Misty rain turned to snow as forecasted on Feb. 18. It was right on time to kick off the second-annual Montana Conference Pathfinder Bible Achievement program in Bozeman, Mont.
The program's 90 questions covered in detail Isaiah 1–55, along with the introduction to Isaiah in the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary. The first-place award went to the six-member Rimrockers team from Billings, Mont., which answered the most questions correctly. The three-member Rocky Mountain Miners from Butte, Mont., finished with a third-place award, with scoring based on the most questions answered correctly by any group.
Bill Lee opened the program by leading the group in several songs, including "The Pathfinder Song." Bozeman-area church members and conference personnel assisted in the program, which included Bette Wheeling and Mark Harris as team judges and Melanie Stroud and Doug Meharry as scorekeepers. Pastors Merlin Knowles, Jim Jenkins and Barry Taylor served as second-panel judges, also known as the "appeal judges."
Dale Sanford, Rimrockers director, and Ruthann Crowe, Rocky Mountain Miners director, said they began preparing for the event in September 2011 by assigning each Pathfinder specific chapters to study.
The preparation was "really hard," says MacKenzie Flower, a Rocky Mountain Miner, "but we got to study a lot in school. I tried to memorize as much as I could."
Michelle Garcia, Billings Rimrocker, mentioned that she liked the promises in the chapters she focused on, "especially for those kings who reigned with righteousness," (Isaiah 32).
Throughout the event, the falling snow increased in intensity and a gentle fog reduced visibility on the interstate. It was a reminder of Isaiah's words about "the snow that comes down from heaven," followed by the next verse: "... so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it," (Isaiah 55:11, ESV).
The Billings (Mont.) Rimrockers club garners first place during the second-annual Montana Conference Pathfinder Bible Achievement program.
