At Bairnsdale Church an Adventurers group for children from four to nine years old has been going for two years.
The idea for such a group started with Bronwyn and Stephen Smith talking about it in 2018. it began the next year with a few families, and continued with the assistance of adult volunteers Alan Walker, Diana Auld and others at times.
The small group met regularly despite Covid 19 challenges. Young Ruby Smith completed an outreach program giving away home-made cupcakes and bookmarks to neighbouring children Brooke and Ben Bodsworth. They were intrigued and asked if they might become Adventurers. Ben wanted to know more about the Bible. Of course they were warmly welcomed. Eliza is another child who has become involved through personal invitation and joins in on occasion.
Many and varied are Adventurer activities. The children have completed awards for hands-on crafts, gone on walks and scavenger hunts identifying things in nature, had fun marching, baked cupcakes and enjoyed interactive learning about self, family, the world and God. They visited a local dairy farm, attended a 2019 rally day in Melbourne and joined in online for the 2020 rally. A new shell award was created by the group and with the help of the Victoria Youth Department. This year they are running Busy Bees and Builders classes. Stephen and Bronwyn keep the church up to date with reports of plans and activities.
On Sabbath 20th March, Bairnsdale SDA church celebrated these Adventurer youngsters with an investiture and presentation of awards. For the second time we welcomed Michael Downing, District Director of Pathfinders from the Conference Youth Department. The children marched in with their leaders, all looking very smart in their uniforms. We were impressed with the presentation of their lives as Adventurers and pray for God’s continued blessing on everyone involved in this worthwhile program.
Judith Walker
Ruby, Malachik, Brook and Ben