Your First Expedition: Why and How

Psalm 119:105 - “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (KJV)

The Scripture ought to direct our understanding of the world and what we do with the time God has given us! Once a student has knowledge through memory and understanding through dialectic conversation, it is time to use them to practice influencing others for the cause of Christ. Such students are ready for the final part of the Bible Quest process, the Expedition Phase.

Expeditions in Bible Quest are typically longer projects. They are more involved endeavors that require the student to use their knowledge and understanding to communicate or

apply Biblical Truth to a variety of audiences in a variety of circumstances. It is assumed that teachers and students are already familiar with how to construct written paragraphs and other content. For resources and help to accomplish this, please visit our website at biblequestclassical.com. Effective resources for helping a student learn to

communicate well (through writing or otherwise) can be found from several sources, but we highly recommend the Institute for Excellence in Writing. Connect with them at IEW.com.

From a programming standpoint, Expeditions are least suited for large-group interactions. They can be done by small groups over a period of time (probably not in a week). This can be accomplished either in an informal, mentored process in a family’s own, scheduled timetable. They can also be done in a regular, smaller group meeting of students that

desire to learn and take God’s Word to a world that desperately needs Him.

Expeditions are the least regimented of all Bible Quest activities, but they are also some of the most exciting! They allow for students of the Bible that already have knowledge and honed understanding to use what they know to communicate Biblical truth to others. However, Expeditions should take time, so parents and mentors should not require that one be done every week. Rather, the goal should be that a student is making progress toward completion of the Expedition each day that they work on it, spending perhaps 30 minutes per weekday. For a more in-depth look at the Expedition Phase, turn to page 150 in your Bible Quest curriculum book.

Choosing a Topic

To embark on an Expedition, first help the student find a topic. Bear in mind that the Deeper Questions each week may be useful in generating these topic ideas for Expeditions. Since many of the Deeper Questions suggest journal entries, a student’s journal can benefit their own Bible study, but also produce a wealth of ideas for Expeditions!

Topics that are more concrete and easily applied are better for beginners. For instance, creating a parable about forgiving someone that has hurt you is a much easier task than creating a parable about the Atonement. Once a topic has been selected, a student should decide on 3-5 main points that pertain to it that they can either research or speak to out of personal experience. For example, in the case of forgiveness, a few possible main points might be "What the Bible says about forgiveness," "How someone forgave me one time," and "Some tips on how to forgive." The specific points can vary; the main idea is to plan out the message that the Expedition will convey.

You cannot help a student too much if they are asking for it. So, do not be concerned if you lead them through the entire topic-selection and main-point generation process - the fact that you've modeled how to do that will help them when they need to do it the next time! If the student needs help again the next time, provide that help; once a student understands the process, rest assured that they will let you know that they don't need your help to do it anymore.

Choosing an Expedition and Method of Sharing

Once the student has their topic and a good sense of the points that they want to make in it, direct them to decide on the purpose for their Expedition. Bible Quest provides an Expedition list, beginning on page 152 of the curriculum book. The Expeditions are listed from those that are generally the easiest for students to those that are more challenging and are based on the ancient rhetorical tool called the Progymnasmata, but in general, students can choose purposes such as praising something that is worthy of praise, condemning something that ought to be condemned, or otherwise trying to persuade another person in some way.

Students should also choose a method to share their Expedition from the “Methods for Sharing” list found on page 153. The first four methods listed are typically more “extrovert” methods while the next three tend to be considered either more “introvert” methods or perhaps more “hands on” methods.

Unless there is some pressing logistical reason why a method for sharing should not be chosen (for instance, the student has no access to a camera but wants to film a documentary for their Expedition), allow great freedom with this choice. It is better that a student be excited about what they are doing than that they be forced to choose a method that really doesn’t fit who they are or how God has gifted them.

Using the Five Canons of Rhetoric

Once a student has the topic and main points for their message, encourage them to also identify their audience (children at church, senior adults in an assisted living center, unbelievers on the street, etc.). Once their topic, main points, and audience have been identified, students can develop their message for presentation. To help with that process, parents and mentors can lead their students through the Five Canons of Rhetoric, an ancient tool designed to help develop and present content to others.

Invention

Invention is the process of coming up with what to say. If a student already has a general idea of the subject for the message that they'd like to convey to others, have them identify the topics that pertain to the subject. For example if the subject is "God's Love," the student might come up with a list that includes "We are made in God's image," "God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us," and "God wants us to love other people, too." The student now has a list of things to talk about, all of which are applicable to the big idea that they had of "God's Love." There is no maximum or minimum number of topics that a student can or should generate, but longer or more complex presentations will necessarily require more topics.

Arrangement

Arrangement has to do with how the student's content is organized, given their audience and their purpose. Should they organize their topics from most important to least important, or vice versa? Should they save their best argument for last, or present it immediately at the beginning? Does the presentation need an introduction? A conclusion? Help your student think through how they want to organize their content.

Elocution

Elocution has to do with making a presentation accessible and pleasing to their audience. From repetition, poetic forms, and anecdotes to rhetorical devices such as schemes and tropes, there are numerous tools of this nature that your student can include and employ to improve the audience's reception of their message. Even for projects that are visual rather than verbal in nature, encourage your student to polish the style of their final presentation to make it shine.

Memory

For in-person performances, it may be necessary to commit either portions or the entire script of the student's presentation to memory. Students may be able to employ many of the strategies and skills that they learned for the memorization phase here. For some sorts of visual or recorded presentations, this canon will be irrelevant.

Delivery

Finally, the actual delivery of an in-person presentation deserves some attention. Students can employ hand gestures, facial expressions, and vary their volume, speed, and verbal emotion to help their message shine. Have your student practice their presentation, and then give constructive feedback to help their content make the maximum impact.

Coaching and Debriefing the Expedition

Help your students accomplish their task by providing any help along the way. Expeditions can be a wonderful driver for the potential development of all sorts of skills, from writing and public speaking to filmmaking and graphic design. If a student realizes that they’d rather change their delivery method the next time, so be it. Let them try out their wings on how they’d like to deliver their message!

After the Expedition is completed, be sure to debrief with your student. Ask questions such as:

• What worked well? What didn’t work well?

• Do you think that the people that you gave your message to understood what you were saying? Why or why not?

• What would you do differently next time? What would you do the same?

• Were you in prayer before your Expedition? Do you think that made a difference?

• Did you see God use you in any way as you took the light of His Word to others? How?

Finish the process by encouraging them to do their next Expedition, and begin the process once more!

When it comes to choosing the next Expedition, remember that a step-by-step approach is perfectly acceptable: it is fine if a student wishes to do the same Expedition type more than once, though the message being presented ought to be different. After they have mastered an Expedition, challenge them to do a different one to increase their abilities. If desired, use the reproducible chart on page 151 of the curriculum book to track their progress.

Of course, Expedition types are only one part of the whole Expedition Phase, the other is the method in which the Expedition is shared. Once a student has become proficient at a particular message-sharing method, encourage them to step out and try others once in a while. However, note that continuing to hone and improve a particular method is not at all a bad thing. In fact, it could indicate a real area of giftedness in sharing God’s Truth to a dying world!

Take opportunities to coach students to continue to grow in any method of delivery that they seem drawn to. For example, if a student usually chooses to share their message through preaching, help them become a better preacher. If a student typically makes films, encourage them to become an even better filmmaker. If the student constantly talks to strangers one-on-one about God’s Word, help them become an even more proficient evangelist or mentor. If a student often takes the opportunity to organize service events, help them rise to become an even better servant in the Kingdom. Seize what you find that God has gifted them to do and encourage them as they do it!