More than 60,000 Pathfinders from over 100 countries gathered in Gillette, in the U.S. state of Wyoming, between August 5 and 11, 2024, for the 9th International Pathfinder Camporee. Held at the Cam-Plex complex, the event carried the theme "Believe the Promise" and became the largest international camporee ever held, according to the North American Division of the Adventist Church (NAD), which organizes the gathering every five years.
The spiritual outcome was the figure most celebrated by the organizers: according to the NAD, 1,187 Pathfinders were baptized during the week, and hundreds of young people left Gillette with the decision to be baptized later, back in their own churches. A powerful storm on opening night, however, marked the start of the event and forced coordinators to cancel the inaugural ceremony.
The largest international camporee in history
A camporee is the great campout of the Pathfinder Clubs — the Adventist ministry for children and teenagers aged 10 to 15, similar to scouting but with a strong spiritual component. The International Camporee is the biggest of them all: it brings together, in one place, delegations from dozens of countries for a week of camping, outdoor activities, music, honors, and preaching.
In 2024, this global gathering reached its 9th edition and occupied the Cam-Plex, a vast event park in Gillette, Wyoming. According to the North American Division (NAD), there were more than 60,000 participants from over 100 countries, a number that surpassed the roughly 55,000 of the previous edition, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 2019. With that, Gillette 2024 became the largest international camporee ever held.
For an event of this scale, the organizers set up a veritable temporary city: thousands of tents, field kitchens, stages, first-aid stations, and activity areas spread across the grounds. The move to a new venue — Gillette hosted the event for the first time — was part of the NAD's plan to bring the camporee to more regions of the United States, the Division reported.
The opening-night storm
The first day began hot, dry, and windy, but ended under threat. According to the NAD, on opening night a severe storm approached Gillette and put at risk the safety of the nearly 60,000 people camped at the Cam-Plex. After the U.S. National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the county, coordinators and local authorities decided to cancel the awaited inaugural program.
According to the Division, campers were directed to seek "hard shelter" — masonry structures, not the tents — while the winds and rain passed. The storm and the threat of further fronts ended up shortening the program, and the event was concluded a day earlier than planned.
In later coverage, the NAD treated the episode as a lesson in faith and resilience, highlighting how the delegations regrouped and kept up their spiritual routine even with a diminished schedule. For many Pathfinders, the night of scares became one of the most remembered stories of the week.
1,187 baptisms — and hundreds of decisions for later
The most anticipated moment of an Adventist camporee is usually the baptism, the public act in which a young person confirms their faith. In Gillette, according to the NAD, the event's baptism coordinator, Craig Carr, reported 1,187 Pathfinders baptized throughout the week — including about 150 who responded to the appeal on one of the final nights.
Beyond those baptized on site, the Division reported that hundreds of young people went home with their decision made, to be baptized in their own churches, alongside their families and congregations. Combined, the numbers make Gillette 2024 one of the largest spiritual-decision events ever recorded in the Pathfinder movement.
Mass baptisms are a hallmark of the international camporees. At the 2019 edition, in Oshkosh, more than 1,300 people had been baptized, and thousands of others prepared to take the step afterward. The logic is the same: an entire week of Bible study, music, and fellowship tends to lead many participants to a decision that had been maturing over the course of the year at the club.
Read alsoCamporee in Colombia draws more than 5,000 Pathfinders and records 58 baptisms"Believe the Promise": a theme centered on Moses
Each international camporee revolves around a biblical figure and a message. In 2024, the theme was "Believe the Promise", and it featured the figure of Moses as the thread running through the program nights, the NAD reported.
The choice connects the story of the liberator of the people of Israel, who trusted in a promise even in the face of the desert and fear, to the lives of the young people themselves: the idea of believing in something greater even when the path seems uncertain. Fittingly, the theme took on extra weight after the opening storm, which became a living illustration of the message.
This thematic structure is typical of the event. At Oshkosh 2019, the theme had been "Chosen", centered on the story of David. Every five years, a new figure and a new motto guide the sermons, the materials, and the activities of the entire week.
What the International Camporee is and who organizes it
The International Pathfinder Camporee takes place every five years and is promoted by the North American Division of the Adventist Church in partnership with the Center for Youth Evangelism, affiliated with Andrews University, the NAD reported. A Division, in Adventist vocabulary, is a large administrative region of the worldwide church; the NAD covers the United States, Canada, Bermuda, and some islands.
Although based in the United States, the gathering is international in fact: the more than 100 nations represented in Gillette assembled delegations that crossed the world to camp together. Bringing so many people together requires years of logistical, security, and health planning — and a coordination that, in 2024, was tested on the very first night.
To gauge the growth: the first great camporee in Oshkosh, in 1999, drew around 20,000 people. Twenty-five years later, Gillette tripled that crowd. The event became one of the largest regular gatherings of young people of a single faith in the world.
What this has to do with Pathfinders in Brazil
In Brazil, the Pathfinder Clubs are coordinated by the South American Division (SAD), another large region of the church, which brings together eight countries of South America. That is why the Gillette international camporee belongs to a different Division — but the format is the same one that Brazilian Pathfinders know from their own campouts.
The SAD holds its major continental gatherings in similar cycles. The South American camporee can bring together more than 100,000 Pathfinders in editions held in Brazil, and the next major continental edition is expected in the coming years. So, even without crossing borders, the Brazilian Pathfinder lives the same experience: camping, earning honors, taking part in investitures, and hearing the preaching under the stars.
What Gillette 2024 shows is the global scale of the movement: a ministry that began small today brings together tens of thousands of teenagers from every continent around the same values. For the Pathfinder who dreams of one day taking part in an international camporee, the figure of 60,000 serves as an invitation — and a reminder that they are part of something far bigger than their own club.