The Paradise Prayer Warrior Pathfinder Club’s Pathfinder Bible Experience Team achieved a first-place finish in at the North American Division Finals in Hawthorne, Florida on April 21, 2018.
The team consisted of Evann and Ethan Lee, Jaron and Alina Brown, Seth Mallory, Devon Awid and Kaylie Pontel. They were among 185 teams from the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. Each team qualified for Division finals by achieving a first-place score at the Union finals.
This year’s Division final was the largest in the history of the Pathfinder Bible Experience.
Read more about the Division final.
The Pathfinder Bible Experience (PBE) is an annual event within the North American Division of the Adventist church. Each year, PBE leadership identifies a particular book or books of the Bible from which questions will be drawn. This year, the subject books were Daniel and Esther.
Teams are comprised of two to six players, and a club may field more than one team. Questions may be true/false, fill-in-the-blank, or free-text answers, typically a word or short phrase. The testing events consist of 90 questions. Each question is timed, from 25 seconds for a simple, one-point question to 60 seconds for a higher-value, more complicated questions. Written answers must be submitted to a grader within the time allotted.
Unlike typical sporting tournaments, in which teams defeat each other until one remains undefeated, in the Pathfinder Bible Experience, any team which scores within 90% of the highest scoring team is considered a first-place
finisher. Scores of 80-89% of the highest score are considered second-place finishes, and scores of 79% or lower are considered third-place finishes.
The teams study and train, working forward to testing events held first among teams from Pathfinder clubs in their immediate area. Teams which achieve a first-place score (and there could be more than one) advance to a Conference-wide test. Teams which achieve a first-place result at the local Conference continue to a contest at the Union level, and from there to the Division Finals.
In addition to the knowledge competition, team members are required to be dressed in proper Class A uniform.
Preparation for the testing consumes almost an entire year. Once the content area is identified, the team breaks the content into segments, and each team member focuses on a particular segment, usually memorizing the exact wording of the New King James Version of the Bible and the associated Bible commentaries. Then the team members drill, take practice tests, and fend off challengers for their spot on the team, as well as learning to pray for their teammates.
The Paradise Prayer Warriors were the only team to represent the Northern California Conference for the past two years.
What’s next? The team will take a brief rest, but will start preparing this summer for the next Pathfinder Bible Experience. The book chosen for next year is Luke. It’s a blessing that our church has been doing a chapter-by-chapter sermon series on this book. What a great way to kick-start the team’s study.
Pathfinders is a world-wide club for boys and girls from the ages of 10-16 sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It’s open to all youth who are willing to live by the Pathfinder Law and Pledge. Club activities are designed to develop leadership and teamwork skills, a love of nature, a desire to perform community or mission service, and most of all, a deeper love for Jesus.
Activities include camping, outings, community service, and learning. There are more than 350 areas of learning which include arts and crafts, nature study, household arts, recreation, spiritual development, health, and vocational training. There are also 6 levels of achievement.
Camping includes a Camporee each fall and teens trips for caving and rock climbing. Outings include a Bike-a-thon, Pathfinder Fair, the Pathfinder Bible Experience events, mission trips, and local events.
The Paradise Prayer Warriors meet each Tuesday evening from 6:30-8:00pm in the Youth Room. The club year starts with registration at the end of August and finishes in May, with a few activity dates in the summer. The Club Director is Terry Parsons. Contact her at 530-877-7815 or call the church office at 530-877-4454.