Friday, August 9
Due to concern over heavy rains on Saturday, Friday became the final day of the 2024 International Pathfinder Camporee. Some clubs began leaving on Friday, but this didn't lessen the enthusiasm of tens of thousands of Pathfinders who drilled, climbed, ran, and worshipped together.
PATHFINDER
STRONG
PRAY & STAY TOGETHER
As a couple of clubs prepared to drill, other Pathfinders threw a football, kicked a soccer ball, or played corn hole around their Illinois campsites. If they were concerned about the rain that wrecked the leaders' plans, they didn't show it. Instead, they took advantage of their time together to strengthen their bonds.
Our education superintendent Katrina Baun wears some of her pins.
HINSDALE FIL-AM CHALLENGERS WIN FIRST
The Challengers took home trophies in basic and fancy drill after a rigorous judging process. Hinsdale Fil-Am Pastor Rodney Balmes and Conference Executive Secretary Michael Campos were on hand to cheer for them, but also to congratulate the North Shore Stars, who put up a fantastic performance as well.
MOSES PLAY CONCLUDES
Acts 4 and 5 of the Moses play were bundled into the triumphant closing program, which started a little late due to the numbers of people being baptized. Pastor Damian Chandler walked on stage to offer a moving message on the "blood on the doorpost" detail in the Moses story. An offering was taken to support a Child Impact project: a school in India dedicated to deaf Pathfinders. Ron Whitehead, executive director of the International Camporee, closed by sharing his hope that the Camporee would lead Pathfinders closer to Jesus.
With the program nearly finished, all that remained was the reveal of the theme for the 2029 International Camporee (also in Gillette). This happens in the form of the current character (Moses) introducing us to the character headlining the next International Camporee (Elijah).
2024 INTERNATIONAL PATHFINDER CAMPOREE: COMPLETED
It seems that the Gillette Gazette will go on a five-year hiatus before resuming its work in 2029. Thanks for reading!
Thursday, August 8
Finally, after the evening program was cancelled on Tuesday night and abruptly cut short due to rain on Wednesday night, the evening program returned on Thursday night. Instead of rainy and cold, it was just cold. That was good enough for the tens of thousands of pathfinders who bundled up for Acts II and III of the Moses play.
The program also featured excellent musical acts, a well-edited video on the history of the International Camporee (loud cheers when 2019's CHOSEN came up), as well as passionate preaching by Pastor Damian Chandler.
THE NIGHTLY PROGRAM IS BACK
President John Grys offers the morning devotional for our Illinois clubs.
ACTIVITIES
Though the sky was overcast, the weather remained consistent all day, enabling our Pathfinders to be about their usual business of earning honors and trading pins.
The AdventHealth area offers Pathfinders a chance to explore healthcare careers, including by donning on a virtual reality headset to learn CPR.
The AdventHealth area featured an LED screen in the shape of a globe, along with interactive exhibits.
PUBLISHING
There is a team hard at work in the basement to publishe the Pathfinder Today paper each and every day. The team collects stories throughout the day and quickly writes them up. A printer, several hours from Gillette, then rushes to print them and bring them to the campground by 11:30pm. They are then distributed the next morning.
It is not clear to this reporter why an eagle is walking around, but the smiles it brought were welcome.
DAY 4: COMPLETE
After the evening program - around 10:30p - Ron Whitehead announced that due to potential weather, all activities on Sabbath were cancelled. A few Illinois clubs are leaving on Friday, more on Sabbath, and the rest on Sunday.
Please keep our Pathfinders in your prayers as they make their way home.
Join us tomorrow for our final issue of the Gillette Gazette.
A group of Pathfinders head out for the day.
Wednesday, August 7
Scroll down to see a few of the pictures from Wednesday evening's baptisms (the rest have been be posted on the Illinois Conference's Flickr account).
Wednesday began with worship. The clubs assembled outside the Conference HQ as President John Grys began with a devotional about what God can do with broken people. Our Youth Director, Josant Barrientos, gave final instructions to the clubs before they went off to earn more honors, trade pins, and meet friends.
ILLINOIS PATHFINDERS BAPTIZED
A muddy banner reminded all of Tuesday night's storm, as well as the perseverance of Pathfinders.
Pastor Felipe Soares (North Shore) listens attentively to the morning devotional.
The line outside the Wyoming building just before noon.
LAKE UNION BROADCAST
John Grys (President), Josant Barrientos (Youth Director), and Matthew Lucio (Asst. to the President for Communication) all joined the Lake Union communications team at their headquarters for a livestream focused on the Illinois Conference. This largely improvised broadcast brought on several special guests and can be watched here:
ACTIVITIES
Milton Coronado's students practiced their street art skills, writing messages like "Jesus Loves U" and, in one case, honoring a pair of Pathfinder leaders who were about to be invested as Master Guides.
Pastor Art Schumacher mans a station in the Pathfinder Museum. Pastor Schumacher has been to every international camporee since 1953 (except 2019, when his wife was ill).
BAPTISMS
Wednesday was the day set aside for Lake Union baptisms. Though the weather turned cloudier and colder in the afternoon, the baptismal candidates were undeterred. They made their stand for Jesus and they stood in the baptismal pool near the main stage, rain or shine. As noted above, all the pictures of the baptisms are available on the Illinois Conference Flickr account.
President John Grys briefs the baptismal candidates as they prepare to enter the pool.
A group of Illinois pastors conducting most of the baptisms.
Pastor Milton Coronado kisses his son after baptizing him.
DAY 3: COMPLETE
See you tomorrow!
Tuesday, August 6
Illinois Pathfinder club leaders and youth directors gathered for a morning briefing and prayer
A phantom storm rolled in Monday night, drenching tent-dwellers but leaving those in RVs none the wiser. The majority of Illinois clubs occupied higher ground, but there were a number of belongings slung over the barbed-wire boundary fence to dry this morning. The rain seemed to surprise everyone, but rumor of another storm spooked event planners into cancelling the opening nights' festivities on the main stage.
A few wet Illinois clubs nevertheless faired better than other parts of the campground.
Wicked weather aside, our Pathfinders were eager to be let out of the gates to pursue the time-worn tradition of pin trading.
It seems there are two schools of thought about pins: First, you have the collectors who find it hard to part with pins and will offer cash for the ones they want.
Second, you have the true traders who think paying for pins is tantamount to cheating.
Pin trading,
Pathfinder training
At noon, our Pathfinders were out for honors. There were certainly plenty of options: from Native American heritage and health and the new women in Adventist history honor.
Pacific Union College set up a climbing wall while Southwestern Adventist University brought their famous T-rex, along with an armload of dinosaur bones from their nearby dig site in Wyoming. Southern Adventist University set up a forge for Pathfinders to earn their blacksmithing honor.
One of the more curious sites was the giant Connect Four game, where you could witness younger pathfinders struggling to hurl giant exercise balls into the machine. A beautiful chaos ensued.
ACTIVITIES
The Illinoian should resist the urge to call her "Sue"
This narrow photo gives the reader an idea of how many people filled the aisles between booths.
STREET ART HONOR
Our own Milton Coronado taught an honors class on "street art" and it was absolutely packed with Pathfinders looking to get their hands on a can of spray paint.
The first half was taught inside and Milton shared some of his story before the second half was to happen outside. Perhaps one of those Pathfinders will be painting the Illinois Conference Camporee mural in the future.
THE STORM RETURNS
The promised storm arrived, with heavy rain and lightning strikes on the horizon. The Pathfinders took refuge in the buildings and waited it out for an hour or so. Undeterred, things were put right in short order.
THE LORD PROVIDES
The theme of the Camporee is "Believe the Promise." The Lord reminded us of that in a huge way. Despite the lightning and the rain; despite the waterlogged tents and turned tables, God's promise endured - symbolized by the brightest double rainbow hanging over the camp.
DAY TWO: COMPLETE
Join us tomorrow for more stories and a live 10am (local time) broadcast with the Lake Union Herald!
Monday, August 5
Over 1,000 Illinois Pathfinders began to arrive in Gillette, Wyoming, for the 2024 International Pathfinder Camporee. Many of our clubs took advantage of the new location for the Camporee by visiting Mt Rushmore along the way. Once the Pathfinders arrived in the small town of 33,501—effectively doubling its size in one day—they were quickly at work pitching their tents, organizing literal tons of food, and raising their banners high.
If You Build It,
They Will Come
The 1,000-mile journey to Gillette was not without its challenges. One pastor admitted to having driven nearly 15 hours straight, before energetically jumping into unloading his supplies. Another leader admitted that he severely underestimated the weight of all his clubs' supplies and, as a result, found himself having to chug along 5-10 miles per hour below the speed limit.
Many of the dusty, tired vehicles that slowly rolled onto the CAM-PLEX grounds nevertheless bore the colored cheer of Pathfinder logos and slogans like "Gillette or bust."
PITCHING THEIR TENTS
BUILDING ILLINOIS
Most conferences and unions mark their area of the campground with artistic depictions of their homelands. A few clubs from Texas built rockets, for instance. The Illinois Conference chose to build the Willis (still called 'Sears' by many native Chicagoans) Tower and to commission a mural by Milton Coronado which depicts both the urban areas of Chicagoland along side those amber fields of grain. The cardinal, our state bird, and Abe Lincoln made a striking entry as well.
The Willis Tower, organized by Ernesto Cruz and built with the help of friends, featured two spires the light up at night. Unlike the actual State of Illinois, none of these constructions required any tax dollars.
ORGANIZATION IS KEY
The Downers Grove Detectives (left) have a meeting to ensure all campers know what's happening.
The key to a successful time at Camporee is staying organized amidst the beautiful chaos of having 60,000 people living in a relatively small space.
DAY ONE: COMPLETE
We'll be back tomorrow with even more reports from Gillette