For many alumni, participating in the National Bible Bee was a formative and deeply impactful experience, and one that they don’t want to leave behind completely once they age out of participating. After spending possibly hundreds of hours studying and memorizing, and making it a high priority in their lives, aging out can leave you feeling a little empty and unsure where to go next. Besides, the community among National Bible Bee participants is a sweet and powerful source of like-minded fellowship, encouragement, and support in studying and memorizing Scripture, and feeling like you’re losing that can be sad and discouraging. If you’ve aged out recently (or even not so recently), you may be wondering how you can stay connected to this community and stay involved even though you aren’t able to compete anymore.
Firstly, the greatest and most important thing about your time participating in the National Bible Bee is the Scripture you’ve studied and memorized and the Bible study skills you’ve learned that you can use for the rest of your life. I encourage you to form habits that allow you to continue staying in the Word, digging deep, and hiding it in your heart even though you’re no longer part of the competition. You’ve learned so many wonderful study skills that will enable you to get so much out of God’s Word, so my challenge is to find a passage of Scripture that you haven’t dug into before, apply those skills, and see what you learn. Secondly, the community doesn’t have to end when you take the Qualifying Test for the last time or when you walk across the NBBC stage for the last time. There are so many ways that you can continue to be involved in the National Bible Bee as an alumnus or alumna to maintain the friendships you’ve formed and bless the next group of participants with the knowledge and experience that you gained during your time participating. Here are some of the ways you can continue to be involved in the National Bible Bee Community as an alumna or alumnus:
Stay in touch with the friends you made
The best way to stay involved in the community is to maintain the friendships that you formed through it – do your best to stay in touch with your friends on an individual basis, even though many of them are probably long-distance. Maintaining long-distance friendships can be more challenging because they require more intentional effort, but the rewards are worth it to have deep and lasting friendships with people who love the Lord and will spur you on in your walk with Him. Texting, phone calls, video calls, emails, and even handwritten cards or letters are great ways to stay in touch, continue growing and deepening your friendships, and encourage each other as you follow Christ.
Share your favorite study/memorizing tips
A great way to bless the community and give back to others is to share the best study and memorizing tips you learned through your own experience. Many younger or newer participants are still trying to learn how to memorize and study effectively, so hearing what works for people who have experience can be helpful and a great way to bless others with your hard-earned knowledge. Not every tip works for every person, so hearing a variety of tips that worked for others is incredibly helpful for anyone who is trying to figure out how to study and memorize effectively. The tips you share may be the thing that gives someone the tools to level up their studying.
Form and maintain connections by joining the NBB Social Community when it reopens or groups of NBB participants on other platforms
Another great resource for staying plugged into the NBB community is the National Bible Bee Social Community. It opens during participant registration season and stays open till the end of the competition. If you’re an alumnus, simply email the National Bible Bee to request an alumni account once the community reopens. This allows you to stay in touch with many participants and other alumni at once and provides a great platform to share study tips, study materials, and encouragement where they will bless participants. It’s also a great place to find out about group chats that exist on other platforms and become involved with some of those so that when the NBB Social Community closes during the off-season you still have a way of staying in touch with your friends.
Complete the Discovery Journal and create study materials
Many alumni miss the wonderful, in-depth study that the Discovery Journal guided them through while they were participating. If this is you, and you want to continue digging into God’s Word deeply, you will be able to purchase Discovery Journals from the National Bible Bee online store after participant registration closes. If you complete the Discovery Journal, that provides you with a great opportunity to create study materials specific to this year’s theme and study passage and share them with participants. There are many different ways to do this: making practice tests, making online flashcard sets, making online quizzes, making other review games, or making printable study materials. Use your creativity! Additionally, completing the Discovery Journal allows you to know exactly what participants are studying, which provides more opportunities for you to ask them what they’re learning through the study, or to share what you’re learning.
Offer to be a prayer/study partner for a current participant
If you would like a more personal and direct way to encourage participants and help them as they study, one of the best ways you can do that is by volunteering to be a prayer partner or study partner. As a prayer partner, you can encourage them by checking in regularly to see how the study is going, asking them what they are learning, praying for any requests they have, sharing encouragement if they are discouraged, overwhelmed, or stressed out, and directing their focus to the true prize, knowing Christ. As a study partner, you can study or memorize with them, keeping them accountable to meet their memorizing goals and quizzing or challenging them to review what they’re learning. Another helpful thing to do as a study partner is to volunteer to listen to them recite their passages. Many participants spend hours reciting to family members, so it’s a blessing to both the family and the participant if someone else can take a turn listening to them recite.
Join (or start) a study or memorizing group
For many contestants, one of the most beneficial aspects of the NBBC is the accountability it provides for their Bible study and memory. Many of them value accountability and studying with others so much that they join a group to continue doing so during the off-season. Some groups even have tests or mini-competitions incorporated into their study. These unofficial study groups are usually not age-restricted, so both alumni and current participants can study together. Multiple unofficial study groups or memorizing challenges exist, but if you don’t find one to participate in, just start your own and invite your friends to join you. Having even just one other person studying with you can be very helpful and encouraging.
Return to the National Bible Bee Competition as a judge, volunteer, or guest
Thankfully, you don’t have to be a contestant to attend the NBB Competition. There are many ways you can serve at the event, whether by contacting NBB staff to become a judge for the recitation rounds or by signing up to join the Serve Team (who do a variety of volunteer jobs, most of which center around greeting people and helping direct contestants, families, and attendees throughout the event). Even if you opt to attend as a guest instead of in a volunteer position, there are still so many ways to invest in contestants: praying for them, offering to listen to them recite their memory passages, quizzing them on study materials, and sharing encouragement, whether verbally or by writing them an encouraging card or note.
Host (or co-host) a group during the Summer Study
Now that you’re over 18, you’re eligible to register as a host with the NBB. As a host, you’ll have the opportunity to work directly with a smaller group of participants as you guide and support them through the Summer Study. You’ll have a lot of flexibility to find a way of meeting that best supports your participants – some host groups meet online, others in churches, homes, or even parks. Being a host provides opportunities to be creative and create a fun, welcoming, supportive atmosphere for young people as they study the Word. As an alumnus/alumna, you can draw from your own experience for unique insight on how to best support your group. The idea of hosting may seem daunting, but there is a special online community for hosts, as well as a host support team, so you’ll always have other hosts to turn to for help, advice, ideas, and encouragement. Even if you aren’t able to register as a host personally, there are still endless ways you can support host groups. Just contact your local host to find out how you can become involved in supporting their group. Remember that prayer and showing up to meetings with a willingness to serve are often the best ways to help.
Apply for the Alumni Service Team
Of all the ways to stay involved, this might be the most time-intensive, but it is very rewarding. The Alumni Service Team plays an important role, both throughout the year as they support, encourage, and provide help for participants, and at the National Bible Bee Competition as they assist participants and NBB staff throughout the event. This position requires the ability to dedicate your time to serving the NBB throughout the year and to commit to attending the NBB Competition, but if you can commit to it and have a desire to serve, it could be a great way to stay involved in the community. To find out how you can apply for this volunteer position, sign up for the National Bible Bee’s email list to be notified when applications open up.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of ways you can invest in the National Bible Bee as a non-participant, but it can serve as a starting point as you think and pray about what you should do after aging out of the National Bible Bee Competition as you continue seeking to “know God’s Word and make Him known.”
Written by NBB Alumna: Janese Hurst
