Ever Faithful God Deliverance Ministry held its annual Children Bible Quiz Competition last weekend at the church premises in Igando, Lagos tagged; “2022 Interdenominational Award Winning Bible Quiz Competition.”
As usual, the contest, exclusive for the young ones with the age bracket of 10 to 18 years, is to create that enabling avenue for them to study and know the word of God.
In last year’s contest, which was the maiden edition, children were drawn randomly from churches and schools around Lagos for the contest with a single winner emerging. But this year, the organisers introduced an inter-denominational contest drawn from churches around the Alimosho area of Lagos who were chosen from the lot that indicated interest.
The participating churches include the Prevailing Christian Ministries; The Redeemed Christian Church of God (Grace City Parish and Ever Faithful God Deliverance Ministry all in Igando, Lagos.
The highly engaging quiz competition saw the participants square it out with questions drawn from the Bible. It also afforded the participants share their experiences about their knowledge of the word of God, answering questions with quotations and verses from the bible.
At the end of the marathon exercise, the group from Ever Faithful God Deliverance Ministry emerged winners. They are Happiness Omorogbe; Joy Gideon and Angel Anayochi who were rewarded with a cash prize, plaque, Bible and other incentives. The second position went to group from RCCG (Grace City Parish) Oluomachukwu Obiefuna, princess Obika and Precious Okocha while the third position went to group from Prevailing Christian Ministries made up of Raheem Rokibat Omoola; Shomorin Toluwani and Precious Faloye. They also went home with prizes and gifts.
Speaking at the event, the General Overseer of Ever Faithful God Deliverance Ministry, Pastor Kenneth Amobi said, “We are doing this to help the church and the society at large. We are helping the church to know that our children should go deeper into the study of the word of God so that we can have better children in the society. The bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Nobody would have fear without knowing the word. It is through his words that we know about him.”
Speaking further, he said, “It has been a wonderful experience so far and the challenges we encounter with a competition like this are what I see as normal, especially when you introduce what is not common with churches around. Many churches were contacted for this, few were chosen because of their preparedness and sound knowledge of the bible. But I know that in due time, others will join to increase the number of participants.”
He also mentioned that the children who has participated before and today are getting vast knowledge of the Bible, adding that the first contest has given them access to study more and be prepared to compete.
“We do it to train children who can take over from us in this heavenly race. This year’s event is for an interdenominational contest. We hope to extend it to schools for expansion of the objectives, quipped Amobi.
In his advice to parents, he said, “Looking at the situation in the world today, it is obvious that if parents are not careful, society will train their children for them. What they learn from the social media, internet and other electronic sources including the polluted public space are not what the parents are teaching them at home. Also, children between the age of 10 to 13 years have smart phones that expose them to worldly things. The only way to contain such is to face it with the word of god. So as to produce children that can have the courage and confidence to stand firm in the word.
That is why we introduced a programme like this, so that children would read more of the word God and be able to imbibe positive knowledge in their lives.We are raising people that will impact positively in the country.”
For Pastor Sunday Kalu, guest pastor and moderator of the quiz programme, he said, “It is something that needs to be done. They need to know what is in the Bible because the root of Christianity is the word of God. “
He noted that why we are having problems in the world today is that many people do not know what is contained in the bible and as a result of that ignorance, they behave anyhow. According to him, some Pastors that are not word-based can mess up the system.
“Starting early to know the word of God is good. The quiz exercise will make the young ones to research, read and through that rigorous learning process; they will discover new things and also make Bible reading a habit. It will also afford them the opportunity to decipher an imported doctrine to what God says in the Bible,” Kalu said.