“Oh, we are the Pathfinders strong . . . ”

A sweet voice flows through the air into the teacher’s room. The tune sounds familiar, and the words are intelligible to my non-Khmer-speaking ear. My deep thoughts about the next week’s English lessons suddenly dissipate — I quickly look up from my screen. It’s been a week since the first Pathfinder meeting at our school in the Pnong project, and I see Sokhem rushing to my desk, “Teacher, when are we doing Pathfinders again?” My heart swells up with emotion as I realize the importance of what has been started.

It’s been almost a year since that little moment. Sokhem’s enthusiasm for the club is still as strong as then, but it hasn’t been easy for him. His parents are not Christian, and they were not very happy when the new “unnecessary leisure” activity started to take time away from his studies on the weekend. He was unable to attend many meetings, and he would come to school on Monday mortified because he had missed the adventure.

Still, God is faithful, and his parents became more supportive towards the end of the school year. His mother even attended the Investiture ceremony. Just last month, we went to our first country-wide Pathfinder Camporee, and I’m happy to report that Sokhem attended. He learned cool things like how to build a fire and boil an egg in a plastic bag. He did mud crawls and made a new Pathfinder friend whom he misses a lot. Since he is only 13, Sokhem doesn’t have his own phone to keep in touch, so he can’t wait for next year when he gets to see his friend again.

Most important, however, was Sokhem’s decision to make his desire to follow Jesus public by responding to the altar call at the closing service. My heart filled with emotion as I began to see the fruits of our work with the youth. Many teens from other areas in the country joined Sokhem at the front that day.

I am happy that God is allowing me to pass on the love and excitement I experienced in my teenage years as a Pathfinder. The Pathfinder Club provides for socialization and the development of discipline that teenagers need. It also helps youth grow in their love for Christ by creating opportunities for service and spiritual leadership. I am forever grateful to God for leading me to a place where I can be an active servant alongside many other youth leaders from around the world. Just like others trained me to be who I am today, I hope to train the servants of tomorrow. Nothing is as amazing as seeing someone you have worked with surrender their life to serve our Heavenly Father.

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