By Samantha Nelson – Cody, Wyoming …What happens when two Pathfinder Teen Leaders in Training (TLT) team up with their pastor and his wife? The adventure of a lifetime!
From June 12-28, Pastor Steve Nelson and wife Samantha took Dean and Cedar Jeffers, two teens from the Cody Seventh-day Adventist Church on an incredible adventure they likely will never forget!
As part of achieving their Pathfinder advanced honors, Cedar and Dean were to learn more about church history and how the church operates. They drove to the top of Pike’s Peak before sitting in on the Rocky Mountain Conference Executive Committee meeting in Denver the following morning. Committee members were very welcoming as the teens experienced the Conference-wide “church board meeting,” as it was described to them.
Traveling from Denver, the teens were able to see several historic sights—the Buffalo Bill Cody Scout’s Rest Ranch in Nebraska, St. Louis Gateway Arch in Missouri, Churchill Downs and the Louisville Slugger Museum in Kentucky, Stone’s River Battlefield, and the burial location of Beautiful Jim Key, the world’s smartest horse in Tennessee—all along the route to Lexington, Kentucky where they would be part of the North American Division pastor’s meetings at the Called Convention.
This was the first time the youth had been in such a large group of Adventists, and pastors at that! It was a little overwhelming, but they did enjoy seeing the exhibits and learning about the various ministries within the church. They also were very grateful for their PK gifts—a nice backpack, hoodie, T-shirt, and more. It was an entirely new experience for them to worship with hundreds, if not thousands, of other young people, as well as pastors.
The next stop was the Ark Encounter, where Cedar and Dean were able to ride a camel for the first time. This was followed by the Creation Museum in Kentucky.
“The Ark was my favorite experience of the trip!” said Cedar.
“The Creation Museum was really interesting and seeing the Ark helped me to picture how big Noah’s Ark would have been,” Dean commented.
Sounds like a full trip, doesn’t it? Well, it was far from over! From Kentucky, the field trip carried on to a visit to Andrews University in Berrien Springs and the Historic Adventist Village in Battle Creek, Michigan where they saw firsthand what living conditions were like for the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and heard stories about these incredible pioneers in ministry.
The last major stop before heading back to Cody was the Oriental Institute of Chicago. This museum claims to house “10,000 years of human history under one roof.” Many of the museum’s artifacts can be tied to people, places, or events mentioned in the Bible.
Pastor Steve commented, “Our goal for this trip was to deepen the love for God the young people already have, show them a broader perspective of the church and its operations and help them grow in their leadership skills as TLTs for the Cody Cowboys Pathfinder Club.”
He added, “God helped us achieve those goals and blessed us all with safe travels and health throughout the trip. Naturally, we were all grateful to be back home in Wyoming, although they have already started talking about what the next adventure might be.”
Lord willing, there will be more adventures coming up as this trip proved very beneficial for the spiritual growth and nurture of the youth.
—Samantha Nelson, text, and photos
