Being a host for the National Bible Bee Summer Study is like being a small stone tossed into a still pond. I get to see the ripples carry out a long distance. It is a wonderful privilege to help in some small way, to equip young people in our community and send them out to proclaim God’s word.
God used the summer of 2017 to teach our family about the National Bible Bee. With no host families near us, and us knowing very little about it, our son completed the Summer Study on his own.
When he qualified for the National Bible Bee Competition (NBBC) we almost didn’t go. We weren’t sure about making the study of the Bible into a competition. We finally decided to go so we could see what it was all about.
We watched closely as we participated that week at NBBC and we were amazed at what we saw. We heard the Word of God being proclaimed for several days by all ages of youth. We watched as children as young as 7 years old answered questions about the Bible which we ourselves couldn’t answer. We witnessed groups of young people lifting each other up in prayer. We heard testimonies of young people of all ages, saying that if it had not been for the National Bible Bee, they would have never studied as hard as they did, or learned so much about God. Although we knew very few people that first year, it didn’t take long to start making some friends, some of whom we had met “virtually” through the National Bible Bee Social community.
We were so inspired by the end of NBBC that when my son asked me if I would be a host the following year, it was a definite yes.
Now that we have been hosting for 4 years, we have heard many families start out saying, “I’m not interested in the competition”. And that is, of course, just fine. The Summer Study alone is wonderful and many eternal rewards will come from it. But I encourage everyone to participate in Proclaim! Day and to try to take the Qualifying Test at the end of the summer. I have seen how the additional study required for these events has brought about blessings for many participants whether they attend NBBC or not.
In our local group, we try to make our Proclaim! Day a big event. It is an opportunity to invite friends and family to hear all that the participants have learned over the summer. In our group we have the participants recite scripture they have memorized and answer questions in a fun “game show” style competition. While Proclaim! Day does encourage extra study, I have seen that it can have another purpose. It brings God’s word to those who might not normally hear it! We invite friends, family and the community to watch our Proclaim! Day event. Some comments I have heard from past attendees include grandparents saying they now want to study their Bible in more depth so they can learn all that their grandchildren are learning. I have also heard some say that they do not know about God but now have a desire to know Him because of the enthusiasm of the children. We just never know how the Lord will choose to use Proclaim! Day, but we know His Word does not turn up void!
These comments showed me that Proclaim! Day itself is an opportunity to be a witness. How appropriate for this year in particular.
Being a host has given me a front row seat to seeing all that God is doing in the lives of so many families. Our only regret is that we didn’t learn about the National Bible Bee sooner!
Written by NBB Host: Sheri George
