After nearly a year of studying the book of Matthew, memorization and grueling team practice, five Bellevue/Kirkland Sojourners Pathfinders team members score a first place at the North American Division (NAD) finals for Pathfinder Bible Experience (PBE), held in Keene, Texas.
“It was a lot of work but all of it was fun,” says 10-year-old Brian Rojas, a fifth-grader and the youngest team member who was competing in the event for the first time. “The only thing I missed was a little homework." He plans to stay with the Sojourners club and compete over the next four years.
His older brother, Eric, who is 12, has competed for three years. The team’s first competition was in Seattle, where they won and easily went to the conference level. “We’ve never made it past the conference level, so it was really exciting winning there,” says Eric. From there, the Sojourners made it to the union level with complete confidence they’d make it to division finals.
Eric, a sixth-grader, is already looking forward to next years’ event, focused on the study of Exodus. “That’s going to be a lot more difficult because Exodus has 40 chapters, compared to Matthew, which only had 28,” he says, but he’s up for the challenge.
There were 128 teams from the NAD conferences representing nine unions, plus British Union and United Kingdom were there to compete. In the end, 92 teams achieved a first-place rating, 22 teams took second place and one team received a third-place rating.
Another team member, 12-year-old Isaac Meythaler, says he learned a lot more stories about Jesus by studying Matthew’s Gospel. He broke his arm a week before the trip to Texas but said that wasn’t going to slow him down.
The oldest team member, Victoria Nabua, 13, said this will probably be her last year of competition. She’s getting ready for high school next year but says, “I really learned the geneology this time by memorizing Matthew. Competing was the best part. It really challenges your mind to come up with the right answers.” The fifth team member was 12-year-old Bianca Prada.
The Sojourners discusses its answer to a question about the book of Matthew.
A view from the balcony shows about two-thirds of the teams at the Pathfinder Bible Experience finals. The Bellevue/Kirkland Sojourners are near the sign with the number 46 (bottom right quadrant).
The Bellevue/Kirkland Sojourners celebrate earning a first-place score.
Sojourners team discussing a question at the NAD event.
Sojourners team before the stage at the Friday night program.
A view from the balcony shows about two-thirds of the teams at the Pathfinder Bible Experience finals. The Bellevue/Kirkland Sojourners are near the sign with the number 46 (bottom right quadrant).
Teams from all over western Washington brought their best to the conference-level Pathfinder Bible Experience event.
