Camporee’s are designed to be fun! They provide for the physical and spiritual needs as of young people in a camp setting. They experience the social and spiritual thrill of associating with hundreds to thousands of other young people, praising God for the wonders of His creation in Nature.

As a hot summer started in Korea, the five local conference youth and children’s departments launched their camps at various sites and different times with thousands of participants during July and August.

More than 3,000 young people including pathfinders met old and new friends in various camp sites. They tasted the wonders of Nature and praised the Lord for His marvelous creation. A lot of different programs at different places were offered to the participants according to their choice.

The South West Korean Conference (SWKC) set up it’s camp site July 1-3 at Shinahn-gun Youth Center, Churla South Province. The West Central Korean Conference (WCKC) and Middle West Korean Conference (MWKC) held a joint camp July 24-27 for the youth at Anmyun-do Jangkok and August 1-4 for childrens groups at Taeahn Beach, connected to the West Sea.

The WCKC and MWKC joint camp site which was filled with 500 young people was energized by a group young people, both Adventist and non-Adventist, organized by the WCKC youth director Lee, Choong Hwan who completed a 200-km marching across the country for eight days before joining the camp. At the same time, the Golden Angels, the Northern Asia-Pacific Division Music missionary team blessed the camp site with beautiful music.

The East Central Korean Conference (ECKC) July 25-28 operated 19 programs for the youth at the same site as the last year’s camp, Kosung World Jamboree Camp near the East Sea. This was the site last year’s camp where it was thrilling to see more than 5,000 participants as they celebrated the centennial of the Korean Adventist Church.

The South East Korean Conference (SEKC) offered programs at some 10 of different regional camp sites where the church member can access close to their home. They pitched their tents at nearby valleys, beaches, forests, recreation centers.

As compared with the last year unprecedented big camporee, this year’s camps were newly and differently designed to provide attractive programs for young people in special ways. This year’s camps were planned to give the participants more choices according to their interest.

The SWKC operated four different camp sites such as ‘Bible Reading Camp’, ‘NEWSTART Health Camp’, ‘Nature Adventures Camp’, ‘Beach Camp’. The WCKC allowed the children to enjoy self-regulating participation for different programs in the same camp site. The response was really good!

“Even when it rained, the kids voluntarily joined their interested programs. When they have less choice and should attend only one camp site with thousands of participants together at the same time, sometimes many kids hide themselves in some places and do not join the activities because they don’t like such a big crowd,” said Pastor Park, Rae Koo, director of the Korean Union Conference Children’s Ministries Department. “Because the kids really liked the programs they voluntarily participated. This model may prevent the camp from alienating participants and making them bystanders.”

Activities included a wide range of items such as rock-climbing, paragliding, nature adventures, mountain climbing, balloon art, beach adventures, water-rockets, boating, rafting, snorkeling, Jet-skiing, futsal, rope-skipping, Bible-quizzes, environmental conservation, insect studies, etc. in nature, mountains, rivers, and oceans. Learning these skills gave the young participants a lot of challenges and experimental laboratory with a lot of fun. Through all these activities including singing praises, Bible readings and worship the spiritual life was strengthen along with the physical activities.

The camps were highlighted by the baptisms of 29 young people who received Jesus as their personal Savior at Kosung Jamboree and Taeahn Beach camp sites.

“This year camps were designed to give more opportunities for the individuals to maximize their skills and spirituality. I hope we can develop this type in future also,” said Kim, Nak Hyung, Korean Union Conference Youth Ministries director.

The camps were planned to help the children and youth taste the Heavenly atmosphere through the activities in nature that God has created. It helps them set their goals and find the way toward the Heaven. During the camps, also the youth were encouraged to be missionaries.

“Big rain in a small cloud, big fruit in a small seed, big oak tree comes from small acorn. Big reward comes from small obedience.” said Pastor Choi, Geum Hyuk, at his sermon during the SEKC pathfinders’ camp. He helped the participants find their faith and the seed of obeying God and plant the desire of the eternal life.

Some participants said, “I don’t read the Bible very often, but now I am very happy to read the Word with friends together, it is exciting!”

“Who should we become?” During the WCKC and MWKC joint youth camp meetings, Pastor Kyung Heung Soo, spoke about ‘Who we should become’ at his sermon letting them remember Jesus’ life to help them be inspired to recognize the spirit of the pathfinder and their identity as Adventist.