More than two thousand Pathfinders gathered in Guinea-Bissau for a Mission Camporee organized by the Guinea-Bissau Mission, in West Africa, with 88 people baptized over the course of the event and the expectation of more baptisms by the closing. The information was released in January 2025 by the West-Central Africa Division (WAD), on the region's official website.
According to WAD, the camp had evangelism as its central focus: all of the preaching was aimed at the decision for baptism, within the regional "WAD Impact 2025" initiative. The program combined the services and appeals with community engagement activities, bringing the Pathfinders closer to the local population. A delegation of 24 Brazilians, tied to the Youth Ministry of the South American Division, took part in the event.
What happened in Guinea-Bissau
The Guinea-Bissau Mission held a Mission Camporee that gathered more than two thousand Pathfinders, according to the West-Central Africa Division (WAD), which reported the event in January 2025 on its official website. The figure places the camp among the largest Pathfinder gatherings ever recorded in the country.
The spiritual outcome was the fact most highlighted by the division: 88 people were baptized during the event, with the expectation that other decisions would be confirmed by the closing of the program. In the Adventist tradition, baptism by immersion marks public entry into the Church and tends to be the high point of camps with an evangelistic focus like this one.
Unlike an ordinary camporee, centered on skill tests, drill and marching, and outdoor life, the gathering in Guinea-Bissau was presented by WAD as "mission": the schedule revolved around preaching, appeals, and activities aimed at the surrounding community. It is a format in which the Pathfinders themselves stop being merely participants and become agents of the mission.
The WAD Impact 2025 initiative
According to the division, the camporee was aligned with "WAD Impact 2025," an initiative of the West-Central Africa Division that guides the region's evangelism efforts. Within that framework, WAD stated that all of the event's preaching was focused on evangelism — that is, aimed directly at the decision for faith and for baptism.
The program was not limited to the worship moments. According to the division's coverage, the camporee combined the evangelistic preaching with community engagement activities, bringing the Pathfinders closer to the people who live around the camp. That design — preaching and serving at the same time — is the hallmark of the mission-impact initiatives the Adventist Church has promoted in various parts of the world.
For the Pathfinder, it is a reminder that the club does not end with internal activities. The idea behind events like this is that service to the community and personal witness are part of the same formation that teaches knots, camping, and honors.
Where Guinea-Bissau is, and why it matters
Guinea-Bissau is a small country on the western coast of Africa, with Portuguese as its official language, which creates a natural bridge with Brazil, Portugal, and the other Portuguese-speaking countries. For the Adventist audience, that linguistic tie helps explain why a Brazilian delegation was able to take part up close in such a distant camp.
On the administrative map of the Adventist Church, the country is part of the West-Central Africa Division (WAD), the regional headquarters responsible for dozens of countries across West Africa and Central Africa. The Adventist presence in Guinea-Bissau is organized as a "mission" — an administrative stage younger than a "conference," used in fields still growing. Gathering more than two thousand Pathfinders in a territory like this is, in itself, a sign of the youth movement's advance in the area.
The geographic distinction is worth noting: Guinea-Bissau is in WAD, in West Africa. It should not be confused with the camporees of the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (SID) nor with the events of the South American Division (DSA), of which Brazil is a part.
Read alsoNigeria holds 'A Call to Obedience' Camporee in SagamuThe Brazilian delegation
The event had a component that brings the news closer to the Brazilian reader: a delegation of 24 Brazilians, tied to the Youth Ministry of the South American Division, took part in the camporee in Guinea-Bissau, according to the division's account.
The presence of Brazilians in mission projects in Guinea-Bissau is not new. In recent years, volunteers and students tied to the Adventist Church had already been involved in initiatives in the country, often made possible by the shared language. Taking part in a camporee of this size adds to that history of mission exchange between South America and West Africa.
For Brazilian clubs, the image has practical value: it shows that the formation of a Pathfinder — discipline, spirit of service, spiritual preparation — can flow into mission far beyond the borders of one's own country.
What a camporee is, for those just arriving
A camporee is the large camp that brings together several Pathfinder Clubs in one place, usually for a few days. It is where clubs set up camp, take part in joint activities, present what they trained during the year, and share collective spiritual moments. It can be organized at different levels — regional, field (conference or mission), union, division — and this one gathered clubs tied to the Guinea-Bissau Mission.
When the camp takes on the label of "mission," as in this case, the focus shifts from tests and competition toward evangelism and service. The preaching becomes the center of the schedule, and the baptism of those who make that decision becomes the natural outcome of the event.
That is why the 88 baptisms reported by WAD are not a side detail: in the format of a mission camporee, they are precisely the result the gathering set out to achieve.
What is not yet settled
The division itself indicated that the figure of 88 baptisms was partial, with more decisions expected by the closing of the camporee. The final total, therefore, may have been higher than what was released at the time of publication, in January 2025.
The available coverage also does not include, in detail, the exact city of the camp, the precise duration in days, and the number of clubs involved. Out of respect for the information, this text limits itself to what the West-Central Africa Division confirmed: more than two thousand participants, 88 baptisms in the period reported, the connection to WAD Impact 2025, and the presence of 24 Brazilians from the Youth Ministry of the South American Division.
For the Pathfinder who follows the movement around the world, the news delivers the essentials: in a small country in West Africa, thousands of young people gathered, served the community, and saw dozens of decisions for faith — the summary of what a mission camp sets out to be.