| Bible Memory: A Passion Becomes a Cause |
2009-01-19 |
“Every child who hides God’s Word in his heart is a winner.” This is the sentiment of Cheryl Gale of Texas, whose desire to equip a generation of young people with the Word of God clearly mirrors the desire of the Bible Bee. With the January 31st deadline to sign up for a Local Contest looming, Cheryl is determined to make sure that every child who wants to be part of a Local Contest has that opportunity. As soon as Cheryl became aware of the contest back in October, she was on the phone with an event planner from the Bible Bee. Within three days of posting a sign-up sheet at her church, Cheryl recruited forty-three contestants, with eight of those coming from outside her church family. If this was the response the contest received in merely three days at her church, she knew there must be hundreds of churches out there with children who would be excited to be involved in a Local Contest. Cheryl began to call churches in her area, regardless of their affiliation, to inform them of the Bible Bee. As she was searching online for more local contacts, she typed in the name of a Christian school in her area. As God would have it, a list of forty other schools with the same name and locations across the nation, popped up. Cheryl knew these schools and their affiliated churches needed to know about the Bible Bee just as much as her neighboring churches did. She had a lot of phone calls to make! Cheryl has been on the phone up to eight hours a day, getting in touch with new churches, hearing back from previous contacts, and chatting with people from Hawaii to Alaska. And she’s been overwhelmed by the response she’s received from those she’s contacted about the Bible Bee. She has had people calling across denominational lines to find out more and wanting to add their children to a Local Contest. There was a gentleman in California who was near tears, so touched that she would think to call his organization and let them know about the Bible Bee. And to the many who have had the same response, Cheryl reminds them, “It’s just the Lord.” She knows that He is the one who directed her to the call-list she has been using. Cheryl has a contagious passion for Scripture memory and is trying to get as many churches signed up for the Bible Bee as possible. Cheryl credits her mom with teaching her how to memorize Scripture, but attributes a church visit in 1982 to fueling her passion for it. She remembers sitting in the congregation as the pastor quoted the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), never once looking at his Bible. Cheryl was so inspired by this man’s grasp of Scripture that she made a promise to herself that one day she would be able to quote the same passage. It was in 2004 that she was finally able to fulfill that promise. Her passion for Bible memory is clearly evidenced in the lives of her five children: two daughters (both in their twenties) and three sons (ages twelve, ten, and seven). She feels that it is imperative to hide God’s Word in one’s heart and making sure that legacy is passed onto the next generation. Her family has long been memorizing Scripture as part of their devotions and also as part of their home schooling. Recently the family was visiting a friend in the hospital, when Cheryl’s seven-year-old son leaned over and whispered in her ear that he’d like to share some Scripture verses with their ailing friend. He then proceeded to quote a chapter from Psalms. What a perfect example of how hiding God’s Word in a child’s heart benefits not only the child, but also those around him. The Bible Bee hopes to produce contestants who have God’s promises ready at a moment’s notice when hard times come throughout their lives. “As long as there is a Bible Bee, I will be a part of it,” says Cheryl. She knows that this venture will reap eternal rewards, and she doesn’t want to miss a minute of it. She is certain that as others take the first steps towards starting up a Local Contest God will give them strength for the task at hand. As a friend encouraged her, “If the Lord brings you to it, He’ll take you through it.” |
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