The moment he heard his name called, José Segura, of Panama, was on stage next to 18 other Bible finalists and youth ministries leaders from throughout the Inter-American Division (IAD) territory, awaiting to hear the top three winners in the annual Bible Connection grand finale program in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on November 19, 2022.

Segura seemed frozen for a few seconds—blinking—not sure if he heard his name right. He felt confident that maybe he landed one of the three spots after missing just a couple of questions of the 100 he had to answer. Segura was called in as the third-place winner. Just like every finalist taking the five rounds of questions on a tablet, you accumulate the most points by selecting the correct answers in the shortest amount of time. Finalists can see which questions they got right or wrong during each round of 20 questions, but they cannot see the other finalists’ scores in real time—only when the hosts display the list of finalists and their scores.

Finalists representing each of the 24 unions of the IAD answered 100 questions on the book of Revelation and several chapters of The Great Controversy, a book written by Adventist co-founder Ellen G. White.

Second place went to Daniela Lobaina, of the Cuba Union, and first place to Antony Guevara, of the West Venezuela Union, who participated virtually during the competition from their home countries. Three others from the Haiti, French Guiana, and East Venezuela unions also took the Bible Connection test online due to visa issues.

Making It to the Top Three

For Segura, making it to the top three felt amazing. He was representing over 1,000 young people who took part in the Bible Connection initiative in Panama this year and became the third Panamanian to achieve a top-three spot during the past three years. 

“We rejoice with him and the hundreds of young people who took part in the Bible study initiative back home,” said Misael González, Youth Ministries director of the Panama Union. “It’s incredible to see how active and committed all young people are to the Bible and the church.”

The weekend was full of many firsts for Segura. It was the first time he traveled outside of his country, flew in a plane, saw Jamaica, and made friends with so many young people from the IAD. At 19, he is in his second year studying for a degree in chemistry education, thanks to a full scholarship he won for his exceptional score in national tests in Panama. He will get to choose a scholarship at one of three Adventist universities participating in the prizes this year. He wants to study English at Northern Caribbean University, in Jamaica, he said.

Segura had participated in Bible Connection in 2019, where he got to conference level finals, and in 2020, with his Master Guide Club, but this year, a friend signed him up for the Bible Connection at the Lucha Franco Sur Adventist Church in Panama City one month before the district competitions. He divided Revelation into seven sections and began reading, studying, and memorizing the chapters twice a day for three days; then he dedicated time to study The Great Controversy for the next five days. He continued reviewing every day until he made it to the union and division finals.

“Everything that I reviewed after that, I remembered studying so I [could] continue anticipating what verses and sentences were coming up next,” said Segura. “One of the phrases that I remember reading was that the natural cooperates with the supernatural, which just reminded me that if you work hard, God will give you infinite power to accomplish something great.”

The spiritual messages during the Bible Connection weekend resonated in his mind, too, as Pastor Samuel Telemaque, Sabbath School Ministries director, spoke to the finalists during worship services through the weekend.

Changing the Structure of Your Mind

“Intense study of the Word of God changes the structure of your mind and puts you on a path of tremendous success and a brilliant future,” said Telemaque. “The Word of God must be central in your lives, for you are called to internalize the Word of God in these times.”

Bible prophecy is something Segura wants to continue to study and learn. Many things were cleared up when he studied Revelation and other books on prophecy. “I definitely need to deepen my study of the books this year. I learned so much about God, His love, His principles, and what He wants for us.” Segura wants others to grow more in the study of the Bible and pursue a daily prayer life. He goes back to tell young people at his church to cling to God first before anything else in their lives. 

Segura has two younger siblings and has been raised in the church since he was six years old by his single mother. He serves as deacon, Sabbath School director, and Adventist Youth Society leader and hopes more young people can participate in the Bible Connection territory-wide initiative. “I want to encourage young people to spend more time being productive with their lives and less time on the technology they use every day.”

Segura won an iPhone, as well as a trophy, medal, certificate, and tablet.

Intense Study of the Bible

For Moises Arias, of the Southeast Mexican Union, the competition was the pinnacle moment of ten months of intense studying for Bible Connection this year. He began assisting Pathfinders in his home church Bible study in preparation for the competition. One day in February, his Master Guide director suggested he join the competition as a youth. He joined in the annual study for the first time and found the competition exhilarating.

For the first two rounds, Arias didn’t miss one question and answered them in just over 11 minutes, just behind Daniel Hernández, of the Central Mexican Union, who held top-three spots for the first three rounds like Arias did. At some point during the fourth and fifth rounds, because of some needed clarification in a few versions in the three languages, four questions were dropped down a few spots. Thus, they only missed only two of the ninety-six total questions counted. Each round had four categories of twenty questions: five questions worth five points, five worth ten, five worth fifteen, and five worth twenty.

As a third-year accounting student in Tabasco, Arias, age 21, dedicated three hours studying the Bible every day, and during the summer break, he studied ten-to-eleven hours daily. “I would read a text, review it several times until I memorized it,” he said. “Then I would read paragraph by paragraph in The Great Controversy, sometimes reading it three times until I retained it.” He would then put questions into the Quizlet app to review questions and answers on what he had studied.

“I was really touched by the meaning of the book of Revelation, which is about how much God cares for His people and what He wants for us,” said Arias. The study of the Bible opened his mind to how God protects His people and how prophecies are related to everything in our world today.

A Personal Call by God

“This was a personal call to me by God to take advantage of my time to study the Bible more,” added Arias. He was among more than 20,000 young people, in the Adventurer, Pathfinder, and youth age ranges, who participated in the Bible initiative this year in his union, reported Victor Martínez, Youth Ministries director for the Southeast Mexican Union.

Arias goes back with a clarity about his life and a message for other young people in his Santa Lucia Adventist Church, in the Central Tabasco Conference region back home. “Studying the Bible goes hand in hand with a daily prayer life, and I believe it is the best reward for an eternal life in heaven.”

Throughout the year, Arias has had to process a lot of things about his life while studying the Bible. One of the pressing questions has been understanding what his purpose in life is. His mother had a stroke while she was pregnant with him at six months, and days later, he was extracted from his dying mother at the hospital. Arias’ grandmother raised him, and his three siblings went to other aunts and uncles. He always asked God to help him discover what his purpose in life is. Although he doesn’t have all the answers, Arias knows God has led him throughout his life and has seen so many doors open for him the more he studied the Bible this year.

“To think that before I was born, a very tiny premature baby that fit in an adult’s hand, that God knew He would take me to various opportunities in the church and cared for me during all my years to get to this Bible competition. It’s been a blessing,” said Arias. God has sent church elders, teachers, pastors, and fellow Adventists to encourage Arias throughout his journey, he added.

First of Many New Experiences

Arias, like many of the 19 finalists at the competition, got to fly on a plane for the first time, travel outside his home country, make new friends, and discover other cultures. He has made lifelong friends with several of the finalists who traveled to Montego Bay. He already feels like a winner just because his insight into God’s Word outweighs many of the prizes and trophies offered to the top three spots.

Arias takes many lessons back to his home church to the young people he leads as youth director and vows to deepen the study of prophecy and learn more about the investigative judgment and the great conflict at the end times.

Getting young people falling in love with Jesus and the Word of God is one of the main reasons the Bible study initiative has been implemented across the IAD territory for 19 consecutive years, said Pastor Al Powell, Youth Ministries director for the church in Inter-America and organizer of the annual Bible competition.

“We want to get young people and the younger ones in Adventurer and Pathfinder clubs into the habit of studying the Bible and relying on it in their daily life,” said Powell. Young people represent nearly half of the 3.7 million members in the IAD, and it’s important to involve them in studying the Word of God, not only for themselves but for the benefit of the church as well, he said.

Everyone’s a Winner

“Everyone who has studied the Bible is a winner,” added Powell. “We know that the future of our church is right here among young people who are committed to letting the Word of God guide their life.”

Shamira Puc, of the Belize Mission, feels like she is so blessed to have made it to the competition to represent her country. It took her nearly four days to get to Jamaica. She experienced so many first moments in her life, from traveling by car ten hours from her Trial Farm village in northern Belize to the capital city, to a two-hour boat ride from Punta Gorda to Puerto Barrios in northern Guatemala, to a bus ride to Guatemala City airport to fly to Costa Rica, then Panama City, to Montego Bay. “I had never traveled so much, so it was a new experience every step of the way.” Making it to the final competition has been bittersweet. “I’ve been very tired but have met so many new people along the way,” said the 29-year-old finalist.

Puc’s Bible study journey began when she was 19 years of age. At the age of 22, she participated in the Bible competition, making it to the district and conference levels. However, this year, she was ecstatic to become the top winner in her home country. Puc said what worked for her was reading and transcribing entire chapters of the Bible and The Great Controversy and studying them over and over since January. When she got to conference from the district church level, she studied with three others under the union’s Bible Connection coordinator, Noelle Copo, a former finalist from Belize in 2018. “She would send us questionnaires on the chapters, tested us, and prepared us to come here.”

It’s been a wonderful experience to faithfully study and pray every day for Puc. She is a home caregiver in her village and has seen God open the book of Revelation to her. She has learned so many lessons about God’s love. “God is seriously interested in saving all of us, and the work He is doing as a High Priest is so important for us to understand,” said Puc. “Studying this year helped me understand that we are living in a time when God’s Word must be taken seriously because His coming is so near.”

Vowing to Encourage Others to Study the Bible

Even though she ranked #17 among the 24 finalists, Puc said she is happy to represent the dozens of youth who participated in this year’s competition. She vows to go back home to encourage other young people to take part in the Bible study initiative. Puc has been serving as a treasurer, Sabbath School director, and Adventist Youth leader at the Belen Seventh-day Adventist Church back home. “I’m determined to encourage more young people to study God’s Word, for He will pour out blessings in their life more than they could ever imagine.”

It’s important to keep young people in prayer and go that extra mile to encourage them to participate in the Bible Connection, Puc said.

Each finalist has a story, from the youngest, a 16-year-old from Chiapas, to the oldest, a 31-year-old from the Inter-Oceanic Mexican Union. Getting to this point in the competition was more than they could ever imagine, many said.

Young people and children will have the opportunity to enlist in the Bible Connection initiative next year.

Powell announced next year’s Bible Connection competition is scheduled to take place in Colombia. The material to study for next year’s competitions from Adventurers, Pathfinders, Master Guides, and youth levels include the book of Judges and chapters 53 and 54 of Ellen G. White’s Patriarchs and Prophets.

The original article was published on the Inter-American Division website.