Club Experiences from Courage to Stand

Some thoughts from Courage to Stand

I loved going to CTS! It was so great and such a blessing! I really enjoyed being on the baptismal balloon crew and I can’t wait for the next Oshkosh!!!!!!!!!!!
Rachel S, Southern Hills Orions, Oklahoma City, OK

From T, Aug 17:
I just came back from Courage to Stand and I have to say I was truely blessed. It was great to be there with like believers and have a good time praising and worshiping God. This was my first international camporee, so I didn’t know what to expect. I was told that pin trading was a big deal, but boy was I surprised. As a pathfinder staff we decided to buy pins through our conference and give them to our kids so they can trade. Pin trading is a fun activity, but I was disappointed when saw several adults parading around the campgounds with a jacket full of pins, just for the purpose of trading them. It seemed that’s the only reason why they decided to attend the camporee. Also, I did not like the whole spirit behind trading when I heard several people say how they “robbed” some kid by trading a pin that was of less value for one of more percieved value. As christians I feel that we should always be fair with the ones we do business with, even if it’s trading pins. I decided to get into the pin trading myself, because there was a set of Texas pins I wanted to collect. So I bought several pins with my own money and hit the dusty crowded streets. To make a long story short I ended up getting the entire set I was searching for, but had to give up several pins just to get one “rare” pin. There was one kid in particular who really wanted one of my pins. I was going to keep it because I needed it to trade to find one particular pin in the set. The kid said please and looked like he really wanted it, so I decided to trade with him. Looking back at the whole experience I’m glad I traded with him. I don’t even know what pin I recieved in return but was happy to see the look on the kids face after the trade was made. In retrospect, it was selfish of me to trade pins just for the purpose of obtaining a set. Afterall, what good does that do for anyone else. At the next camporee I plan on purchasing several pins for the purposes of trading them, but I will only trade with someone if they agree to pray with me. Afterall, trading just to get a set is pretty selfish. I want to be a blessing to someone and if that means trading or giving a pin away then so be it.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:6)

Sorry for the long comment but this has been on mind for a few days now. God bless.

From AG, Aug 18:

Just returned with kids from Oshkosh.
Fun and spiritual time. Planning for the next one, if we are still here, on earth.
One disappointing experience – Lake Region had great pins, and did not make them available (two states, Minnesota & Wisconsin) for trade. So, only few select individuals got the complete selection. It allowed for a few individuals to make a “killing” last night, manipulating the trade.
there should be some ethical regulations for pin trading, so we would not loose our christian experience.

Alec
http://adventistlondon.ca/

From TB, July 14:

We have put together 100 bags of 15 pins each to give away. We also are firm believers in a pin for a pin. It’s suppose to be fun and your suppose to do it to meet new friends. That’s why we take our collection to show others and try to get them excited.

From SC, July 10:

This is SC from the Southern California Conference. We are excited that the re will be 28 different pins we will be trading from Southern California Conference. We have four different designs which will create mini-sets within the Conference set. Looking forward to seeing you at the Camporee.