In November of 1996, my family moved to Guyana, South America. We lived with the Gates family in the small village of Kaikan.

The Burgdorffs in Kaikan in 1997

My parents, Ted and Betsy Burgdorff, did medical work, taught classes, and helped out in Sabbath School and church.

After living there for several months, we heard of a lady in a nearby village who died during childbirth. The baby was still alive, but he was an orphan because the mother was not married. We were very interested in adopting the baby but soon heard that some of the relatives had already claimed him.

Awhile later we found out that the baby had an older brother and sister who were living with their grandmother. After making some inquiries and spending much time in prayer and family counsel, we decided to adopt the two kids. At the time, Francey was 6 and Corwin was 3.

My parents spent the next nine months working on the adoption. When it was official, they returned to the U.S.

We wanted Connie (that was her new name) and Corwin to be able to see their relatives again, and we missed Guyana as well. At first we were only going for fun, but then my mother, having worked with Pathfinders for many years, thought it would be neat if we could conduct a little camporee. We were imagining one or two of the neighboring villages participating.

We began collecting things to take with us. We got together a huge pile of used clothes to give to Connie and Corwin's relatives. We also accumulated eye glasses, bedding, hats, school backpacks, flashlights, radios, supplies for the camporee, and much more. In the end we had 24 duffle bags, one box with solar panels in it, and a huge backpack apiece. Finally all the arrangements had been made and we were ready to begin our trip.

Pathfinders set up camp in Paruima

ARRIVAL AND SETUP

We spent about a week driving from our home in California to Miami. On the way we had all kinds of car problems. We ended up getting all four of the belts changed and a new radiator put in–not at the same time. Not a day went by that we didn't have to worry about our van overheating. Our van ended up being in 6 different shops in a period of 1 ˝ weeks. We could tell that the devil didn't want us to make this trip, but we kept going.

We picked up my dad in Orlando (he couldn't get enough time off of work to drive with us) and made it to Miami in time to catch our flight to Guyana. We spent two nights in Georgetown, and then flew to Paruima. We received a very warm welcome by the villagers, particularly Connie and Corwin's relatives. We had almost two weeks in the interior to prepare for the camporee.

Many of the girls used hammocks to sleep in

A couple clubs arrived early. The Kaikan club arrived dripping wet after hiking through the rain for two days. We gathered all the extra clothes and towels that we could spare and lent them to the club. Unfortunately, we didn't get all of our things back, but we got most of it back. A few Pathfinders were flown in by David Gates, but most walked or took a boat.

DAY 1

Tuesday, July 17-Registration began at 9:00. We recorded the names of the people in each club and had them sign up for the classes they wanted to take. People from at least nine different villages attended this Pathfinder Camporee. There were kids from Paruima, Kamarang, Kako, Kaikan, Arau, Kopenan, Chinoing, Waramadong, and San Martin (Venezuela). All together, there were about 175 people.

We had originally planned to start working on the Pathfinder honors in the afternoon of the first day, but we canceled that because there were too many clubs that were still arriving.

Some of they guys prefered to make their own bed

All afternoon was spent in setting up camp. Each campsite had a tarp attached to wood poles-the clubs slept under the tarps. Some clubs chose to set up hammocks, some made little cots, and others just slept on the ground. Most campsites were completed by the end of the day.

The evening program began at 6:30. We had put together about 275 song booklets while in the U.S., and we used those during song service. Our theme song was "Awesome God," because that was the theme for the whole camporee. I had been videotaping all day and I'd put together a 7-minute video clip that was shown every evening. Pastor Ashton Allyne, the youth director for the Guyana SDA conference, spoke for the first meeting.

After the program while everyone was getting ready for bed, we discovered that the club from Chinoing was sleeping on the ground with only sheets covering them. Since we knew how chilly it got at night, we went through our group and collected any extra blankets we had. Then we took them over to the director. They were very thankful and it was neat to be able to help people in that way.

DAY 2

Wednesday, July 18-Our day began when the 5:30 wake-up music started to play. Everyone gathered at the flagpoles while the Pathfinder, Guyanese, Venezuelan, Bolivian, and U.S. flags were raised. Every morning a different club was in charge of the flag raising and worship. After breakfast was a camp inspection. The clubs could earn or lose points based on how clean the camp and campers looked.

Every morning started off with flag raising and worship

The activities followed inspection. The first activity was a knot-tying relay. Most of the clubs had been practicing the knots, so they were very quick and accurate. Once that was done, we had a water carry. Teams from each club would sit in lines and pass a pail of water over their heads. The goal was to fill the bucket at the end of the line until it overflowed. We complicated matters by punching tiny holes into the pail, so as they passed it to the end of the line, everyone got sprayed. It was a lot of fun.

In the afternoon we began the Pathfinder honor classes. There were nine different honors the kids had to choose from: Quilting, Cross-stitching, Drawing & Painting, Origami, Model Rocketry, Woodwork, Track & Field, Beginners Swimming, and Textile Painting. The classes were two hours long. After that, Pastor Winston James, from Georgetown, gave a short lecture on stewardship.

Many earned honors in Basic Cardiac Life Support

For the night meeting we showed the first half of the movie "Prince of Egypt" instead of having a speaker. We thought the story of Moses would go along perfectly with the theme of the camporee–"Our Awesome God." More people attended this meeting than the previous one. Quiet time was at 9:30, but most of the campers were in bed long before that. DAY 3

Thursday, July 19-This day began like the previous day. After flag raising, worship, breakfast, and camp inspection, the Pathfinders gathered for the activities. We started out with the first aid relay. The Pathfinders had to demonstrate how to do a stretcher carry, find pressure points, make a sling for a broken arm, etc. We let each team do the relay twice so the procedures would be drilled into their memories. The next activity was a water balloon toss in which Pathfinders used towels to throw the balloons to their team-mates. Then we had a water fight with the leftover balloons. After working on the honors for two hours, the Pathfinders had a discussion with Pastor Allyne on dating.

Aunt Becky taught the girls to cross-stitch

That afternoon when I tried putting together the video for the night meeting, I discovered that our video camera was having serious problems. It would record ok, but we couldn't play the tape back on our video camera. I had to borrow one from someone else so I could make the video of the day's events. We showed the second half of "Prince of Egypt" that night.

DAY 4

Friday, July 20-Everyone gathered around the flag poles at 6:00 a.m. for a Pathfinder uniform inspection by Pastor Allyne. It was neat seeing the varying colors and styles of the uniforms. The inspection had to be cut short because it started to rain, so everyone crowded into the room in which we had the night meetings. There was an hour-long investiture service during which 13 people were promoted to Master Guides, and about a dozen kids were promoted to another level in Pathfinders.

Honored and invested to higher rank

It rained all morning, so we postponed the activities until Sunday. The children worked on their honors all morning, and those who weren't finished went back to the classes in the afternoon. The Pathfinders who finished their honors early participated in community service. Some picked up trash around the camp while others helped pick and shell beans for the school. They had the rest of the afternoon to get ready for Sabbath.

At the beginning of the evening meeting we passed out candles to the Pathfinders and members of the community who were present. Pastor Lester Parkinson, a Guyanese living in Florida, was the speaker. At the end of his message all the lights were turned off. Pastor Parkinson took his candle and lit the candles of the club directors while a few of us sang "Go Light Your World." Then the directors lit their Pathfinders' candles. Soon every candle in the room was ablaze. It was an awesome sight!

"Go light your world"

After prayer, everyone gathered outside in a big circle around the flag poles. With the candles still lit, we sang our theme song, "Awesome God," and dismissed everyone.

DAY 5

Sabbath, July 21-Instead of having a regular Sabbath School program we had a Bible Bowl. We asked the Pathfinders a variety of Biblical questions. The kids seemed to enjoy it. For church, all the Pathfinders made the 15 minute walk into the village. The church there was packed by the time all the Pathfinders were inside. There were people squished together on benches, standing in the back, sitting in windows, crowded around the door, and even waiting outside. Pastor Parkinson gave the sermon, then he and Elder Van Thomas (an Amerindian Bible Worker) baptized many Pathfinders and members of the community. The baptism was held in the river by the church.

The caterpillar walk requires team work

In the afternoon, the Pathfinders worked on nature honors-Cats, Dogs, Mammals, Reptiles, and Amphibians. That night we had a talent show. Each club shared their talents in music, drama, and poetry reciting. A tiny 8-year old girl from Arau sand a song in four different languages–English, Spanish, French, and Akawaio (an Amerindian dialect). The room was packed to overflowing. Every night it had gotten progressively more crowded. We got to bed a little later than usual that night.

DAY 6

Sunday, July 22-At 10:00 the Pathfinders went to the village soccer field.

Breaking camp: A long way to travel home

While there, the Model Rocketry class launched the rockets that they had assembled. The villagers loved watching that. The Track & Field class participated in the high jump so the villagers and other Pathfinders could see what they had been doing. We had a compass-points relay in which the clubs had to correctly label all 16 points on a compass (ex.–SE, SSW, ENE, etc.). We also watched the drill teams from three different clubs demonstrate their marching ability.

After lunch back at the camp, we finished the final event-the caterpillar walk. Four or five people had to walk a certain distance while their feet were on two long boards. There were ropes tied to the boards, and the trick was to get everyone to life the same foot at the same time. In the afternoon, the Pathfinders who weren't done with their honors were able to finish them.

Shoving off for home. Others must walk several days across the mountains to get home.

That night at the meeting, we passed out patches to the children who took the classes and ribbons to the clubs who scored the highest in each event. The overall top club was Paruima. I was going to put together another video clip for the final night, but the humidity had ruined the video camera so much that it wouldn't work at all. That was disappointing. Before closing, David Gates encouraged everyone who had not yet made the decision to give God total control of their lives. Many more made that commitment. After the meeting we set off some firecrackers, then we played games for about an hour before everyone went to bed.

CONCLUSION

Most of the clubs left early Monday morning. It was a relief to have the camporee over, but we were sad to see everyone leave. We believe God really blessed everyone involved. As soon as it was over, we started talking about doing it again in a few years. If God wants it to happen, it will happen. We know that this camporee is something that the Pathfinders will remember for the rest of their lives. It is something that we will never forget either.