Around 40 students participated in a scientific spelling bee and the organizer is giving all glory to God.
Titus Olukitibi is the founder and CEO of Raising the Foundations of Generations Inc. says that the event went beyond his expectation. "We want to give all glory to God. We're very pleased to see students attending the competition from different school divisions."
He said that there were over 40 students who participated and all together, there was close to 150 people including parents. Olukitibi says, "More importantly, we brought in some panellists for a discussion. They talked about their journey to inspire the students. We were very selective of our judges, judges who were doing well in their profession and Christians. So the judges, the panellists, interacted with the students during lunchtime and interacted with the students, who got to ask them questions about their career plans."
Part of the conversations that students had with the judges was more than just career advice. "It was encouraging and one of the interesting parts that I really love, we had some students who were interested in knowing more about Jesus Christ after telling them about knowing your identity, they identified that they would like to know more about Jesus. That really fills my heart. Now we are raising a foundation for future generations who will advance in their different professional careers while maintaining their stance in Christ Jesus and holding onto their feet in Jesus Christ. So this is very, very encouraging for us."
Now, Olukitibi is shifting themes and going to do a Bible terms spelling quiz, which brings back fond memories from when he was growing up. "I usually did different quiz competitions at church to really help me know scriptures. Every Sunday, I tried to memorize as many as possible. I would read my Bible a lot."
The theme for the event is Solid Foundation based on 1 Corinthians 3:11. "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."
The desire to read God's Word is something that Olukitibi thought was missing in the younger generation. "Many children, if their parents are not putting that effort, their society, the environment, is not giving them the opportunity to learn more about the scripture. We are doing a Bible spelling bee where we will be spelling Bible names or cities."
He hopes that this will challenge students aged ten to 13 to open up their Bibles more and study to prepare for the challenge.
The Bible spelling bee is at 771 Sargent Avenue on Saturday, February 15, 2025. Participants can register here before Dec. 27, 2024.