The city of Seoul, in South Korea, was the meeting point for more than 2,300 Pathfinders and leaders between August 1 and 5, 2023, at the 3rd Pathfinder Camporee of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD). The event took place on the campus of Sahmyook University and was themed "Focus on the Vision."
According to the Adventist News Network (adventist.news), the official news agency of the Adventist Church, participants came from seven countries: Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Mongolia, United States, Mexico, and the Philippines. The organization was led by the NSD Youth Ministry, which oversees Adventist work in northeast Asia.
What happened, when, and where
The 3rd NSD Pathfinder Camporee was a five-day gathering, from August 1 to 5, 2023. The chosen venue was Sahmyook University, an Adventist institution in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
According to the Adventist News Network, the event began with an opening ceremony in the university auditorium and brought together more than 2,300 people among Pathfinders and leaders. Choosing a university campus as the venue — rather than an open camping field, more common in Brazilian camporees — reflects the format adopted by the division, which concentrated much of the activities in stations set up within the institution's facilities.
For those who are Pathfinders in Brazil, the comparison is worthwhile: a camporee is the large camp that brings together clubs from an entire region, with spiritual programming, challenges, outdoor activities, and ceremonies. The difference here is the geographic scale — this gathering brought together clubs from different countries, with different time zones and languages, under the same church organization.
What the Northern Asia-Pacific Division is
The acronym NSD comes from Northern Asia-Pacific Division. In the structure of the Adventist Church, a division is the largest regional level, a kind of continental arm of the world headquarters. Each division coordinates the church's work — including the Pathfinder Ministry — across a group of countries.
The NSD covers northeast Asia: South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Mongolia, and the China region, among other territories. It is a very different reality from the South American Division (DSA), to which Brazil belongs. While the DSA brings together millions of Pathfinders in majority-Christian countries, the NSD works in contexts where Adventists are a small minority and Pathfindering grows in very diverse cultural environments.
That is why a camporee bringing together more than 2,300 participants in the NSD carries great symbolic weight: it unites, in one place, clubs that in daily life are isolated by borders, languages, and enormous distances.
The theme: 'Focus on the Vision'
The gathering's motto, "Focus on the Vision," guided the spiritual programming of the five days. Adventist camporees usually revolve around a biblical or missionary theme that serves as a thread for the evening messages, the activities, and the event's decoration.
According to the Adventist News Network, one of the central moments of the opening ceremony was the official declaration of the start made by Choi HoYoung, director of the NSD Youth Ministry. In the same act, he led the passing of the camporee flag from Taiwan — host country of the previous edition — to South Korea, a gesture that symbolically marks the transfer of the responsibility for hosting the event.
This kind of flag ceremony is common at large camporees and serves the same function as a torch in sporting games: it links one edition to the next and reinforces the sense of continuity of the movement.
Read alsoMore Than 10,000 Pathfinders Answer the Call to 'Rebuild the Altar' in the PhilippinesAbout 120 activity stations
The heart of the daytime programming was the activity stations. According to the Adventist News Network's coverage, the camporee offered about 120 stations throughout the mornings and afternoons, allowing each Pathfinder to choose where to move around.
Among the activities cited were archery, leatherwork, knots, telescope building, virtual reality experience, 3D printing, climbing, and zip-lining, in addition to water-related options. The list mixes classic Pathfindering skills — such as lashings and outdoor living — with technology stations, something that speaks directly to the movement's teenage audience.
| Category | Examples of stations |
|---|---|
| Classic skills | Knots and lashings, archery, leatherwork |
| Science and technology | Telescope building, virtual reality, 3D printing |
| Adventure and outdoors | Climbing, zip-lining, water activities |
For the Brazilian Pathfinder, many of these stations have a direct equivalent in the honors — the themed courses that earn badges and that also combine nature, handcrafts, and science. The presence of 3D printing and virtual reality shows how the program has been incorporating technology without abandoning its outdoor roots.
The farewell and the next destination: Mongolia
The gathering closed with a sign toward the future. According to the Adventist News Network, participants said goodbye with the expectation that the next edition of the NSD camporee will be held in Mongolia.
The indication follows the rotation logic already seen in the transition from Taiwan to Korea: each camporee points to the next host country, distributing the responsibility — and the opportunity — among the division's territories. Bringing an event of this size to Mongolia, a country with a small population and a still young Adventist presence, would carry considerable missionary and logistical weight.
A journalistic caveat is worth noting: in the sources consulted, Mongolia appears as an expectation expressed at the closing, and not as an officially confirmed host as of the date of the event. Definitive dates and location of the following edition depend on later confirmation from the division itself.
Why this matters to the Brazilian Pathfinder
News of camporees from other divisions helps us see Pathfindering for what it is: a worldwide movement. The same uniform, the same ideals, and the same club structure that exist in a small town in the interior of Brazil appear, with local accents, in Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo, or Ulaanbaatar.
There is also a natural parallel with the major events of the South American Division. Just as the NSD gathers its clubs at a division camporee, the DSA promotes its own regional and national gatherings, and the Adventist Church holds, from time to time, international camporees that bring together tens of thousands of Pathfinders from every continent.
Seeing more than 2,300 Pathfinders from seven countries gathered under the theme "Focus on the Vision" is a concrete reminder: the club on the corner is part of something far larger. And, for those who dream of one day taking part in an international event, gatherings like the NSD's show that the camporee experience crosses borders without losing its essence.