On Sunday, August 10, 2014, Andrews University hosted over 600 Pathfinders on their way to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where they would attend the Forever Faithful International Pathfinder Camporee. Of those, an estimated 225 people chose to visit the Center for Adventist Research for a special guided tour of our exhibit area. Pathfinder groups from as far away as England, Mexico, and Argentina came to learn something about their Adventist heritage. Pathfinders came through in six groups for about an hour at a time, resulting in three morning tours and three afternoon tours. The morning tours were led by Samuel Pagán, while the afternoon tours were led by Kevin Burton, both of whom were student assitants at the Center. Staff members Stan Hickerson and Wendy Halder also helped with the larger groups.

Throughout the day, the Pathfinders stood around one of J.N. Andrews’ traveling trunks and learned about the sacrifice of the Andrews family as they worked to advance mission work in the early days of the Seventh-day Adventist church. Papier-mâché beasts on display led to a discussion about the early Adventist evangelist W. W. Simpson. An exhibit about Uriah Smith displayed examples of some of his inventions as well as some of his written works and led to some questions about his life and service. The topic that received the most attention during the tours was the passion for Jesus Christ that is the theme of the life and work of Ellen White. Pathfinders learned about the role that James and Ellen White had in being two of the co-founders of the Seventh-day Adventist church. They listened as it was explained how Mrs. White’s ministry and her prophetic gift had the single purpose of leading people to Jesus. The groups were able to see a visual example of that work through the Way of Life series of lithographs.

The Pathfinders seemed happy to visit the Center. One of the highlights of the tours was the opportunity to hold up a large Bible that is identical in size and weight to one that Mrs. White held during vision. Many Pathfinders asked, “how could she have held it up so long?”, while some others provided the answer; “it was not by her own strength.” Such is the theme of our church heritage from the beginning to the end; by the strength of God, by His sustaining us, and by His leading shall we finally be reunited with Him.

Wendy Halder, Periodicals Associate / Wendy likes i-devices.