Two sets of twins were baptized at the 2019 International Pathfinder Camporee. Read about the spiritual journey they've been on for the past five years.
Change is hard. While this may feel trite or understated (or both), it is, as Jane Austen would say, “a truth universally acknowledged.” And yet, there are phases of life which require us to dive into the unknown—some of our own choosing, such as marriage or parenthood, and some thrust upon us, such as divorce or the death of a loved one. Or, for example, high school.
“Everything safe and familiar—a student’s home away from home—has shifted from a single location to a ‘homeroom,’ which is just a small piece of their day,” explains Tracy Wood, director for youth and young adult ministry at the North American Division. “There’s a sudden fragmentation or disconnection of their previous stable learning and life environment. This is especially disruptive and disconcerting for those who may not have had a stable home life already.”
The transition to college, Wood says, is even bigger. “You move from a campus you knew corner to corner to a massive college campus which is in some cases an entire city,” he says. “You move away from everyone you know, and you get lost.”
Everything changes in these moments—from emotional experiences to academic expectations to physical environments. And aside from these adjustments, Wood says there is also a significant transition in faith and spiritual life when moving from one phase of life to another.
“Teachers, pastors, youth leaders—all those people who knew and believed in you before are gone,” he explains. “You have to find new spiritual guides and mentors to do daily life with, and if connecting with a local church group is difficult, you struggle to find your people. That transition is massive.”
There are, however, ways to minimize the inevitable accompanying growing pains which come with the transitions to high school or college. A ValueGenesis study, for example, revealed long ago that young people make significant life and faith decisions in settings which are not their typical everyday experience. This is why spending a week at summer camp or VBS or attending youth retreats or Camporees is invaluable to a young person’s spiritual experience and their future spiritual lives.
This was certainly true for two sets of twins who chose to be baptized at the 2019 Pathfinder Camporee in OshKosh.
“Pathfinders was where we belonged—they were our people,” explains Jae’Ona Middleton, 22.
Jae’Bel Middleton, 22, agrees. “Pathfinders was the place we took our first steps toward understanding our own personal relationships with God,” she says, “so it just felt right to be baptized at Camporee.” Then 17, she also knew she’d be headed to college soon, and her relationship with God would become more self-motivated. “My parents wouldn’t be there telling me to go to church, we wouldn’t have family worship together—all those familiar regular reminders wouldn’t be present,” she says. “With my baptism, I committed to my own relationship with God, not one based on my parents—or convenience.”
And so, on an overcast day in August 2019, surrounded by hundreds of fellow Pathfinders, parents, directors, pastors, and other church representatives, the Middletons were baptized by Dwayne Duncombe, their pastor at Hyde Park at the time.
“I have so many examples in front of me who are baptized and who are standing up leading people to the Lord and I want to be part of that,” Jae’Bel commented on the day of her baptism.
Over 94 Lake Union Pathfinders made public declarations of their commitment to Christ during the 2019 camporee, including another set of twins, Kendahl and Landon Hensel, whose family attends Grand Blanc church in Michigan. They were baptized by their pastor, Daniel Ferraz.
“When my mom suggested it would be an opportunity to witness to other young Pathfinders, that convinced me,” Kendahl recalls. “I was sure getting baptized was what I wanted, and I wanted to do it at Camporee.”
Landon admits he was nervous about being baptized in front of so many people, but ultimately, he knew it was what he wanted, and he was determined to follow through. The camera he agreed to wear to capture his experience caught Landon breathing, “Whoa!” as he stood at the railing looking out at the crowd of hundreds. As he waded through the water to take his place, the pastor asked Landon, “You doing OK?” to which Landon replied eagerly, “Oh yeah!”
“The most memorable moment of that entire experience was coming up out of the water,” he says, looking back at that experience nearly five years ago. “Coming up, I felt different.”
At the time they were baptized, the Hensels were 11; the Middletons 17. For both sets of twins, big transitions were coming within just a couple of years. The Hensels soon headed to Great Lakes Adventist Academy; the Middletons enrolled at Washington Adventist University in Maryland.
Talk about big life changes.
It isn’t always easy to stick to the promises made through baptism, Landon admits, or feel motivated to stay connected.
“This year there have been a lot of distractions, and I realized my priorities weren’t as straight as I thought they were,” he says. “When I got baptized, I promised God I’d try to be closer to him and keep my daily focus on him, and that’s something I will continue to recommit to.”
Kendahl agrees there have been challenges, but she also finds opportunities to recommit herself to Christ, such as during Week of Prayer at school, which keeps her focus in the right place.
Jae’Bel refers to her relationship with God as “new and personal,” as she works to stay consistent in connecting with him. “I’m discovering my relationship with God is just that—mine—and no one else’s,” she says. “It's hard to stay consistent with so many distractions, but it is something I am committed to daily. Baptism reminded me to stay focused and consistent despite the different challenges.”
Even as they grapple with the shifts in their faith journeys, both the Middletons and the Hensels have found ways to remain active and involved in their faith communities—habits instilled in them in part through their involvement in Pathfinders.
While at Washington Adventist University, Jae’Bel and Jae’Ona taught kindergarten Sabbath School classes, led prayer circles, and helped with young adult ministries. They participated in praise teams and led prayer at church regularly. When they transferred the following year to Antillean University in Puerto Rico, they helped with the local Pathfinder club, and jumped easily into young adult ministries, helping coordinate, advertise, and cook for regular prayer breakfasts.
“There’s always a need for people to help, so we just filled whatever hole needed filling,” Jae’Bel says.
While home from school on breaks, they were often asked to help with Pathfinder meetings and activities. Home in Chicago this summer, the Middleton twins planned to help with camp meeting, summer camp, and Vacation Bible School.
“Our mom taught us there’s always something to do,” says Jae’Ona. “You just have to look, find a project, and do it. You’ll find purpose and feel good about what you’re doing.”
Landon says that to find the space you’re truly meant to fill in your church, sometimes you have to get uncomfortable. When GLAA visited the Hensels’ home church this year, Landon was asked to give the sermon. Not an up-front person, Landon shared his concerns with his principal. “He told me, ‘The sermon you preach is the sermon you need to hear the most,’” Landon recalls. “So, I prayed about it and realized I knew what I needed to say. I was vulnerable and it was uncomfortable, but I realize now that if you stay comfortable, you’ll never push yourself to grow.”
As members of the Grand Blanc Holy Herons Pathfinder Club, the Hensel twins were empowered from a young age to participate not only in the church service, but in the service of the church.
“On Sundays, I was often at the church with my dad, working alongside other Pathfinders and their parents on flooring, drywall, or whatever else needed doing,” Landon says. Kendahl adds their Pathfinder leaders were good at getting the young people of the church involved in more than just picking up the offering.
“It was because of my involvement with Pathfinders that I gave my first sermonette,” she says. “That experience really helped me be more comfortable and willing to do other up-front speaking things. Pathfinders felt like training for doing life on a bigger scale.”
Landon says volunteering on larger projects at church connected him to people in his church he may not otherwise have interacted with. “I got to know people from different generations,” he says, “and that helped me feel closer to the church.”
Expanding one’s interpersonal circle is something Pathfinders does well. The Hyde Park Constellations Pathfinder Club, of which the Middletons were members, had several non-Adventist members, including Baptists, non-denominational Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others. “It was a very diverse environment, and it was a really good experience for us,” Jae’Ona says.
The Middletons grew up exploring different churches; their parents took them not only to their home church, but also Asian churches, Hispanic churches, white churches, and African churches.
“We grew up comfortable with diverse worship experiences, diverse faith backgrounds, and diverse cultural traditions, which made it easy for us to get involved in the local church even when we moved to college,” says Jae’Ona.
Being on the other side of Pathfinders—having aged out and moved on to college—has given Jae’Bel a different way to be involved.
“A lot of people read stories in the Bible and think how cool it would be to be a disciple,” she says. “They ask themselves questions like, ‘Would I do what Esther did, or what Ruth did?’ You’re in that position with Pathfinders. You learn how to facilitate other people’s growth—to help them on their journey to discovering who God wants them to be.”
Spiritual guidance and mentorship are based on relationships, so intentionally surrounding ourselves with spiritual people during that transition into high school or college is crucial to keep us from drifting without direction.
“If we surround ourselves with spiritual people, we’ll drift instead toward broadened minds and deeper faith,” Wood comments. But we must explore those opportunities for ourselves to determine where we stand personally, rather than simply resting on the spiritual laurels of those who have guided us to that point.
The ValueGenesis study refers to this experience as “moving from borrowed faith—the faith of my family and community—to owned faith—my own faith.” Essentially, young people realize they had just been believing what their community believed, and now those assumptions and influences are less influential, and they must figure out where they stand on matters of religion, faith, and spirituality.
“This is not a choice, it’s a phase-of-life journey,” Wood emphasizes. “It’s what happens in your 20s when you come into yourself, as you wonder where you’re going, how you’ll figure that out, and how God fits into the picture. It’s natural.”
And the foundation provided through spiritual experiences throughout one’s early life plays a huge role in how that journey plays out.
“The most powerful thing we can do for our young people is to provide opportunities for those meaningful, memorable moments,” Wood says. Moments like summer camp, Bible retreats, VBS, and Camporee. “At each of these events, what many people refer to as ‘entertainment’ is so much more than that. They are building blocks of a highly impactful spiritual life—things we never forget.”
The theme for the 2024 Pathfinder Camporee in Gillette, Wyoming, is “Believe the Promise.” Some in attendance will choose to do exactly that and will publicly commit their life to Christ through baptism, like the Middletons and the Hensels did five years ago—a decision they did not take lightly, and a promise they haven’t forgotten, despite the twists and turns of life.
“I’m trying to commit my everyday life to God, trying to keep him at the center of whatever I’m doing,” Kendahl says. “Anything I do with God as the focus is infinitely more powerful than what I could do on my own. A lot of the time I don’t keep the promises I’ve made to God, but I know He always keeps his. And that’s what gives me strength to keep trying.”
Becky St. Clair is a freelance writer.
