By Anna Ramos
“It was a beautiful program, but it was also meaningful. Not only did we work together, we created experiences and had a whole bunch of lessons.” This is the way Natalia Gramada, Sunnyside Adventist Church Adventurer director, described the Adventurer Family Camporee that was held June 9-11th at the Gladstone Park Conference Center.
From all over the Oregon Conference, some 120 Adventurers, in addition to their parents, attended the camporee. Both English and Spanish churches gathered on the grounds at Gladstone Park for the event. Some of the Adventurer clubs consist of smaller groups, so being able to get together and experience the camporee as a big unit was inspiring.
A variety of activities took place throughout the weekend including earning honors and awards in areas like gardening, social games, puppet shows, community service, worship, and inspiring messages. Every activity was oriented around the same goal – the spiritual growth of the Adventurers. Though this event is held annually, it is typically a day event. This year, Adventurer and Pathfinder director, Daniel Ortega, decided to invite clubs to camp overnight, providing families a space to share with members of different clubs in a more personal way, and at the same time allowing Adventurers to enjoy nature and to play around the grounds. “I’m glad we stayed overnight,” said Natalia, “It was worth it!”
Both parents and Adventurers agree that a major highlight of the event was the worship, with messages shared by their very own Adventurers. Messages focused on forming and growing a personal faith, as well as stories of when Adventurers themselves had learned to trust in Jesus. Vanessa Franco, Tillamook Adventurer director, said that being able to hear all the voices of the Adventurers worshiping together during the music service was especially inspiring for her club members and their parents. She shared that their Adventurer club had been practicing the theme song of the camporee for a while. “Here we had 300 people singing the same song and it was just beautiful to hear,” Vanessa said. “We had a club that actually played the instruments live there on the stage, so it was just a really fun experience.”
On Saturday afternoon, after other activities, Adventurers and their families collaborated with Portland Adventist Community Services (PACS) as part of a project for the benefit of the community, specifically those with food insecurities. The team at PACS took the Adventurers on a tour of their mobile food pantry, walking them through the inside and showing them where the food was stored and how community members can fill up their carts when making use of the food pantry. The Adventurers and team at PACS worked together in the packing and donation of 700 pounds of sweet potatoes and 400 pounds of shallots for the food pantry.
On behalf of the families, club directors, and all our Adventurers – we are so thankful for the team that created a place for families to come together in this incredible experience!
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