Marching to the rhythm of Advent Heartbeats, 37 Pathfinders, along with their Directors and Counsellors, and accompanied by the members and Staff of the Carrot Bay Adventurer Club made their way through the community of Carrot Bay, Tortola, in what was an unprecedented March of Witness there, on Pathfinder Day on October 6, 2018.
Persons in the community lined the streets at different locations to get a view of what was taking place and were thrilled to see the children in action, while also getting to learn of the District 1 Crusade scheduled for November 4-December 1, 2018 in Sea Cows Bay.The March of Witness was followed by an Induction Ceremony at the Carrot Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church Youth Centre where 11 Pathfinders were inducted. The Adventure Club also joined in on the induction service, inducting new members for the 2018- 2019 year as well as those who missed the opportunity last year because of the hurricanes.
Persons were also given an opportunity to join the Pathfinder and Adventurer clubs during the induction ceremony. Inspired by the day’s proceedings, one child joined the Adventurer Club and several parents, after witnessing the march, expressed an interest in having their children join the clubs.Earlier, the Pathfinders were responsible for every aspect of church that day, giving them an opportunity to demonstrate leadership ability, creativity and talent. Even the drummer, guitarist and pianist were Pathfinders.
The delivery of the sermon ‘What is your name?’ by Guide Camoi Walters was well received.Following the church service, Pathfinders were joined by the Adventurers for lunch before engaging in a number of fun activities that especially challenged the Pathfinders’ bible knowledge.Carrot Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church Pathfinder Director, Tasha Bertie was very pleased with the entire day’s activities, especially the level of participation and support from the church and community. She noted that the Pathfinders had put a lot of practice into the event and delivered on the day.
“I loved the response and the support that we got from the community. I think that overall our objective of the club was achieved because we didn’t just want to have Pathfinder Day as a means of outreach for our children…but it was an outreach mechanism for the entire club throughout our community in which we live. They see us and they hear about us but we have never done something to that extent before in our actual community,” stated Director Bertie.
The March of Witness was an opportunity to share information about the upcoming crusade as well as disseminating information about Pathfindering and “win souls and encourage souls to be part of our ministry as a club.
“We also got the message out there that Pathfindering is a fun activity, a fun means to teach our children about Jesus, his love and what it means to be a Christian living a wholesome life,” Director Bertie added. Of the 11 Pathfinders inducted for the 2018-2019 Pathfinder Year, 3 are Friends, 5 Companions, 1 Explorer, 1 Ranger and 1 Voyager. Five of those were scheduled to be inducted last year but a ceremony was not held following the hurricanes. Of the 37 Pathfinders on record, 20 are males.