Bonaduz, Switzerland [Isaac Chia; CD EUDNews]. From June 5-9, 2013, In the beautiful Swiss countryside, near the town of Bonaduz, the Guides had a Inter-European Division Senior Seminar. Ninety Master Guides and future candidates gathered from various countries in our Division. The theme of the seminar was Advanced Orientation Techniques. We listened to specialists in various areas and we were taught orienteering while riding mountain bikes, manage GPS devices, mounting orientation games, knowing how to determine where you are and where to find it on the map and also how to read three-dimensional maps.
From the first day we divided in groups from all the countries represented there to get to know each other better. This is always a challenge in our division because each country speaks a different language, but the result was positive and we were able to connect and make new friends from other countries.
On Thursday night we had an orienteering race in the town of Chur. Most of the Master Guides live in urban areas and it suited them just fine learning to ride in this environment. While we rode we could admire the beauty of the city of Chur, surrounded by fantastic natural landscape.
The most challenging day was Friday. After having taught us techniques the day before, we were taken up to a mountain where professional orienteering races were organized. Throughout the day we were doing an orienteering race divided into two parts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. It was a hard day and finding certain markers was a challenging task. On more than one occasion we found ourselves in the beautiful local forest and running from one place to another because we were short of time. Each landmark found, provided a key number for the Sudoku game we would have to solve later.
Friday night we listened to the various ongoing projects in the Unions within our Division. It was time well spent and very inspiring, we took notes of the various ideas we heard.
Friday night was unforgettable. We sang around the campfire in several languages. We lifted our voices in worship to heaven with great enthusiasm and joy.
On Sabbath we had a special worship program and then Pastor Stephan Sigg had the sermon on the leadership of Nehemiah. In the afternoon we divided into two groups, one followed a path by the river in a canyon and the other rested near the river.
Coordination and the notable work done by both Stephan Sigg and Guillaume Couvreur, director of the Swiss-German federation, was excellent organization throughout the seminar. The food was also very good and remember how fresh the showers were. We are also very grateful for the compass that we got as a gift at the seminar.
I am already looking forward to the next Master Guide seminar with all the good memories, the fellowship between the different countries and the new tools we receive for our Pathfinder ministry.
