The Uganda Union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (Uganda Union Mission) officially launched, on Sunday June 14, 2026, the Centenary Youth Camporee — a gathering set for 2027 that will celebrate 100 years of Adventist presence in the country. According to the Union, the event will carry the theme "Mission Possible: A Century of Faith" and is expected to gather more than 20,000 young people, from Uganda and other countries.
The launch ceremony brought together church leaders, youth directors, Pathfinder leaders and young people from across the Union, who got a first look at the plans for what the organization projects as one of the largest youth gatherings in the church's history in the country.
What was announced
According to the Uganda Union Mission, the launch presented the Centenary Youth Camporee as the highlight of the Adventist centenary celebrations in the country, planned to take place in 2027. The Union described the gathering as a platform to inspire a new generation to embrace discipleship, leadership, service and mission.
The chosen theme, "Mission Possible: A Century of Faith", connects a century of work in the country to the idea that the mission remains alive among young people. The Union stated that the expectation is to gather more than 20,000 participants — a figure that, if confirmed, would place the event among the largest ever organized by Ugandan Adventist youth.
The announcement did not publicly detail the exact date or the location of the 2027 camporee; for now, the Union communicated the launch, the theme and the attendance goal, and opened the mobilization period with the clubs.
The call to the clubs
Among the leaders present at the launch was Pr. Samuel Mwebaza, assistant to the Union president. According to the Uganda Union Mission, he described the camporee as a platform for "spiritual growth, fellowship, skills development and missionary engagement" and asked clubs to register in advance, so that planning can be effective.
The Union also called on members, leaders, parents and others involved to support the project through prayer, mobilization and active participation. The message, according to the organization, was that an event of this scale depends on collective preparation started well ahead of time — and not just on the structure set up at the last minute.
What a camporee is
For the reader just arriving to the movement, some context helps: a camporee is a large camp that gathers several Pathfinder clubs at the same time, usually with spiritual programming, outdoor activities, competitions, drill and marching, missionary fairs and investiture ceremonies. It is the moment when clubs from different cities, regions or even countries camp together for a few days.
The wider the reach, the larger the camporee: there are club, regional, field (the local Conference or Mission), Union and Division camporees and, from time to time, gatherings that exceed tens of thousands of participants. An event projected for more than 20,000 young people, like Uganda's, is logistically comparable to building a temporary city, with water, food, health, security and transport for everyone.
For the Pathfinder, the camporee is usually the memory that stays: it is where the year's training becomes experience, where you meet people from other places and where many make important spiritual decisions.
Read alsoAbout 5,000 Pathfinders gather at the 4th SID Camporee, in ZimbabweOne hundred years of Adventism in Uganda
The number that gives the event its name has a historical basis. The organized Adventist presence in Uganda dates back to the end of the 1920s, when church pioneers established the first mission station in the country, in Nchwanga. It is that root that the 2027 centenary celebrates: a century since the first firm steps of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Ugandan soil.
Since then, growth has been significant. According to data from the church's yearbook and official encyclopedia (ESDA), the Uganda Union had more than 540,000 members in 2024 figures, spread across hundreds of congregations. It is from that universe — and the new generations it forms — that the centenary camporee intends to draw.
Choosing youth as the center of the celebrations is no accident. By tying the historic milestone to a gathering of Pathfinders and young people, the Union signals that the celebration of the hundred years looks less to the past and more to the future: to those who will carry the mission through the next century.
Where Uganda fits on the Adventist map
The Uganda Union Mission is part of the East-Central Africa Division (ECD), one of the thirteen administrative divisions into which the Adventist Church organizes the world. Each division brings together several Unions; each Union, several local fields (Conferences and Missions); and each field, the clubs and churches.
It is the same logic that structures the movement in Brazil, even though there the Division is another — the South American Division (SAD). The difference in names and languages does not change the essentials: the Pathfinders of Uganda follow the same principles, the same ideal and the same proposal of character formation and service that a Brazilian club recognizes at once.
That is why a camporee on the other side of the Atlantic is not distant, foreign news. It is the same family, in the same movement, celebrating a milestone that any club understands: a century of work that started small and reached hundreds of thousands of people.
What the Brazilian Pathfinder can observe
For clubs here, Uganda's launch offers two practical lessons. The first is the value of announcing early: by presenting the camporee about a year in advance and already asking for early registration, the Union gives clubs real time to train, raise funds and plan the trip — something every Brazilian director who has organized a caravan for a large event recognizes as decisive.
The second is the power of a theme that tells a story. "Mission Possible: A Century of Faith" ties the past (the hundred years) to the present (the mission that continues) and to the youth who will carry it out. A good camporee theme, here or there, gives meaning to the activities and helps the Pathfinder understand that they are part of something greater than the camping weekend.
While the details of date and location for the 2027 gathering are not released, the launch remains on record — and the implicit invitation to follow how a century-old movement reinvents itself by handing the leading role to the youngest.