For the first time, the Pathfinder clubs of northern Tanzania celebrated Pathfinder Day together. The gathering brought together more than 3,000 Pathfinders and more than 10,000 members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church at CCM Kirumba stadium, in the city of Mwanza, on Saturday, September 21, 2019.
According to the Adventist Review and Adventist World, which reported on the event, the special service marked the 69th anniversary of the Pathfinder movement worldwide and had as its theme "Created with Purpose." At the end of the ceremonies, more than 100 Pathfinders were baptized.
A packed stadium in Mwanza
Mwanza, Tanzania's second-largest city, on the shores of Lake Victoria, was the chosen setting. CCM Kirumba stadium, one of the country's main sporting arenas, welcomed a sea of scarves and uniforms on Saturday morning.
According to the Adventist Review's coverage, more than 3,000 Pathfinders paraded and performed before more than 10,000 church members. In all, reports speak of more than 13,000 people following the program, which included marches, demonstrations, songs and testimonies.
Its novelty was what gave the day its weight: never before had the clubs of northern Tanzania come together for a single celebration of Pathfinder Day. The choice of a stadium, rather than a church, showed the scale of the gathering's ambition.
More than 100 baptisms at the end of the day
The high point of the gathering came at the end of the ceremonies. More than 100 Pathfinders were baptized, according to the reports published by the Adventist Review and Adventist World.
The baptisms were led by Pastor Magulilo Mwakalonge, youth ministries director of the East-Central Africa Division (ECD), the church's administrative field that covers Tanzania. For many of the young people, it was the public response to a full day of preaching, music and testimonies.
Among the local leaders, the emotion was visible. "I will not forget this September 21," said Eza Kabuche, one of the club leaders present, in words reproduced by the report, adding that seeing those scenes made her proud to help young people serve the Lord.
For the Adventist Church, baptism is a personal and public decision of faith, usually by immersion, and it often crowns evangelism programs such as this one. Bringing together more than a hundred young people in a single day shows the reach the date has taken on in the region.
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The gathering brought together officials from the grassroots to the movement's world leadership. Andrés Peralta, associate director of Youth Ministries and Pathfinders at the General Conference — the Adventist Church's world headquarters — was present and preached during the program.
Also taking part were Godwin Lekundayo, president of the Northern Tanzania Union, and the aforementioned Magulilo Mwakalonge, representing the East-Central Africa Division. The joint presence of leaders from the local church, the division and the world headquarters signaled the importance the event took on for the region.
The East-Central Africa Division is one of the 13 administrative divisions of the Adventist Church worldwide and brings together countries such as Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and others in East Africa — one of the fastest-growing areas of the Pathfinder movement.
What Pathfinders are
For the reader coming from outside, some context helps. Pathfinders are a youth movement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church aimed at children and teenagers aged 10 to 15, with activities that combine outdoor life, honors, community service and spiritual formation. It is often compared to Scouting, but with a strong Christian identity.
Organized into clubs linked to local churches, Pathfinders wear a uniform, march in units and progress through classes defined by age. The movement was born in the 1950s and today brings together more than two million members in more than 190 countries.
In Brazil and South America, the program is coordinated by the South American Division; in Tanzania, by the East-Central Africa Division. The structures change from region to region, but the spirit — to serve God and neighbor — is the same.
Why September? Pathfinder Day
The date was not chosen at random. Pathfinder Day is celebrated worldwide on the third Saturday of September, when clubs on every continent make their presence felt in services and on the streets to give visibility to the movement.
In 2019, that Saturday fell precisely on September 21. That is why, while Tanzania was filling the Mwanza stadium, clubs in other parts of the world — including in Brazil — were holding their own programs on the same date.
For the Brazilian Pathfinder, the Mwanza scene is at once distant and familiar: same uniform, same march, same third Saturday of September. The language changes, the landscape changes, but the gathering is the same everywhere.
Gatherings like the one in 2019 show why the date has grown so much in East Africa. Bringing together thousands of young people in a stadium, with parades, music and baptisms, turns Pathfinder Day into a showcase for the movement — and, for the local church, into one of the biggest evangelism opportunities on the calendar.