Every February, Wisconsin Pathfinder clubs eagerly anticipate the Winter Retreat at Camp Wakonda. Unlike our spacious summer camping events—where everyone can spread out and pitch a tent—indoor heated accommodations are limited. This makes the retreat a first-come, first-served event, with registration filling up quickly. Yet even when February nights dip into frigid temperatures, we manage to warmly welcome nearly 200 Pathfinders and adult chaperones into our cozy lodges and

This past weekend, 22 young adults from the Wisconsin Conference attended the Lake Union Conference Youth Evangelism Congress in the north suburbs of Chicago. I say "attended," but they did more than that. Our Wisconsin young people networked with other people their age who are interested in ministry, learned from their peers about what creative ministries are working in their geographical region, and got to present their own ideas and experiences as well. Limitless Group Pho

It's officially PBE (Pathfinder Bible Experience) season in the Wisconsin Conference. This past Sabbath, teams from around Wisconsin gathered into their respective "areas" to compete against each other and see who would advance to the Conference PBE event in March. We currently have Area Coordinators serving in four areas of the state, and those areas met at the following locations. Southeast Area: Waukesha (English) Church Northeast Area: Fox Valley Church Area 51: Watertown

This past Sabbath, young people gathered at the Milwaukee Seventh-day Adventist School for a compelling worship service, a celebration of youth evangelism in the Wisconsin Conference, and an opportunity to serve in the surrounding community. Over 150 were present for the event, from all over Wisconsin (Green Bay, Frederic, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Wausau and so on), and from ages 5 to 65 (although the majority were in the Pathfinder to young adult age group). It snowed

For the past two years, Youth Rally has returned to the Wisconsin Conference. This year the event is moving to Milwaukee SDA School (North Campus). Here's what to expect and how to plan, this coming January 17. Who is Youth Rally For? The simple answer is: youth of all ages. "Youth" can have a pretty narrow definition in our church: usually referring to older teens. Youth Rally is less concerned with people's age, however, and more concerned with providing a fun day of worshi

In the midst of a demanding academic season filled with coursework, responsibilities, and growing pressure, young adults from across Wisconsin gathered for a weekend of spiritual renewal, fellowship, and rest. From November 14 –16, students representing ACF (Adventist Christian Fellowship/public campus ministry) chapters from La Crosse, Oshkosh, Stevens Point, Madison, and Milwaukee came together in Milwaukee for the Wisconsin ACF Retreat. Hosted by UW-Milwaukee ACF and the M

I have lived in Watertown, Wisconsin, almost my entire life, and I've always noticed these beautiful painted banners when we would drive to school in the mornings. My mom is an amazing artist, and so I always wanted her to make one. The only problem was that we never knew how to sign up so that we could do so. Two years ago, in the springtime, my Pathfinder Club (the Watertown Sentinels) started working toward the Artificial Intelligence Honor. It was very interesting to see

Warm sunlight and a brilliant blue graced the skies of November 23rd, 2025. Over twenty attendees made their march through the woods of Camp Wakonda towards the climbing wall, affectionately known as Howie, who was destined to be put to rest. Friendly chatter blessed the walk. These were people connected by God and Camp Wakonda, joining together to bid farewell to a beloved camp monument. Twelve previous summer camp staff were present, but as a 26-year-old, Howie was the olde

This past weekend, the Wisconsin Conference Youth Department held its annual young adult event: The Table. Thirty young people attended the weekend, which was hosted by The Shepherd's House SDA Church. Thirty is about the perfect amount for an event like this, because by design it is less of a traditional youth "rally," and more of a summit or advisory for senior youth and young adults. In other words, the desired outcomes of this event are high-quality discussion, close conn

How would you use $1,000 for Jesus? $50,000? How about $200,000? Here in the Lake Union, we get to ask these questions to young people. Not only do they have answers for us, but we actually have the opportunity to give them the money and watch them use it, to God's glory! TLDR; You can register for the Youth Evangelism Congress HERE Disclaimer: this is a stock image, not an actual Wisconsin youth (don't worry, we'll get there) The Lake Union Conference Youth Evangelism Congre

The climbing wall at Camp Wakonda was originally built for the 1999 season of Summer Camp, and it has been a favorite activity of staff and campers ever since. Affectionately, the staff at one point named the wall "Howie." The reasoning explained to me for this nickname is that the staff, while explaining the rules of climbing wall safety, would tell the campers, "This is Howie Climb"--a play on words, sounding like, "This is how we climb." This nickname has stuck for the dur

I wrote last year about the awesome things that were going on in young adult ministry. A lot of that movement has been grass-roots, and the youth department has done its best to show support to locally planned young adult events that seem to pop up with more frequency. Another big factor is our Public Campus Ministries, led by Josh Guerrero, which have hit their stride recently and have really been making a big impact in our conference. However, The Table is the crucial ingre

This past weekend, over 80 youth leaders and young leaders got together at Camp Wakonda to learn best practices in youth ministry leadership, network with others in the Wisconsin field, and attain resources that will aid them on their quest to bring young people to Jesus. This was a great year, not only because of the numbers of attendance, but also because of the number of clubs that were represented. Only two of our current 20 Wisconsin Pathfinder Clubs were not represented

This past Sabbath was World Pathfinder Day, and we officially celebrated 75 years of Pathfinders as a youth ministry in the Seventh-day...

This past weekend, at Camp Wakonda, we hosted our Wisconsin Conference Pathfinder Fair, with the theme: God, Our Rescue . Since, on years...

This past weekend was our Wisconsin Conference Adventurer Family Camp Out. Our theme for the weekend was "The Heavens Declare Your...

I’m writing this because I want to say thank you to my fellow staff for the time and support they gave me at Camp Wakonda this summer....

I’ve been coming to Camp Wakonda for as long as I can remember. I grew up here: running through the trails, sitting by the campfire, and...

This is the fifth summer that Ally and I have directed the Summer Camp ministry here at Camp Wakonda. It's been such an awesome journey...

For many years, the furthest cabin on the right (Cabin 7) on Admin Row at Camp Wakonda has been the Pathfinder Museum. It's been full of...