C. C. Thompson
C. C. Thompson
C. C. Thompson
C. C. Thompson
C. C. Thompson
C. C. Thompson
C. C. Thompson
They came from as far as California, Washington, Oregon, Canada, and some as far as Great Britain. And, they all came for one thing — to share in the study of the Word of God. The Pathfinder Bible Experience (PBE) is the official North American Division (NAD) Pathfinder Bible study program. Each year teams of six members study a book of the Bible to be tested at several events on various levels. There are four levels of competition: area, conference, union, and division. This year’s division was held at the Southeastern Conference Campground, Camp Hawthorne in Hawthorne, Fla.
More than 4,000 Pathfinders, parents, and friends flocked to Camp Hawthorne on April 20, 2018, to spend the weekend testing their Bible knowledge. The weekend event began with a Vesper service that featured songs; a short play based on the book of Esther; and a keynote message by Vandeon Griffin, associate director of youth ministries at the NAD. The Sabbath morning schedule began with the finals testing. The chairs in the campground’s main pavilion were all rearranged, so that nearly 200 teams of six could huddle in small groups and discuss the word of God.
Each team listened for the question (which was also read in Spanish), and then they were given 30 seconds to write down the correct answer. When the time expired, a “runner” took each team’s final answer to the panel of judges to be tallied and scored, along with all their other responses. Each team that answers at least 90 percent of the questions correctly receives a first place award. The teams were asked 90 questions (taken from Daniel and Esther) worth a total of 170 points. Of the 185 teams that participated in this year’s competition, 114 teams were awarded first place. It is evident that this year’s participants were well prepared to demonstrate their knowledge of the Scriptures.
The Sabbath worship service was held after the morning testing. The worship service featured special music from Samantha Grady, the Adventist teenager who was among the victims of the Stoneman Douglas Shooting in March of this year. Alex Bryant, NAD executive secretary, delivered a sermon to remind the Pathfinders that they were “chosen by God.”
Prince Lewis, Southeastern Conference youth director, remarked, “It was a blessing to host such an awesome event. We look forward to opening our doors to PBE again in the future.”
Southeastern | June 2018
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