By Renee Larr
Daniel Alt can recite more than 1,200 Bible verses, and he will put his knowledge of scripture to the test July 25 to 29 when he competes in the Junior Bible Quizzing North America Nationals in Branson, Mo.
The 10-year-old Whitestown resident and his teammate, Benjamin Stirnemann, placed third in the state, qualifying them to compete against other finalists from the U.S. and Canada at the national event.
“This is (Daniel’s) sixth year quizzing and his fifth year going to nationals,” his mother, Karen Alt, said. “There was only one year he didn’t make it. There are probably about 100 teams. Each team can have between two and five kids per team.”
Daniel’s training begins in November with quizzing starting in January. His training regimen involves daily practice.
“He has memorized this year 267 verses word for word verbatim. He reviews his verses every day. He quotes them to me daily. He’s had to memorize unique words in the Bible. If you give him a unique word, he can recall the location of that unique word and quote the verse just by being given that word,” Karen said. “He does a lot of prep and work with that above and beyond just memorizing the verses.”
Once the national event is complete, Daniel will have a break until November when he starts learning verses again. He and his teammate attend Liberty Tabernacle in New Whiteland.
