|
EL CAJON, Calif. — Hundreds of hungry contestants and their giddy families waited with hungry tummies for the National Bible Bee awards banquet on Nov. 6. But with dinner practically digested, the crowd waited two extra hours before seeing the hardware in the hands of its rightful owners. That’s because these young Bible whiz kids refused to give up the battle, forcing a three-way tie-breaker round that delayed the closing celebration.
“Even now it’s difficult to encapsulate what happened,” said Mark Rasche, executive director of the inaugural National Bible Bee, sponsored by the Shelby Kennedy Foundation. “We’re overjoyed by what took place.”
Winners in three age groups took home first-place trophies and cash totaling $264,000. The first-place winners were Daniel Staddon, Salem, W.V., $100,000, senior division; Isaac Ward, Castle Creek, N.Y., $50,000, junior division; and Rebecca Horning, Raytown, Mo., $25,000. In addition, second- and third-place winners were also recognized and given cash awards ranging from $5,000 to $15,000.
It was an amazing odyssey that began just one year ago as a tribute to a 23-year-old San Antonio woman who died in 2005 of a rare form of cancer. One of 13 children, Shelby Kennedy loved Scripture and had a soft spot for missions work in Haiti. A family friend was so inspired by the tributes paid to the young woman at her funeral that he donated the money to establish the national competition.
The Bible Bee, headquartered in El Cajon, opened its office 13 months before the competition with hopes of securing 5,000 contestants from 200 national bees.
“We kept ratcheting up our projections because we saw all the interest,” Rasche said.
Near the end of April, the deadline for registration, Rasche’s crew of six processed 3,000 entries in just three days, prompting them to extend the deadline a few more weeks.
“That’s the kind of response we had nationally,” he said. “I think we just scratched the surface with this thing.”
In the end, more than 17,400 children ages 7 to 18 registered for the bee with the top 100 in each of the age categories being invited to the national competition in Washington D.C. Every state but Delaware hosted local bees, the director said.
The competition official acknowledged that the large prize money helped to fuel interest in the bee, but said a great deal of emphasis is focused on the Bible memorization and the theme of “Learn it. Speak it. Live it.”
“Once they get in there, they realize the real treasure is the eternal treasure,” Rasche said. “Families have been transformed. We have all kinds of testimonies of how it galvanized families, bringing them together around the Word.”
Looking to 2010
Plans for next year are already under way and Rasche said he’s pleased that the international Awana organization has signed on to be a partner for next year’s competition. Awana, which specializes in evangelism and discipleship training for children, reaches more than one million kids in 12,000 American churches.
Other organizations have expressed an interest in partnering with the Bible Bee to help increase exposure, including FamilyLife, Living Waters, Kay Arthur’s Precepts, Patrick Henry College and numerous homeschool agencies. Corporate sponsors who share the vision of the Scripture competition will also be sought to help underwrite the national event.
“We are developing alliances with groups who believe in what we are doing in terms of getting the Word out in a more significant way in 2010.
Rasche also said the bee staff will be working on the structural elements of the bee to accommodate the growth.
“This thing enveloped us,” he said. “It was a good challenge to have. It was way beyond us. God has transcended all of our limitations.”
For more information on the event, visit www.biblebee.org.
|
