Kirk Cameron welcomes kids to The Bible Bee
From Meredith Blake‘s article in The Atlantic:
This year, over 6,000 contestants took part in more than 150 qualifying bees nationwide. While these numbers pale in comparison to the estimated 11,000,000 who competed in local spelling bees, the Bible Bee has one significant advantage over its secular counterpart: money.
The Bible Bee hands out some $260,000 in cash prizes, with $100,000 going to the winner of the top age category. Compare that to the Scripps champion, who takes home a measly $30,000. Given that sort of monetary reward, it’s easy to see why Widdoes predicts the bee will attract some 25,000-30,000 participants next year.
Liesl Lawrence was the ultimate victor at this year’s bee, taking home $100,000 which she plans to use towards college tuition. The 17-year-old from Georgetown, Texas, first learned of the competition through an ad in World magazine, a bi-weekly Christian news magazine. (Sarah Palin’s ghost writer is an editor at the publication.)
Over the past six months, Liesl estimates that she practiced an average of three hours a day, memorizing 14 verses five days a week; weekends were for review.
There’s even a pinch of Hollywood glamour: Growing Pains star-turned-evangelizer, Kirk Cameron, appears in a promotional video prominently displayed on the homepage.
“If there was no local Bible Bee event near you last year, please ask your church or local Christian school to host one. What better way to make a difference for Christ than to plant a godly heritage in the next generation?” says Cameron, flashing the grin that moved millions of copies of Tiger Beat back in the ’80s. “Let’s make 2011 the best Bee yet!”
Read the rest of Meredith’s Bible Bee article here.
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