This year’s early June Adventurer Camporee at Gladstone Park took the opportunity to show how Sabbath can be fun, inspiring, and something to look forward to. “We never want kids to feel like Sabbath is a drag,” Jackee Duvall, Oregon Conference Club Ministries executive coordinator shared. “We focused on all the fun things they could do on Sabbath and how to find delight in it. It was a great theme and a great opportunity to show kids that Sabbath really is this incredible gift we’re given each week.”
Some 650 people spent the weekend at Adventurer Camporee – 200 Adventurers joined by 450 family members, directors, and staff (that’s about 50 more people than the camporee hosted last year!) While some groups cooked meals on their own, the Tualatin Valley Pathfinders cooked for many of the Adventurers and their families, offering weekend meal plans as a fundraising opportunity. Throughout the weekend, Pastor Billy Hungate shared Sabbath messages, the Adventurers received a “Sabbath Box” and visited stations featuring ideas for Sabbath activities. “At each station the Adventurers were given a takeaway,” said Jackee. “They got a box where they could put things in to remind them of having a delightful Sabbath. At one station they got a door hanger to remind them Sabbath was coming. They got a notebook and pencil at the story station so that they could learn to take notes or draw pictures from the sermon they heard to share with mom and dad or with their friends later on. There was a station where we gave them modeling clay and had them recreate a gift from God – most everybody made animals! Then Vanessa, our coordinator, made this beautiful spread representing God’s Kingdom with water, land and grass, where they put their animals. There was a station that talked about prayer and what prayer means and how to pray. They made bookmarks featuring their favorite Bible verses, and we encouraged them to put that bookmark where their favorite Bible verse was.”
On Sunday, the Adventurers spent time doing more fun things together including the Oregon Conference Cave Trailer, bounce houses and bubbles, scooters, and making sidewalk chalk art. Oregon Conference President John McVay even stopped by to share and say hello! “We had 10 TLT’s (Pathfinder Teen Leadership Trainees) that volunteered all weekend with us to run stations and help – and that was huge!” said Jackee, extending a special thanks to the Fort Vancouver Pathfinder Club and their mentor, Laura Graham. “They were incredible. They worked so hard and had smiles on their faces –they were just pros!”
To top it all off, the Adventurers headed home from the weekend with a mark to remember the weekend by – their brand new Delightful Sabbath Award. Didn’t make it this year, but want to bring your Adventurer club next year? Watch for details on the 2027 Adventurer Camporee coming early next year!
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