What it Takes to Send a Pathfinder Club in Guam to Camporee

On Guam, 19 Pathfinders and their supporters are washing cars, selling meal tickets, and collecting yard sale items to raise money for their 6,500 mile trip to Wyoming, for the 2024 International Pathfinder Camporee this August.

Guam is a U.S. territory south of Japan and east of the Philippines with around 170,000 inhabitants situated on a 30 mile-long island that ranges from 4 to 12 miles wide. The Guam-Micronesia Mission, attached to the North American Division, has its headquarters here. Eight Adventist churches and one K-12 Adventist school share the island with bases for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marines. Tourism plays a major role in the economy.

Journey to Gillette

To get to the camporee, the Pathfinders and their sponsors will take a seven-hour flight to Hawaii, then change planes and fly another six-and-a-half hours to Denver, where they will spend a few days sightseeing before taking a chartered bus five-and-a-half hours north to Gillette, Wyoming. The travel, lodging and other expenses will total $3,000 per person.

For the Agat-Santa Rita Waves Pathfinder Club, the journey to Gillette started in 2012 when the group was formed. The first talks about attending an international camporee began ahead of the 2019 Chosen Camporee, but the new club didn’t have the means at the time. Although other Guam-based Pathfinders did go to the 2019 camporee, the Waves decided to wait and focus on the next opportunity in 2024.  

The club’s fundraising efforts paused in May, 2023, when Typhoon Mawar hit Guam with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour, leaving many on the island without power and water for several weeks. Normal life was put on hold while everyone focused on recovery and rebuilding in the months following the storm.

By September, the Waves finally regrouped and organized to start holding fundraising events. First, they hosted a dinner at camp meeting, then went Christmas caroling at homes and businesses in their community. They held a benefit concert, car washes, and more. The club also had a team design, manufacture, and ship a set of premium pins to be sold online and at the camporee. One club member relocated to mainland U.S. mid-year, and once there, helped ship pins to fulfill orders.

Another team took on travel logistics. First, they gathered a list of attendees and registered for the camporee before tickets sold out. Next, they arranged plane tickets, ground transport, and lodging for the group. The Waves teamed up with another Guamanian club from the Northern Seventh-day Adventist Church, bringing the total head count to 56.

Varied Backgrounds

Although club members live in Guam, they come from many backgrounds. Some are Guam natives, and others have family connections to surrounding island nations including Palau, Yap, Chuuk, Japan, and the Philippines. While some have traveled abroad, others have not left the region and will be visiting the mainland for the first time.

When asked why she wants to go to the camporee, club member Sarah said, “I feel like it will be a really good experience because we can meet pathfinders from all around the world and make friends with them.” Another club member, Jacob, says he can “learn a lot of new things” by going to the camporee.

Regular Club Activities Continue

Besides fundraising and preparing for the camporee, the club also continues holding regular meetings, camping trips, and outreach activities. Island life has advantages including year-round warm weather and easy access to the ocean. This allows pathfinders to earn honors like scuba diving, kayaking, and shells, and provides opportunities for hikes to scenic beaches, waterfalls, and caves.

Each fall, the club conducts a canned food drive to help needy families in the Agat Santa-Rita area. First, Pathfinders deliver empty paper bags with donation instructions through local neighborhoods, then return a week later to pick up the bags filled with non-perishable food items. They bring collected items to the church, and sort them at a later meeting. Then they deliver the food to families in time for Thanksgiving. This past year, the club provided food for 24 families, totaling 118 individuals.

Moving Towards Their Goal

Guam Pathfinder supporter Glenda summed up the club’s progress: “I believe God is multiplying our loaves and fish!” The Waves Pathfinder Club feels blessed by the generous support received so far, and looks forward to the final push toward camporee. Those interested in supporting the club’s fundraising efforts, ordering pins, or receiving updates, may visit their fundraising page at agatchurch.com/camporee.

This is the first article in a series the Spectrum Pathfinder Reporting Club will be posting about the International Pathfinder Camporee. If you’d like to suggest a related topic or news story, email the editors at https://spectrummagazine.org/contact-us/