Making today’s young people better men and women

Maureen Monsegue, director of the Adventurer Club at the Five Towns Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inwood, said she volunteers her time to give children, ages three to nine, the tools to be mature and happy.

The Clinton Avenue church has existed for the past 16 years. The Five Towns Lightbearers Club, which includes two groups — the Adventurers and the Pathfinders — began in March and meets twice a month, Pastor Kevin Brown said.

Far Rockaway resident Kevin Morgan dedicates his time as the director of the Pathfinders, ages 10 through 18, in an effort to help the young people develop into productive men and women later in life. “It builds their self-esteem and they become better students at school,” he said. “They’ll be better in the world and at school.”

The Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Protestant Christian denomination, sponsors the worldwide organization. Lisa Quailey, the Long Island area coordinator who oversees Pathfinder and Adventurer clubs from various churches, said members don’t have to be churchgoers to join. “It doesn’t matter your faith or culture,” she said. “We recruit by word of mouth, passing out fliers to different places throughout the community and parades.”

To promote the organization, the Five Towns Lightbearers Club paraded through Inwood and Lawrence holding Pathfinder and Adventurer flags on Sept. 22. Awards, or badges, are given to members after they complete a subject in the Adventurer or Pathfinder curriculum such as first aid, sewing, flowers and camping.

Imade Omozore, an eighth-grader at M.S. 72 in Queens and a Pathfinder, held the flag in the parade and enjoys the fun activities the organization provides such as going to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania and roller-skating. “It teaches us about discipline and brings us closer to God,” she said. “You also learn right from wrong and it’s important to build character with God because he helps you when you feel lost and lonely.”

Adventurer Dejay Smith, a second-grader at P.S. 45 in Queens, believes the organization will help him to be honest, kind and true. “The club helps us to follow God’s pathway and to obey our mother and father,” he said. “I also love to play games and get badges.”

Kenia Jasmin, an Adventurer and kindergartener at P.S. 104 in Queens, enjoys making arts and crafts related to the various subjects, such as butterflies and flowers. “I like to go to church everyday and the club teaches me to be obedient and be a good person,”

she said.

Pathfinder parent Lavern Bartley of Far Rockaway decided to sign her 14-year-old daughter up for the organization to keep her busy and off the phone and computer. “It also helps her develop good skills and character as well as how to be strong and help others,” Bartley said. “These days parents are so busy and sometimes they don’t have the time to focus on their children as much as they should so they’re able to participate in these activities and be good role models.”

Brown, who joined the organization himself at 2-years-old, believes the club is good for youth. “It gives them a sense of direction and an option,” he said. “From my personal experience, all my friends who went through the club are successful today and the credit their success to the club.”

For more information on the Five Towns Lightbearers Club, email Kevin Morgan at tavoy1974@hotmail.com or Maureen Monsegue at maureenjohan@yahoo.com or call the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inwood at (516) 239-1894.