At the age of 10 I became a Pathfinder and enjoyed the FUN (friends, understanding adults, new experiences) of getting together once a week with friends and learn new things in a club! The Dog honor was the first honor I earned and it was exciting for me to discover many other breads besides Skippy, our family dog. Wow – there was so much to learn about dogs that I had no idea of! Following the Dog honor came the Cats, Flowers, Candles, Trees, Leathercraft, Birds, Music, Electricity … It was so much FUN to be part of a unit with my friends!
And then it was my turn to be the Scribe for my unit – my first leadership position ever, and I was challenged! Our unit counselor, Mr. Marshall, showed me exactly what to do. At each club meeting I had the responsibility to take the attendance record and uniform record on a form attached to a clipboard. Then I was to turn it into Mrs. Miner, our Pathfinder Director. And – I got to wear the red-lettered, white oval “Scribe” pin on my Pathfinder uniform! I was learning responsibility with adults other than my parents, and they expected that I could do it!
Over the years I have depended on many adults “showing me” what I need to do and how to get things accomplished. I haven’t known them all personally but I have observed them through the stories, the artifacts, and the “Scribes” who keep the records of those who have gone before us.
It is the mentoring by visionary leaders at every level of leadership – whether the unit counselors or the General Conference Youth & Young Adult Ministries Directors – that have brought us to where we are today in our Adventist Youth Ministries organization. And today we need to continue to write the stories and save the artifacts so that the generation of leaders we are mentoring will have the recorded history and resources needed for them to mentor the generation that follows them.
This is one of the purposes of the Adventist Youth Ministries Museum – a place where the stories and visual aids of yesterday are preserved for the learning of today for our youth and their leaders. We are in need of a location where a learning center can be developed and where mobile presentations can be facilitated from throughout our division and the world. Join us as we continue to give to and support the Adventist Youth Ministries Museum
Pastor Tracy Wood, Associate Director
North American Division Youth & Young Adult Ministries
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