, the program sought to translate a story from millennia ago into a concrete decision for the present. The approach is close to what Pathfinder clubs in Brazil call the bible class and devotional moments, but here woven throughout the entire week of camp.
It is worth recalling what a camporee is for those just starting out in the movement: it is a large-scale camp in which several units and clubs gather for a few days, combining outdoor life, field activities, competitions, worship and ceremonies. It is one of the high points of the young Adventist's calendar anywhere in the world — and, in Europe, gatherings like the UFBJA's also serve to bring together young people from different countries and languages.
Twenty-four baptisms at the close
The most striking moment of the week, according to the Actualités Adventistes portal, was the closing ceremony, which brought together baptisms and investitures. In all, 24 young people were baptized — a significant number for a gathering of this format and one of the reasons the event stood out in the Union's official communication.
For the Pathfinder reader, it is worth explaining the weight of the gesture. Baptism, in the Adventist tradition, is a personal and public decision to follow the Christian faith, usually taken in adolescence or later, after a period of study. When it happens at the close of a camporee, it is usually the outcome of a week of intense community experience — and not an isolated act. The investiture, celebrated in the same ceremony, is the formal recognition of those who have completed the requirements of a class or of a stage within the youth program.
The official account does not detail the country of origin of each person baptized, but describes the ceremony as the point of convergence of the entire spiritual program of the week, in which the theme of Daniel was carried through to a concrete decision of commitment.
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Beyond the spiritual outcome, the camporee marked a transition in the leadership of the Franco-Belgian Adventist youth. According to the Actualités Adventistes portal, Pastor François Todesco took over the leadership of the Adventist Youth of the France-North Federation in place of Pastor Stéphane Eucharis, who left the post after eight years of service.
Handovers like this are common in the Church's structure, in which departmental leaders serve for set periods. What draws attention is the moment chosen: making the handover during an event that gathers hundreds of young people lends symbolism to the continuity of the work and allows the new leadership to introduce itself to the base it will coordinate. For the clubs in the region, it is the assurance that projects with adolescents continue under new direction without interruption.
Part of a whole summer of camps
The camporee was not an isolated event. According to the Union, it crowned a whole summer of activities for children and adolescents: more than 700 young people took part in camps and holiday colonies spread across different regions — from Corsica to the Alps, from the Cévennes to the Atlantic coast, passing through the Limousin, the Belgian Ardennes and even the Seychelles Islands.
This set of camps shows how youth work is spread out over the European summer holidays, between June and August — a period when, in Brazil, it is winter. It is a practical difference that many Pathfinders are unaware of: while Brazilian clubs concentrate large events in the middle and at the end of the year, Europeans take advantage precisely of the warm months of July and August, when schools stop and the climate favors outdoor life.
The UFBJA, which organizes this calendar, has existed since 1921, according to its own official pages — more than a century dedicated to Adventist youth in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
What this says to the Brazilian Pathfinder
At first glance, a camp in southern France seems far removed from the reality of a club in any city in Brazil. But the similarities are greater than the differences. The same youth movement, the same structure of classes and investitures, the same goal of uniting outdoor life and spiritual formation appear both in a Brazilian state campori and in the UFBJA camporee — what changes is the scale, the language and the season of the year.
There is also a contrast in numbers that helps to understand the size of the movement in each place. While a union campori in Brazil can gather tens of thousands of Pathfinders, an international gathering in Europe brings together a few hundred young people from several countries. This is not about more or less dedication, but about the proportion of the Adventist Church in each territory — in Brazil, the Pathfinder movement is one of the largest in the world.
Finally, there remains the fact that crosses any border: 24 young people who decided, at the end of a week of camp, to take a public step of faith. It is the kind of result that any club director recognizes at once, whether in Nîmes or in Manaus — the proof that, behind the logistics of tents, registrations and schedules, what sustains a camporee is always the same thing.