A Virtual Camporee

ALVARADO, TEX. – As coronavirus COVID-19 made headlines, I was praying we would be able to have our conference-wide Pathfinder Camporee when a pastor friend sent me a meme about watching camporee on a computer. 

Initially laughing at the meme, I soon wondered, What if Adventurers, Pathfinders and Master Guides could watch a program online and camp in their backyards? I wondered if this could be a blessing to many families. 

Our club council leaders discussed the idea, and everyone was on board and excited. Bo Gendke, Adventurer coordinator, Marilyn Boismier, Pathfinder coordinator, and Lily Hernandez, Master Guide coordinator, arranged the activities for their respective teams. Iris Escobar, administrative assistant for Texas Conference youth, handled registration, while Jeffrey Hernandez, designer, videographer and webmaster, assisted me with the program. 

We didn’t know how people would respond, but we decided to try. In just four days we had 1,500 people registered. When we had people from different conferences trying to register, we decided to make it available to everyone. 

By the time registration closed, there were 12,400 people of all ages registered from 63 different countries.

Many shared photos and expressed thankfulness using the hashtag #txyouthiCamporee or #iCamporee.

The Lord truly blessed this camporee and the volunteers were outstanding.

By Paulo Tenorio 

Youth and Club Ministries Director

Photo by Ki Song