A Board of Busy Bees

Our National Bible Bee-hive is buzzing with activity!  We want our countrymen to memorize Scripture, so we’re offering handsome academic scholarships for the winners of the first three places in our national competition.  Contestants must start at district competitions, in May and June, then advance to the provincial phase in August, to earn the right to compete for these prizes.

To run the Bible Bee, God has formed a volunteer board of directors comprised of eight dedicated individuals from four churches who have signed commitments to serve through the end of 2024.  We meet monthly via videoconferencing to hear reports on each other’s work and to make important decisions together.  Please pray for each board member as he undertakes his tasks, detailed below, with zeal and excellence.

As President of the Board, Telmito inspires and unites us as he casts vision and calls us to action.  He schedules and runs our meetings, and also held a virtual meeting for those promoting the Bible Bee in various parts of the country.  He foresees potential pitfalls and counsels us on how to avoid them.  He secures our course with his capable leadership.

As Executive Director, Miel manages the project’s cell phone, WhatsApp account, and e-mail address, spending much time communicating with contestants and memory club leaders.  He patiently answers everyone’s questions and encourages participants to persevere in memorizing and in recruiting others to memorize.  He’s currently compiling registration lists for all our district competitions nationwide, which I type into an Excel spreadsheet because he doesn’t own a computer.  In appreciation for his tireless devotion to the project, I’m partially funding his driver’s education, hoping that a license will help him earn a living for the family he plans to start by marrying his fiancée in December.

As Event Director, Jeremias has the big job of scheduling, organizing, and running all of the competitions.  He is a strong leader who’s up for the challenge, with a history of much personal Bible memorization.  Armed with a list of contacts I provided from both our organization’s archives and those who have expressed interest in the Bible Bee, he’s called folks across the country seeking facilities in which to hold district contests.  Eight are already scheduled, seven are in the works, and more may be added if we hear from contestants in other areas.  Jeremias is now turning his attention to planning the logistical details and rules for the competitions, with the goal of fairness and uniformity across the nation.

As Website Director, Helder has his hands full designing, maintaining, and updating the Bible Bee’s website, which he built from the ground up.  Similarly, as Social Media Director, Arcénio manages our presence on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, and creates attractive digital images featuring the memory verses.  His next project is a video promoting the contest for use in paid online advertising.

As Audio-Visual Director, Calton is producing audio recordings of all the texts for memorization, assisted by a crew of friends.  They plan to film many aspects of this year’s competitions for future promotional videos.  Calton has also organized volunteers to visit various local churches promoting the Bible Bible, including the one pictured here where I went today.

As Discipleship Director, Stélio is planning a week of activities after the national competition for all its participants.  Besides treating them to outings and relaxing fellowship in reward for their hard work in achieving national finalist status, he aims to use the texts they’ve memorized as the basis for theological lessons to help them grasp the meaning of these Scriptures.  We pray the Holy Spirit will work in their hearts to bring them closer to Christ through this camp-like experience.

In my role as Coordinator, I check in on a weekly basis with every board member except the president, monitoring and guiding their work.  I’ve overseen the production and distribution of business cards and of letters announcing the project to many churches in every city where district competitions are scheduled.  I keep our local distribution points supplied with printed copies of the list of verses to memorize and have arranged for publicity at several events.  I’m currently seeking a Android developer with whom I can interact to create for an app to guide people through the memorization of our selected texts.