Bible Quizzing Scholarship

Bible Quizzing is a great way to learn about the Bible, meet and compete against your peers, and have a great time. But for me, it was more than that. It also contributed towards my post-secondary education expenses.

I quizzed during the years when I was in grades 9, 11 and 12, studying Matthew, Acts, and 1 Samuel, respectively. I became more and more engrossed with quizzing over my three years of involvement, gradually progressing to winning the Quizzer of the Year award and quiz championship in grade 12.

To prepare for the 1 Samuel quiz I read the book daily, listened to an audio version of 1 Samuel on repeat each night as I slept and wrote a practice question for each verse of the entire book, which I pored over endlessly. It was a great way to learn a lot about the Bible (albeit very specific parts of it) while catering to my competitive side. While the lure of reading and studying the Bible should be inherent, I must admit at some points the allure of winning the quizzing competition was the main force behind studying.

Another incentive that kept me studying was the instituion of the inaugural Quizzer of the Year award in 2008. The award was a $500 scholarship that could be used at either Conrad Grebel University College or Canadian Mennonite University. As a grade 12 student preparing for university, this was a huge blessing, and a blessing I become increasingly aware of as the tuition and residence fees, and book bills pile up. I used the scholarship towards my first year of residence at Conrad Grebel University College where I sit as I write this artice. I am currently finishing my second year of an honours biology program at the University of Waterloo, and while I haven't quizzed since high school, it is something that I will always remember. As well, the content of the three books of the Bible which I basically memorized in preparation for the competitions will always stay with me. My hope is that sometime soon I can take the time to help out as one of the voluneers that makes quizzing so great.

Jeremy Reesor

After last year's quizzing on the book of Luke, I was a bit disappointed that we were supposed to study Exodus this year. I wanted to study another New Testament book, full of stories and insights that are applicable to my life today and can help me learn more about God. I mean, Exodus is just about Moses and the Israelites leaving Egypt. Not much there to challenge my faith or spark deep discussions during Bible quizzing practices, right?

Wrong! As I prepared with my youth group at Hawkesville Mennonite Church for my fourth year of quizzing, I began to realize that there was so much more in Exodus than I had previously thought. With our two main coaches and many others who supported us in our practices, we discussed justice, free will, God's wrath, His purpose for our lives, and a lot more. I guess one of the most important lessons I learned from this year's Bible Quizzing was to never underestimate God's word!

We started studying at the end of December, but it wasn't until the month before the competition that we "stepped it up a bit". That's when we started having extra practices and really diving deeper into Exodus.

On Saturday, April 10, the nine youth groups involved gathered in Listowel for the competition. Near the end of the day, I received the award of Quizzer of the Year, which came with a $500 scholarship that could be used at either Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) or Conrad Grebel University College (CGUC). I plan to use it at Conrad Grebel in the near future, but I haven't decided exactly what my plans will be. I am extremely happy to have won this award and thankful to CMU and CGUC for their support of Bible Quizzing. The award will forever be a reminder of how much the Bible has in store for anyone who decides to study it!

Justin Raimbault

The Bible Quiz Scholarship is sponsored by Conrad Grebel University College and Canadian Mennonite University. The recipient is chosen from four finalist teams by their performance and contributions to the team answers, by the number of times they have quizzed out, and by overall disposition (character, behaviour) during the quizzing.