Between September 5 and 11, 2025, the Chile Pathfinder caravan, known in Spanish as the Caravana Nacional, traveled about 7,000 kilometers (roughly 4,350 miles) from Rancagua to Arica to recognize 70 clubs of Conquistadores (the Spanish name for Pathfinders) and Adventurers opened or reopened in the country. According to the Chilean Union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the nine stops drew 5,500 participants, and baptisms reached 150, counting those of the Semana del Pañolín.
Leading the way were Pastor Jeferson Silva, director of the Pathfinder and Adventurer Ministry of the South American Division (SAD), and Pastor Andrés Dinamarca, who heads the ministry in Chile. A year later, the event helps explain the wave of club openings driven by the motto “En cada iglesia un club” (a club in every church).
What was the 2025 Pathfinder caravan in Chile?
The Chilean Union named the initiative the Caravana de Nacimiento de Nuevos Clubes de Conquistadores y Aventureros (Caravan for the Birth of New Pathfinder and Adventurer Clubs); in the wrap-up published on the Noticias Adventistas portal on September 15, 2025, it also appears as the Caravana Nacional (National Caravan). It set off from Rancagua, south of Santiago. From there the group went through La Calera and the capital, headed south to Los Ángeles and Temuco, and then jumped to the desert north, with Antofagasta, Calama and Iquique, before closing the route in Arica, near the border with Peru. Taken together, the stops involved the seven fields (conferences and missions) the church has in the country.
In some of the cities, the clubs took to the streets in parades, a way of showing neighbors what they do for children and teens. It all happened during the Semana del Pañolín, Chile's name for Pathfinder Scarf Week, which leads up to World Pathfinder Day. According to the Chilean Union, the country marked the day on September 13, 2025.
Who led the Chile Pathfinder caravan?
Jeferson Silva directs the Pathfinder and Adventurer Ministry of the South American Division, which covers eight countries; the report on the Temuco stop describes him as newly appointed to the post. Andrés Dinamarca directs the same ministry in the Chilean Union. At the regional stops they were joined by field directors such as Pastor César Asenjo, of the Asociación Centro Sur de Chile conference.
In the wrap-up, Pastor Jeferson spoke of a country “with a clear focus” and summed it up this way (translated from Spanish): “Thousands of people joined this effort, and we leave with a beautiful picture of the club ministry here in Chile.”
How many clubs and baptisms did the caravan record?
The caravan recognized 70 clubs, new and reopened, according to the Chilean Union, which does not say how many are Pathfinder clubs and how many are Adventurer clubs. There were also investitures in the Guía Mayor, Guía Mayor Máster and Guía Mayor Máster Avanzado classes (called Líder, Líder Máster and Líder Máster Avançado in Brazil; together they form the Master Guide track), along with investitures of Adventurer Leaders.
In the Chilean Union's view, the baptisms were the high point of the programs. Adventurers, Pathfinders and also parents or guardians went into the water, and the count closed at 150. The figure includes the baptisms of the Semana del Pañolín, and the source does not say how many took place at the caravan stops.
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Dates | September 5 to 11, 2025 |
| Route | 7,000 km through 9 cities |
| Fields represented | 7 |
| Participants | 5,500 |
| Clubs recognized | 70, new or reopened |
| Baptisms | 150 |
Source: Chilean Union, on the Noticias Adventistas portal (September 15, 2025).
Read alsoA new club in Cholchol and growth reaching MagallanesWhat did the stops in southern Chile show?
Los Ángeles, in the Biobío region, hosted its stop over the weekend of September 6 and 7. The Asociación Centro Sur de Chile conference called the gathering the Caravana del Pañolín (Scarf Caravan) and reported more than 1,500 Pathfinders and Adventurers in attendance. The program ended with the club bands parading through the Plaza de Armas, after baptisms and the presentation of 14 newly opened clubs. The celebration also marked 75 years of the Pathfinder Club worldwide.
On Sunday, September 7, at 3 p.m., the caravan stopped at the Central Church of Temuco, in the Asociación Sur Austral conference. Temuco is the city where the country's first Pathfinder Club was born, as told in the history of the Pathfinders in Chile. According to the local report, the clubs opened in the past year were recognized there: 15 in the Araucanía region and more than 30 across the south. The same article announced a regional stop in Osorno on Saturday, September 13, a city that is not on the national list of nine stops.
What does the goal “a club in every church” mean?
“En cada iglesia un club” (a club in every church) is the motto of the Pathfinder and Adventurer Ministry in Chile. According to Pastor Dinamarca, the work the caravan celebrated began in early 2025. One milestone along the way was the National Club Planters Summit (Cumbre Nacional de Plantadores de Clubes), held from May 30 to June 1 at the El Manzano grounds: a training gathering for people from churches that still had no active club and for leaders of clubs that had just been born.
The report on the summit showed the size of the challenge: more than 610 Chilean churches without a Pathfinder Club and 670 without an Adventurer Club. In each field, a club-planting core team, coordinated by the ministry's departmental director, brings together the church members who are opening clubs; this group receives training and support from regional coordinators and Master Guides until the club takes root in the church or school. If your church is thinking about taking that step, see how to start a Pathfinder Club.
Every time a new club opens, we are doing a better job of protecting the new generations.Pastor Andrés Dinamarca, in a Chilean Union report on Noticias Adventistas, 2025 (translated from Spanish)
How many Pathfinder clubs does the Chilean Union list a year later?
On October 6, 2026, the Chilean Union's official club directory, on the adventistas.org portal, listed 348 Pathfinder clubs with a total of 8,295 Pathfinders, and 273 Adventurer clubs with 4,853 members. Treat these numbers as a snapshot of that day. They do not match the 368 clubs in the overview Pathfinders in Chile by the numbers, which uses a different base (the Desbravai club map) and a different date (July 2026).
In the official sources we consulted, we found no 2026 report comparing the total with the figure from before the caravan, so this article does not calculate growth. To follow what came next, see the opening of new Pathfinder clubs in southern Chile in 2026, from Cholchol to Magallanes.