How do you continue engaging with your community when state and local government places restrictions on gatherings and social distancing? Today the Marlowe family shares some of their experiences this summer, and some tips on hosting a successful virtual Summer Study. Even if you’ve never hosted a Summer Study group before, they testify that the opportunity to invest in young people and sow seeds of faith is such a joy.
“Hosting a [Summer Study] Bible Bee [group] has been such a blessing! Although this year has looked a lot different, we’ve seen God continue to move in many ways in spite of current circumstances.
During our weekly ZOOM meetings, each participant has the opportunity to share one of their memory passages with the whole group, proclaiming God’s word out loud! At least three of our participants are first-timers, and they are just as eager and motivated as the rest to proclaim what they have hidden in their hearts. This encourages everyone to hear and proclaim God’s Word!
One of our favorite portions of our time together is TRIVIA! What does this look like on ZOOM? First, we ask the families with participants representing more than one age division to join from multiple devices if possible. Then, we either split off into “breakout rooms” during the meeting, or we attach a separate link especially for TRIVIA. Both of these have worked out better than expected. Parents and siblings can join whichever group they’d like, Primary, Junior or Senior.
We spend about 15 minutes asking multiple choice questions based on their studies for the previous week. These questions are made by our family and also some of the participants who have made and submitted a handful of their own. The leader (we have our family members each lead an age group) reads the questions and answers out loud, then the participants hold up their answer on a flash card: “A”, “B”, “C”, “D”. This time of TRIVIA encourages the participants in what they’ve been able to retain from their studies and also motivates them to review items they may have forgotten or need to work on a little more.
We have been blessed to qualify for nationals in previous years. By God’s grace, two of the families in our group qualified for the first time last year!! They are participating again this year and are so encouraged and motivated to do their best again this year. Even their siblings are determined to give it their all!
If you are considering becoming a host, we strongly encourage you to take that step! You don’t need to have all the details worked out beforehand. Every group will look a little different. Our role, as hosts, is just to do our best and let God do the rest! Take that first step and allow Him to lead through you the rest of the way. As you do, you will find that hosting is more of a blessing than a burden. May you partake of the joy that comes from sowing seeds into the next generation that will last all of eternity!”
Composed by NBB Alumna: Tabby Boulware
