The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

WITH a passion to positively engage young children in the community of Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera, islander Alexandria Johnson started the annual Young Bible Scholar (Bible Bowl) Competition.

She believes that knowing God and having a relationship with God early in life shapes the course of one’s life for the good. Along with her four sisters – Stacey, Wendy, Stephanie and Angel – Ms Johnson hosted the very first Young Bible Scholar Competition last October.

The competition is designed to inspire kids to read the Bible, to expand their knowledge of the Bible, promote the truth that the Bible is the manual that teaches people how to live and treat others, motivate kids to search for God, and help kids to develop courage to share the good news about God. Organisers also want to extend the competition nationally, regionally and globally to reach more youngsters.

This year’s competition is open to students ages eight to 10 and is scheduled for September 5 in Eleuthera at the Globe Princess Theatre. The last four kids standing win a selection of gift choices. “At our first event we honoured about five young kids from the Governor’s Harbour community and that was a good feeling. People talk about wellness all the time and there are seven dimensions of wellness, but I felt like the spiritual aspect was being neglected,” said Ms Johnson.

“I felt that if children can perhaps get spiritual anchors while they are young, I just see them being better adults.”

The Bible Bowl is similar to the Spelling Bee competition, however the main difference being that instead of learning how to spell words, the students learn interesting facts about the Bible and Bahamian religious history.

“For example, they get to learn about the president of the Bahamas Christian Council, past and present. There are 12 categories in total, 10 categories that they would have questions that they can prepare for and two unseen categories. They have a period of four months to prepare for it,” said Ms Johnson.

“We actually make a call to parents to find out how things are going with the preparation and studying. Something like this also creates bonding time for that child and their parents or the big sister or brother that is assisting. We had parents call us and tell us that they, too, were excited about the information they were learning.”

She said there are people who focus on the negativity that sometimes goes hand-in-hand with the younger generation, so she is happy to be able to present an event like the Young Bible Scholar Competition to give parents an opportunity to have their children participate in a positive initiative.

“I remember myself as a child being involved in church activities and the Bible learning scriptures, and even to this day I pull out some of those scriptures in my time of crisis and need. I believe that if young people have spiritual anchors when they are young, they will have something of substance, value and worth to lean on,” Ms Johnson said. “This can actually take them through rough times because times are going to get rough as they get older. They will go through peer pressure, question their own self-worth some of them and be faced with a lot of issues and challenges. Once they have an understanding of who they are and who God says they are, I think it goes a long way to help them stay focused.”

Her overall goal is to have children attend the event and have a greater appreciation for all things spiritual.

“We all talk about a better Bahamas but it all starts with planting good seeds. We have to bear in mind that what we put in is what we will get out,” Ms Johnson said. “We will also take time out to honour people in the Eleuthera community who have contributed significantly, and we will have a new slate of deserving honorees that will be honoured in fine style.”

All interested persons can contact the organisation via e-mail at yesyouareawinner@gmail.com or call 565-9773.