Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president

Last week Pathfinders from all over the world came together in Gillette, Wyoming.

While the vast majority came from within the United States, it was a real treat to have others from around the world there. A number of Pathfinders were determined to meet others from all across the world. They wanted to meet them and, of course, trade pins. I met a number of Pathfinders from different tropical countries who found the cool weather of Wyoming so cold they were visibly shivering.

Camporee had some bumps in the road with storms that rolled through and destroyed a few tents and soaked a number of camp sites.

In spite of the challenges of camping in the open with 60,000 of your closest friends, Pathfinders were in good spirit. Washington Conference Pathfinders and their leaders were such a positive bunch; much thanks goes to the many adults that dedicate their lives to leading these young people to have such great experiences.

On the night of the storm, my wife and I found ourselves at Walmart late at night looking for supplies to help soaked campers through the night. We gathered up what bedding we could find and put together supplies that we could take back to camp. As we checked out, the cashier, a nice Christian lady, said she had been watching everyone stream through looking for supplies.

She clearly had heard the theme of Camporee. The main Bible character was Moses, and he was challenged to believe the promise of God. The cashier wondered if she really could believe. My wife simply said to her just because we have a promise to believe in, doesn’t mean there won’t be struggles along the way.

The cashier paused for a moment and said, “You are right. Thank you for telling me that.”

Each of us has God’s promise of His love for us, died to save us, and is coming again. Each of us has the promise of an earth made new and free of sin and suffering. Yet, even with that promise, we still have evil things happen to us along the way. This week let us continue to believe the promise and have our minds focused on Jesus, knowing that He will get us through in the end.