What is Interactive Bible Discovery?
Over the past year or so I have mentioned Interactive Bible Discovery a number of times and talked about getting to facilitate a number of IBD training courses. As some of you following our newsletters and blogs are not familiar with IBD I wanted to take the opportunity to share a bit about what exactly is Interactive Bible Discovery and what it means to facilitate an IBD course.
Firstly, Interactive Bible Discovery is a method of communicating Scripture that integrates storytelling and Audio Scripture Engagement to create an ongoing process of discipleship within an oral community. Rather than teaching or explaining to communicate meanings from the Word, questions are used to promote discussion and interaction from all participants. Additionally, while some other Bible study methods encourage the reading of scripture, IBD specifically encourages the telling of scripture.
When you pull out a book(Bible or otherwise) in an oral setting you are basically telling those who are present that if they want to personally engage or study that they too must be able to read. Moreover in Africa they have a saying "If you want to hide something from our people, put it in a book." For this reason trainers who go through IBD are taught how to internalize portions of scripture and retell them as a story accurately and in their own words.
It is important to note this isn't a method of memorizing scripture word for word. Rather it emphasizes telling Scripture accurately without adding anything or taking anything away from the meaning of the text. For example a typical story we use in the trainings is Luke 10:25-28 "The man of the law". In this passage a teacher of the law(Torah) stands up to test Jesus concerning the Torah. In certain translations such as NKJV this man is referred to as a "lawyer", however if I were to ask the average American what comes to mind when you say "lawyer" the typical response would be "a man in a suit with a briefcase going to a courthouse." This doesn't accurately capture the meaning though in the story. A better translation is one like The Scriptures ISR98 which states the man was "a certain one learned in the Torah". So for example someone could tell this story like this:
"On one occasion an expert in the Torah stood up to test Jesus..."
While the above is not "word for word" what is in for example the NKJV, it does communicate the meaning of the original text. Conversely if I were to tell the story saying, "On one occasion a man stood up to test Jesus..." I would be changing the meaning, because it wasn't just any man that stood up but one who was learned in the Torah, one who knew God's Word well.
While IBD doesn't encourage memorization, it is also notable that IBD strongly objects to paraphrasing. An example of this would be taking a story such as Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42 and changing the story either to "simplify" or shorten it. In the text it is stated that "Martha welcomed Jesus into her house." If I were change the story to say just that "Once when Jesus was visiting Mary and Martha..." you would miss the fact that Martha had initiated the meeting. It might seem a small detail, yet it is important to know and consider this fact when looking at the "service" that Martha was trying to offer to Jesus in preparing food. Another example of this would be combining details from different passages into one story, such as the different stories in Matthew and Luke of Jesus healing on the Sabbath the man with the withered hand. Though it is two accounts of the same story it is important to not combine them. Each was told for a reason and each has inherent meaning that can be either lost or confused if you paraphrase them as one story. Lastly sometimes we try to shorten a long passage of scripture, for example the story of Noah building the Ark and the Flood. Instead of trying to shorten it and perhaps inadvertently cutting out key details that would communicate meaning we should rather split it into multiple stories and tell each portion accurately. We need to remember that we are dealing with God's Word and that He doesn't speak carelessly, thus we must be careful not to add to or take away from what He has said in our eagerness to "get the message" out.
Now that we have covered a small portion about Interactive Bible Discovery itself I want to share a bit about what goes on in a typical IBD training course. First in general we make a point of training trainers. One way to think of it is like this, if I we working with a group of churches that each had their own life groups I wouldn't necessarily target the life group leaders, but rather the person or persons responsible for training and discipling the life group leaders. This way it will theoretically multiply more quickly.
Secondly, we emphasize practical exercises and as much as possible try to demonstrate oral methodology in our presentation. As such there is a large focus on group discussion and asking of questions. As much as possible we try to communicate the information through conversation rather than lecture. Main ideas that we discuss are different types of oral strategies and the need for them, as well as how oral learners think and learner. We discuss the principles of obedience based discipleship and how to develop an effective outreach strategy for the whole community. Additionally we teach basic steps of learning and telling Scripture stories.
In all the IBD training course covers 4 modules broken up into 11 sessions or building blocks. Typically we do the course over a period of 2-3 days depending on whether translating is required. Sometimes we get asked to present condensed versions of the course in which we just highlight key points these can range from a 1-2hrs up to a full day. In general when I am helping facilitate a course it means that I will be the primary presenter, but at times it means I am observing other facilitators in order to help them refine their presentations. This is what I did recently in Zambia where 4 OM missionaries presented the IBD training course and I simply observed and mentored them.
Our method of producing trainers usually follows this example. We are asked for or initiate an IBD Training Course in a location, typically with one of our ministry partners, such as OM. We will set up and organize a Level 1 training(meaning all the participants are new to IBD) with 25-30 trainers. From those who participate we will try to identify those(Usually between 3-5) who have a desire and the potential to become Master Trainers in the IBD course. We will then organize a second training or a Level 2 training with a new set of 25-30 trainers and the potential Master Trainers will present various portions of the course along with us. Following this we will spend a day or two mentoring and giving feedback to the presenters and work on organizing another future training(Level 3). In a Level 3 training the potential Master Trainers will present the full course on their own and we will only evaluate. After this we will spend time with each individual to assess whether they are ready to be released as Master Trainers in IBD or if not what further development they each need.
This whole process is continually going on in multiple countries and with numerous ministry partners around the globe. It is my primary role to manage these processes and to train trainers. It has been such a privilege and pleasure to serve the Lord in this way and I look forward to all that He has in store for myself and Davar going forward. It is an honor to be able to serve the Bible-less oral peoples of the world in this way!
Firstly, Interactive Bible Discovery is a method of communicating Scripture that integrates storytelling and Audio Scripture Engagement to create an ongoing process of discipleship within an oral community. Rather than teaching or explaining to communicate meanings from the Word, questions are used to promote discussion and interaction from all participants. Additionally, while some other Bible study methods encourage the reading of scripture, IBD specifically encourages the telling of scripture.
When you pull out a book(Bible or otherwise) in an oral setting you are basically telling those who are present that if they want to personally engage or study that they too must be able to read. Moreover in Africa they have a saying "If you want to hide something from our people, put it in a book." For this reason trainers who go through IBD are taught how to internalize portions of scripture and retell them as a story accurately and in their own words.
It is important to note this isn't a method of memorizing scripture word for word. Rather it emphasizes telling Scripture accurately without adding anything or taking anything away from the meaning of the text. For example a typical story we use in the trainings is Luke 10:25-28 "The man of the law". In this passage a teacher of the law(Torah) stands up to test Jesus concerning the Torah. In certain translations such as NKJV this man is referred to as a "lawyer", however if I were to ask the average American what comes to mind when you say "lawyer" the typical response would be "a man in a suit with a briefcase going to a courthouse." This doesn't accurately capture the meaning though in the story. A better translation is one like The Scriptures ISR98 which states the man was "a certain one learned in the Torah". So for example someone could tell this story like this:
"On one occasion an expert in the Torah stood up to test Jesus..."
While the above is not "word for word" what is in for example the NKJV, it does communicate the meaning of the original text. Conversely if I were to tell the story saying, "On one occasion a man stood up to test Jesus..." I would be changing the meaning, because it wasn't just any man that stood up but one who was learned in the Torah, one who knew God's Word well.
While IBD doesn't encourage memorization, it is also notable that IBD strongly objects to paraphrasing. An example of this would be taking a story such as Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42 and changing the story either to "simplify" or shorten it. In the text it is stated that "Martha welcomed Jesus into her house." If I were change the story to say just that "Once when Jesus was visiting Mary and Martha..." you would miss the fact that Martha had initiated the meeting. It might seem a small detail, yet it is important to know and consider this fact when looking at the "service" that Martha was trying to offer to Jesus in preparing food. Another example of this would be combining details from different passages into one story, such as the different stories in Matthew and Luke of Jesus healing on the Sabbath the man with the withered hand. Though it is two accounts of the same story it is important to not combine them. Each was told for a reason and each has inherent meaning that can be either lost or confused if you paraphrase them as one story. Lastly sometimes we try to shorten a long passage of scripture, for example the story of Noah building the Ark and the Flood. Instead of trying to shorten it and perhaps inadvertently cutting out key details that would communicate meaning we should rather split it into multiple stories and tell each portion accurately. We need to remember that we are dealing with God's Word and that He doesn't speak carelessly, thus we must be careful not to add to or take away from what He has said in our eagerness to "get the message" out.
Now that we have covered a small portion about Interactive Bible Discovery itself I want to share a bit about what goes on in a typical IBD training course. First in general we make a point of training trainers. One way to think of it is like this, if I we working with a group of churches that each had their own life groups I wouldn't necessarily target the life group leaders, but rather the person or persons responsible for training and discipling the life group leaders. This way it will theoretically multiply more quickly.
Secondly, we emphasize practical exercises and as much as possible try to demonstrate oral methodology in our presentation. As such there is a large focus on group discussion and asking of questions. As much as possible we try to communicate the information through conversation rather than lecture. Main ideas that we discuss are different types of oral strategies and the need for them, as well as how oral learners think and learner. We discuss the principles of obedience based discipleship and how to develop an effective outreach strategy for the whole community. Additionally we teach basic steps of learning and telling Scripture stories.
In all the IBD training course covers 4 modules broken up into 11 sessions or building blocks. Typically we do the course over a period of 2-3 days depending on whether translating is required. Sometimes we get asked to present condensed versions of the course in which we just highlight key points these can range from a 1-2hrs up to a full day. In general when I am helping facilitate a course it means that I will be the primary presenter, but at times it means I am observing other facilitators in order to help them refine their presentations. This is what I did recently in Zambia where 4 OM missionaries presented the IBD training course and I simply observed and mentored them.
Our method of producing trainers usually follows this example. We are asked for or initiate an IBD Training Course in a location, typically with one of our ministry partners, such as OM. We will set up and organize a Level 1 training(meaning all the participants are new to IBD) with 25-30 trainers. From those who participate we will try to identify those(Usually between 3-5) who have a desire and the potential to become Master Trainers in the IBD course. We will then organize a second training or a Level 2 training with a new set of 25-30 trainers and the potential Master Trainers will present various portions of the course along with us. Following this we will spend a day or two mentoring and giving feedback to the presenters and work on organizing another future training(Level 3). In a Level 3 training the potential Master Trainers will present the full course on their own and we will only evaluate. After this we will spend time with each individual to assess whether they are ready to be released as Master Trainers in IBD or if not what further development they each need.
This whole process is continually going on in multiple countries and with numerous ministry partners around the globe. It is my primary role to manage these processes and to train trainers. It has been such a privilege and pleasure to serve the Lord in this way and I look forward to all that He has in store for myself and Davar going forward. It is an honor to be able to serve the Bible-less oral peoples of the world in this way!
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