Only two events held in our country have gathered more people than this year's regional camps. One of them was the Youth Congress in Lisbon that, according to some reports, gathered close to 10,000 people in the then Pavilhão Atlântico, in 1999. The other was the EUD Camporee, 20 years later, in Sesimbra, where nearly 3,000 people came together.
Of course, there is a huge difference. The 2,586 people who attended the regional camps were gathered in five different places and were not together in the same space as these two events, but that does not take away from the impact that these camps have had on the local churches over the last 4 decades.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Portugal has experienced a strong growth. Many churches, especially in the Lisbon region, are already obliged to have not only one, nor two, but three services of worship on Saturday morning, because the space is too small for so many members. One might say, in a quick analysis, that this growth has a lot to do with immigration, which is not false, but the participation of the local churches in national activities has also intensified.
There is something special in these regional camps for the fact that, on Saturday, more than 3,000 people including family members and participants, the equivalent of almost 1/3 of the Adventist Church in Portugal, were gathered in these five places. From the 110 churches that make up the universe of Adventist churches in Portuguese territory, 73 participated in the regional camps.
This year, there was an increase of 22% in registrations in the regional camps in relation to the previous year. A total of 566 more people went to the "regionals" than those who attended in 2022.
At least three churches—Canelas, Central Lisbon and Barreiro—took more than 100 participants each to this regional youth meeting. These numbers lead us to reflect on why the regional camps attract so many people, being the only event in Portugal that brings together young and old in a unique symbiosis.
Pablo Silva is 49 years old but he began his experience as a youth leader even before he was 18. He is currently responsible for youth in the central region and believes that "the regionals are, for sure, the biggest IASD event in Portugal, using a model, perhaps unique in Europe, of uniting JA and the church in general in a camp". This year, the central region of the country brought together 590 young people in Quiaios, in Figueira da Foz. From the 24 churches that make up this region of the country, only 6 did not attend, despite the huge logistics required to be present in this activity.
Each local church is responsible for providing food for its young people. This year, as an example, the IASD of Caldas da Rainha took 81 young people to AcReg Centro, which implied that the leaders of this church guaranteed the creation of a small restaurant to feed all these young people the 8 meals they had there. It is in this work of setting up tents, cookers, transport of food but, above all, it is in the mealtime where a small firebrand of 7 years old sits next to his elder of 50 or 60 years old, that lies the unique symbiosis between children, youth and adults, a unique environment promoted in this event.
Igor Domingos, responsible for youth in the regions of Madeira and Azores, was at the AcReg in Montado do Pereiro, in Madeira, and he gathered 70 young people. He says that "the most remarkable moments were those where bonds were created. Where pastors, church leaders and young people stopped being people who see each other once a week in church and started to be united in their goal of following Jesus. These experiences they went through together: the tiredness of the walks, being on opposing teams in the approach game and yet helping each other to all overcome the goals, eating the same food sitting on the floor, going through the same cold, singing the same hymn... All this contributed to the fact that when the question was raised, ‘Will we all go?’, each young person had the opportunity to say and hear themselves say, ‘I am going’”.
Next year, the challenge will be even greater. The director of Adventist Youth in Portugal, Tiago Alves, took advantage of the camps to make the announcement that, in 2024, also around Easter, a National Camporee will be held that will bring together all the young people from all the regional camps in the same place, at the same time. The forecast is for at least 2,600 participants in this activity.
The regional camps in Portugal follow a model perhaps unique in Europe, for the fact that they are based on voluntary, community and intergenerational work means that everyone can say: "We will all go: young and old, our sons and daughters, and all our flocks, for we will celebrate a feast in honour of the Lord" (Exodus 10:9).
*Ezequiel Duarte is the Director of the Communication Department of the Portuguese Union
