Tactical manoeuvres

Two beings flew over Canada and swooped in on the prairies. There was an ugliness about them that had less to do with their appearance than with the evil that emanated from them. Their conversation was filled with wickedness, disgust and scheming.

“Look. Down there. It’s those dreadful kids at it again.”

“I don’t see what’s got you so hot under the collar. They’re just hanging out and wasting their time. That’s what we want. Let them go at it.”

“Not those kids, you idiot! Those kids. The ones with the little books. One there, in Altona. Another one over there in Nipawin. Another in that apartment in Calgary. Another in Regina. ARGH! They must be stopped!”

“Why? What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is they’re quizzers. They spend hours memorizing from the Holy One’s Word, meeting for Bible studies based on what they’re memorizing, and then learning how to apply it to their daily lives. That’s the mission of quizzing. It helps develop character, promotes self-discipline, and is a breeding ground for prayer and unity. The goal is to experience God and expand His Kingdom. That’s something we simply can’t allow!”

“Sounds pretty boring to me. I can’t see many teenagers getting into that. Just the holy roller types.”

“You peon! These are teenagers of all spots and stripes, thousands of them in this hemisphere! And they’re having a blast! They get together and compete on recall, knowledge and context of the passages, using electronic hot seats in a game similar to Jeopardy! Seeing how fast those kids jump and are able to recall the words of The Most High just makes me shudder.”

“So? Competition tears apart. What’s the big deal?”

“That’s just it. Instead of the competition driving them apart, it draws them together. If a quizzer messes up, the competitors encourage him or her. The problem is, they know who their enemy really is! They know that God has given them His Word as a weapon – a sword – against us. And they know that the weapons they arm themselves with have divine power to demolish our strongholds and every pretension we set up against the knowledge of The Almighty.”

“So how do we stop them? If we can’t successfully dissuade the kids, how do we stop this horror from continuing and growing? How do we keep it quiet? How do we quash it?”

“By keeping the adults in the dark, or the next thing you know, they’ll start using this weaponry too. We’re in enough trouble as it is. Come on. We have work to do.”

Brenda Steiner attends Parliament Community Church, Regina. She has been involved with quizzing as a parent and coach, both in her church and at the district level. It has spurred her to also memorize complete chapters of the Bible.

What is quizzing? Martin Luther Quiz Meet, Minneapolis Churches form teams of three to five youth per team, ages 12 to 19. A book of the Bible is assigned and the teams get together to study the prescribed passage for that week, pray together and practice. Kids memorize 145 key verses from the book during the year, and, if they wish, an additional 155 sub-key verses. Teams then get together to compete in district meets. During competition, questions may be multiple answer, interrogative, references, quotes or situations. The top quizzers go on to compete in international competition. Some parents are concerned about the competition factor, but generally, it seems to stimulate the kids to learn. They encourage each other and form close friendships. Adults are encouraged to memorize as well, although they do not participate in the quizzing. The program comes out of the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination, but is open to other churches. More information on quizzing is available at Canadian Midwest Quizzing and Life Impact Ministries. —from report by Brenda Steiner