{"id":15766,"date":"2023-07-28T09:57:59","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T09:57:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/?p=15766"},"modified":"2023-07-28T10:01:20","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T10:01:20","slug":"count-me-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/count-me-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Count Me In!"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 27 2023 | Sopron, Hungary [David Neal]<\/p>\n

The two boys couldn\u2019t have been more than 10 years of age, but they gave the warmest and tightest hug ever. I couldn\u2019t catch who they were or where they were from, but it was obvious they knew each other, and hadn\u2019t seen each other for a very long time. They jumped up and down still embraced in that hug, smiled and cheered, as other friends quickly moved in to create a huge group hug not wanting to miss out on the joy. Many Pathfinders had experienced a day or more of long travel from their homes across Europe.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\u201cHey\u2026from the end of the row!\u201d (Latvian Pathfinders)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And they were not the only happy and excited Pathfinders to arrive at the 2023 Trans-European Division (TED) Camporee, located just outside the beautiful and historic city of Sopron, Hungary. With 2,600 campers from across the TED territory and beyond, including Israel, Mongolia, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America \u2013 enough evidence if ever needed that the Pathfinder movement is global.<\/p>\n

As tired and weary travellers arrived to set up their tents, the host leadership team of Krist\u00f3f Palot\u00e1s (Hungarian Union Conference Youth director) and Sean Mena (Hungarian Union Conference Scout\/Pathfinder leader) breathed a sigh of relief that this day had finally arrived! If the apostle Paul were to write to the 21st<\/sup> century church about spiritual gifts, he would need to recognise the gift of \u2018logistics\u2019 as essential for Youth and Pathfinder Directors.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Pastor Busi Khumalo (General Conference Youth director) talks with Dejan Stojkovic, prior to giving his presentation at the Opening Ceremony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Logistics\u2019 is a matter Dejan Stojkovic has lived and breathed for not just for the last few months, but for the last few years in his role as TED Youth and Pathfinder director. He knows what is needed, and what it takes to organise a Camporee that creates a discipleship experience for each child, as well as one that is outstandingly memorable and joy-filled.<\/p>\n

Immediately as we talk together, Stojkovic is full of the Opening Ceremony highlights, delighted at the \u201camazing involvement and engagement of Pathfinders. Even though tired after their long journey to Sopron, the Pathfinders sang and worshipped with as much enthusiasm as if they\u2019d already been here for a week!\u201d<\/p>\n

What this does this mean for Stojkovic and the leadership team of Union Youth and Pathfinder directors, Judy Plaatjes-Mckie (TED Youth and Pathfinder department PA), volunteer staff, and in particular the work of the Hungarian hosts? \u201cIt is to recognise that God has been with us in the planning, is present with us now, and through the Holy Spirit, Camporee is already a life changing experience for so many Pathfinders, causing us to stop for a moment and even shed a tear of joy\u201d, Stojkovic reflected.<\/p>\n

\"\"
One of the many messages Pathfinders share on their t-shirts. Like!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the Camporee theme of \u201cCount Me In\u201d, Stojkovic explains that for the life and health of this church, \u201cthere is a significant need for young people to be involved\u201d, expressing the wish of youth to be \u2018counted in\u2019 on the various ministries of the church, planning committees, and church boards. At the same time youth are saying, \u201cGod can count on us to be full participants in His movement, this beautiful global family, being ready for His Second Coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Credits:<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Tor Tjeransen, Adventist Media Exchange. Open<\/span>ing Ceremony. TED Pathfind<\/span>er Campore<\/span>e 2023<\/span>. L\u00f6ver Camping, Sopron, Hungary, 25 July – 1 August 2023<\/span>.<\/p>\n

\n

Photos: David Neal<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2,600 TED Pathfinders meet in Sopron, Hungary for international camporee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":15772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1586,7,1577],"tags":[185],"class_list":["post-15766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hungary","category-news","category-organisational-updates","tag-hungary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15766"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15794,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15766\/revisions\/15794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}