Pathfinders

For those who are familiar with it, “Pathfindering” conjures up images of marching, camping, curious hobbies, bugs and bats. Enlarging their windows on the world and building a relationship with God are the dual objectives of this club, which is designed for children ages 10-15. With nearly 2 million members around the world, this Seventh-day Adventist Church-sponsored club accepts any youth who promises to abide by the Pathfinder Pledge and Law regardless of their church affiliation.

Philosophy 

Objectives

This philosophy is an integral part of the club. The Pathfinder Club curriculum of six classes and nearly 250 Honors lies at the heart of the program. The following objectives can be achieved as the club leaders seek to fulfill these.

1. Help the young people to understand that God and His church love them, care for them, and appreciate them. As Pathfinders are accepted and affirmed they will begin to appreciate the love of God revealed through the church and its ministry, and feel a need to be more committed to and involved with its program.
2. Encourage Pathfinders to discover their own God-given potential and to use their gifts and abilities to fulfill God's expectations for them and the part they can play in the great plan of salvation.
3. Inspire young people to give personal expression of their love for God by uniting them together in various outreach activities.
4. Make the number one priority of your club program the personal salvation of every Pathfinder. The Pathfinder age is a time when many decisions are being made that will affect the youth's future relationships and his or her own personal development. The peak time for discovering and making a relationship with God seems to be around 12 years of age.
5. Build into a Pathfinder's life a healthy appreciation and love for God's creation by enjoying outdoor activity (campouts, nature walks, nature honors, etc.). Pathfinders will experience a sense of wonder and worship as they observe and explore the beauty, the majesty, and the creative power in nature. Fellowship with God will become more meaningful.
6. Teach Pathfinders specific skills and hobbies that will make their lives more meaningful and will occupy their time with profitable accomplishments. Young people experience satisfaction and delight as they use their hands to fashion 5 useful articles from wood, plastic, steel, clay, felt and yarn and as they discover how things work and operate.
7. Encourage the Pathfinder to keep physically fit. This is one important way to safeguard against idleness and boredom. Teach children to care for their body and establish habits that will provide for their future happiness and usefulness (cf. 2T 536, 537; Educ. 195).
8. Give opportunity for the development of leadership by encouraging club members to work together and share in leadership responsibility. This will teach them to learn the lessons of obedience, discipline, resourcefulness, patriotism and the processes of group dynamics.
9. Seek to foster the harmonious development of the physical, social, intellectual, and spiritual life of the Pathfinder. The invigoration of mind and body, the fostering of an unselfish spirit, the attention to recreational and cultural activities, will provide stimulus for personal growth and act as an outlet for that restless energy, which is so often a destructive source of danger to the young person.

Leadership

The volunteer leadership, skilled in a myriad of unusual abilities and interests are, first and foremost, strong believers in Jesus Christ and are sure of the road they are taking towards eternal life. They consider the Pathfinder club an experimental laboratory where growth and learning are synonymous with fun. Failure is not expected, but rather all activity becomes a tool for learning.  

Activities

The imagination of its leadership and members are the primary limiting factors of a club's abilities. Activities encourage a range from community/civic service projects in their community and across the globe to nature and environmental conservation studies to camping and high adventure trips. Pathfindering challenges the unique talents of each member. Pathfindering is built on an age-specific curriculum of six levels along with approximately 350 specialized skill development topics covering arts and crafts, aquatics, nature, household arts, recreation, spiritual development, health, and vocational training. These often serve as a launching point for lifetime careers or hobbies.

AIM

The Advent Message to all the world in my generation.

MOTTO

The love of Christ compels us.

PLEDGE

By the grace of God,
I will be pure and kind and true.
I will keep the Pathfinder Law.
I will be a servant of God
and a friend to man.

LAW

The Pathfinder Law is for me to:

1. Keep the morning watch.
2. Do my honest part.
3. Care for my body.
4. Keep a level eye.
5. Be courteous and obedient.
6. Walk softly in the sanctuary.
7. Keep a song in my heart.
8. Go on God's errands.

Structure & Organization

Progressive Classes

Why Achievement Classes?

Years ago, when your fathers and mothers were boys and girls, there came a call through the Spirit of Prophecy to organize all the young people into an united group that should help finish the task of carrying the Advent message to all the world in this generation. It was in response to these and other similar message s that the Adventist Youth Society came to be formed. And so the years have passed and the boys and girls of all lands have met and prayed and studied and gone out from their meetings to work. A great work has been accomplished, and the one-time small band has grown to number many thousands and to stretch round the world.

But how did there come to be Pathfinder classes? As our boys and girls met and worked and became interested in the AY/AJY activities, leaders felt the need of providing additional ways of helping them in their preparation for efficient service and the development of strong Christian character, that they might better know how to pioneer for God when He needs them. During the earnest study given to the question many pointed and helpful suggestions were found in the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy, and a few of these are quoted here for your inspiration and encouragement:

“The children are to be trained to become missionaries; they must be helped to understand distinctly what they must do to be saved.” {Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, page 168}. And the best preparation “is the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers. It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come.” {Education, page 13}.

“Children are to be instructed in the special truths for this time, and in practical missionary work. They are to enlist in the army of workers to help the sick and the suffering. Children can take part in the medical missionary work and by their jots and tittles can help to carry it forward. Their investments may be small, but every little helps, and by their efforts many souls will be won to the truth. By them God's message will be made known and His saving health to all nations.” {Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, page 176-177}.

“While the Bible should hold the first place in the education of children and youth, the book of nature is next in importance… In itself the beauty of nature leads the soul away from sin and worldly attractions, and toward purity, peace, and God. For this reason the cultivation of the soil is good work for children and youth. It brings them into direct contact with nature and nature's God.” {Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, page 185-186}.

“As a rule, the exercise most beneficial to the youth will be found in useful employment. The little child finds both diversion and development in play; and his sports should be such as to promote not only physical, but mental and spiritual growth. As he gains strength and intelligence, the best recreation will be found in some line of effort that is useful. That which trains the hand to helpfulness, and teaches the young to bear their share of life's burdens, is most effective in promoting the growth of mind and character…

“It is essential for every youth to have a thorough acquaintance with everyday duties. If need be, a young woman can dispense with a knowledge of French and algebra, or even of the piano; but it is indispensable that she learn to make good bread, to fashion neatly-fitting garments, and to perform efficiently the many duties that pertain to homemaking…

“Since both men and women have a part in home-making, boys as well as girls should gain a knowledge of household duties. To make a bed and put a room in order, to wash dishes, to prepare a meal, to wash and repair his own clothing, is a training that need not make any boy less manly; it will make him happier and more useful. And if girls, in turn, could learn to harness and drive a horse, and to use the saw and the hammer, as well as the rake and the hoe, they would be better fitted to meet the emergencies of life.” {Education 215-216}.

It was from the study of these and other similar messages that the AY/Pathfinder classes were developed and all requirements for these classes are based on this instruction. They include, therefore, Bible and nature study, the learning of useful and helpful things to do about the home, out-of-door activities, first aid, and personal and home hygiene. All of which are to help the boys and girls find true happiness in missionary service.

Download the Administrative Manual, Basic Staff Training Course, Bible Truths Manual, Church Heritage Manual, Honor Book, and Pathfinder Story.

For more information and resources you may visit the GC Youth Ministries/Pathfinders website.

New Pathfinder Bible