![Robert Miller stands with his Pathfinder leader uniform. He was elected as a Member of Parliament in Jamaica for the St. Catherine South Eastern on Sep. 3, 2020, representing the Jamaica Labor Party (JLP). [Photo: Courtesy of Robert Miller]](https://jmunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Robert-Miller--500x375.jpeg)
April 4, 2023 | Mandeville, Jamaica | Nigel Coke and Inter-American Division News
After 34 years of being a part of the Seventh-day Adventist Pathfinders Club, Robert Miller is eagerly awaiting the start of the 5th Inter-American Pathfinders Camporee scheduled for April 4-8, 2023, at the Trelawny Multipurpose Stadium in Trelawny, Jamaica.
It is not because Miller is new to large camporees, having attended numerous camporees and congresses such as one held in South Africa in 2013, but because of impact that the Pathfinders movement has had on his life.
“The Pathfinders Club over the years has impacted me a whole lot,” said Miller. “It gave me skills in leadership and how to be my brother’s keeper in terms of the social, spiritual, and mental.” It is a wholistic development, he added. “Pathfinders for me is life. It teaches me the life skills that I encapsulate in my everyday life. It also enabled me to interact with people at different strata/levels of life and exposed me to several cultures and countries.”
“Big Rob” as he is affectionately called, was baptized in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in October 1988 at the age of 11 and quickly plunged into being actively involved in the work of the church. The following year he became a member of the Pathfinders Club at Spanish Town Seventh-day Adventist Church, which he described as his biggest life-changing moment.
“Since joining the Pathfinders Club, I have always been in leadership positions where I was able to coach and mentor other youth,” said Miller. He eventually gained a strong interest in youth development, which stemmed from seeing youths in Jamaican society, not being rounded and geared to face the challenges of the society has to offer.
Early years in leadership
While attending Bridgeport High School, Miller was captain the debating team and the first boys team to the ISSA Boys and Girls Athletics Championship. He also served as a member of the school’s drama, speech, chess clubs and prefect body.
It was his role in the church and the Pathfinders Club that eventually led him to Northern Caribbean University (NCU), whose ethos and emphasis is on the wholistic development of young people. It was while at NCU that the Miller realized that his role as a youth leader was a call from God and which propelled him into representational politics.
