Joel Belz, founder of God’s World Publication, encouraged the contestants to live out their lives according to the Bible instead of just letting scripture remain in their minds. “Don’t let it stay here in your head. Beg God to let that come down from your head down to your heart and out through your hands and feet.”
A National Bible Bee contestant who was unexpectedly added last minute to the competition’s final round ended up taking home the coveted first place prize on Saturday.
Liesl Lawrence of Georgetown, Texas, was named the 2010 National Bible Bee champion after she was allowed to join the senior division finals as the sixth contestant.
Minutes before this year’s senior finals at the Marriott Renaissance Convention Center Hotel near Chicago, judges announced that Lawrence was supposed to the be fifth finalist but she had been disqualified due to an error in judges’ scoring materials.
She was added back in after organizers of the event discovered that some of the judges’ scoring materials did not reflect different variances of the Kings James Version that were circulated by the National Bible Bee.
Despite the last-minute announcement, Lawrence gave the top performance, receiving the first place crystal trophy and a cash prize of $100,000.
She beat out second place winner Mallory Powell of Linden, Tenn., who took home $25,000 and third place winner Mark Heimann of Wexford, Pa., who took home $15,000.
The national competition tests contestants on their written and oral Bible knowledge and ability to memorize scripture based on their favorite translation.
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