How would you like to see the young people in your church adding six of Paul’s books to memory? Maybe the entire book of Daniel? That’s just what Pathfinder clubs across the North Pacific Union Conference (NPUC) have been doing since school began last fall. And they’ll start on the book of Daniel this fall.
Upper Columbia Conference Pathfinder Bible Experience (PBE) teams gathered in Richland, Wash., Feb. 18, for conference-level testing on several books of the Bible. Seven teams advanced to the conference level including Walla Walla Sunrise, Wind Valley Arrows, Ponderosa Pathfinders, Yakima Braves, Brewster Blazers, Palouse Hills and Cascade Peaks. Three teams advanced to the NPUC-level testing held at the Walla Walla University Church March 11.
This huge commitment on the part of Pathfinders, parents, teachers and churches is all part of the Pathfinder Bible Experience. Teams start studying and memorizing as soon as school starts. The first area-level testing takes place in January. At each testing event teams are faced with 90 questions from the assigned portions of Scripture. This year each team was responsible for the complete books of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, as well as 1 and 2 Timothy. The questions are deep and must be answered exactly as the passage reads.
When one team coach was asked how many hours he had put into getting his team ready for the first PBE testing event, he answered, “Over 1,000 hours.” This is not for the faint of heart.
But it is for those who want to see the treasure of God’s Word buried deep in the minds of young people. The experience has a ripple effect too. One mom remembers her daughter coming home from school saying she didn’t have to prepare for her memory work in class that week because she already knew the verses from when her older brother was studying for the Pathfinder Bible Experience.
Teams from around the North Pacific Union Conference will be heading to Chicago, Ill., on May 22 for this year’s North American Division testing event. To get there, they will have had to successfully pass testing at the area, conference and union levels.
To learn how you can support a team or how you can get a PBE team started in your church, contact your conference Pathfinder director.
Please keep all of our NPUC teams in your prayers as they head to Chicago.
Pathfinder Bible Experience can be a family experience.
Pathfinder teens prep for testing.
