Several Upper Columbia Conference Pathfinder clubs arrived at the Coeur d’Alene Church on Sabbath, Jan. 18, for the first level of the four level Pathfinder Bible Experience North American Division Bible Bowl program. Participating clubs included the Pend Oreille Valley (POV) Wildcats from Newport, Wash., the Hayden Lake (Idaho) Ponderosa Pathfinders, the Lake City Eagles from Coeur d'Alene and the Palouse Hills Pathfinder Club from Moscow, Idaho.
These Pathfinders studied this year's book, 2 Samuel, in preparation for area-level testing. Wayne Hicks, Upper Columbia Conference Pathfinder director, served as the quiz-master, asking a series of 45 questions before a five-minute break followed by another set after.
The Pathfinder Bible Experience team can have up to six members plus one alternate. Teams, along with their coaches, spend many hours studying in preparation for this event.
Seeing Pathfinders in grades five through 10 study and learn the Word of God is truly exciting. Such in-depth study of the Bible will help them in their lives of service and in sharing the love of Jesus.
Three of the teams earned the right to move on to conference-level Pathfinder Bible Experience testing, held at the Spokane (Wash.) Valley Church on Feb. 22. Each level of testing gets more difficult as the Pathfinders move from area, conference and union levels to division-level testing.
As her team prepared for the conference-level event, Bev Mayfield, POV Wildcats director and coach, wrote, "Each of the members is studying more diligently, intently and cohesively than they had in the five months prior to this. If we wanted to get young people studying God's Word, this has spurred them on.”