Trinity Wheeler joined the National Bible Bee when she was five years old. As part of the intense summer Scripture memorization program, she was assigned a local coach to help her make the most of the journey. This Scripture memorization mentor, Bella Kauffman stayed with Trinity for her two years in the program and continued to keep in touch for the next seven years.
“Bella made it very fun to memorize Scripture and read God’s Word,” Trinity, now 13, states. “She made me want to go deeper.”
When Trinity enrolled in the 4.12 Leadership Training Program last summer, she needed to recruit a Barnabas mentor to guide her along the discipleship training process. Her beloved Bible Bee coach was the natural choice.
“Bella was a big part at the very start of my faith,” Trinity explains, “so I thought it would be very special for her to journey with me through the 4.12 Program and all of its growth opportunities.”
Among those growth opportunities, Scripture reading and Bible memorization have returned as key elements of their relationship. “Bella keeps me accountable,” Trinity says. “Reading and memorizing the assigned 4.12 passages has been good and I’m starting a plan to go deeper into one chapter of God’s Word each day.”
Enthusiasm for God’s Word is not the only trait Bella has passed on to Trinity through their mentoring relationship. Bella is a gifted teacher, and Trinity has passed that on through children’s church. “One hundred percent Bella made the Bible interesting for me, so I wanted to pass that on to the kids at church through teaching the Bible to them,” Trinity declares.
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Trinity also recruited her friend India Gaines to join the 4.12 Leadership Training Program with her, as well as connecting India with Bella to serve as her Barnabas mentor. Now India has caught the desire for getting to know God through His Word. “I am actually doing devotions and reading my Bible now,” India shares about the new practices she has developed.
Both Trinity and India also try to make the most of the opportunities they have to positively influence others through their sports participation.
Bella thoroughly enjoys the opportunity she has to invest in both Trinity and India. “I love celebrating life and all of the good things God is doing in both girls,” she enthuses.
To learn about Joy El’s Bible and mentoring programs for children and youth, visit:
For elementary age: https://joyelgeneration.org/bible-adventure/start-here/
For middle school: https://joyelgeneration.org/cia/start-here/
The Faces of Spiritual Multiplication is a 7-part series encouraging mentorship.
