As the day loomed closer a careful watch was kept on the forecast, it seemed that we were to expect more extreme weather
The North England Conference (NEC) level Bible Experience finals were due to take place on 15 February at The Riverside Centre. That week the UK had been battered previously by Storm Ciara and then by Storm Dennis, this meant that there were weather warnings across the UK. As the day loomed closer a careful watch was kept on the forecast, however as it seemed that we were to expect more extreme weather, the Pathfinder leadership together with the NEC President made a decision to cancel the event, putting the safety of Adventurers, Pathfinders and their leaders as a priority.
This meant that another date and venue was needed to allow the finals to take place. After much prayer and searching, the Mansfield Woodhouse church came to the rescue and allowed the Conference to use their building to host the finals.
So on Sabbath 29 February, over 400 Pathfinders, Adventurers and their leaders descended on the Mansfield Woodhouse church.
Both the main church area and the upstairs hall were transformed into the Bible Experience setting. Normally the Adventurer Experience would take place in the morning and the Pathfinder in the afternoon. As we only had the afternoon both events had to take place simultaneously meaning that NEC staff were stretched and had to use Pathfinders and leaders to help in the setup, which they did admirably.
Pastors Ikwisa Mwasumbi and Kevin Johns, who was responsible for starting the Bible Experience in the UK, read the questions for the Pathfinders.
Both events went well, and Pastors Isaac Liburd and Paul Jayaraj delivered uplifting sermonettes to the Adventures and Pathfinders respectively whilst awaiting the results.
After an evening of questioning and answering, the results were in and we are pleased to say that a total of 11 Adventurers and 11 Pathfinder teams will be going forward to the Union finals at Newbold College on 14 March.
We must give thanks and praise to our heavenly Father who always sustains us through His grace and pray that the young people continue to study and learn more of their Saviour through taking part in this experience.
Finally, thanks to the Mansfield Woodhouse leadership for allowing us to use their church and for the hospitality shown.