
Pathfinder Bible Experience NAD Finals April 2023, Tampa, Florida
Information and resources for PBE 2025
2026 PBE schedule
There is now a website fully dedicated to PBE from the North American Division (NAD). Please check it out.
Testing dates:
Area test February 7, 2026
LRC PBE Day March 7, 2026
Union Test, March 28, 2026
NAD Finals April 17 - 18, 2026, Greely Colorado
Books for Study
Isaiah 1 - 33
Tips for Success
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Study! Study! Study! It is very important that we actually study the NKJV Bible text. Memorizing the answers to sample questions or casual reading or paraphrasing and summarizing or trying to cram at the last minute will not do. Start now! Use the study questions evaluate how the team is learning the information about the book rather than memorizing the questions.
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Make full use of all the Study Aids provided below.
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Parents should assist and encourage their Pathfinder in study by quizzing him/her and carving out time for the Pathfinder to study.
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Plan for weekly PBE team meetings
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The head coach is responsible for formulating the team, assigning sections of study, scheduling team meetings and formulating practice quizzes for the team. (see the suggested breakdown below).
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Head coaches must assign each team member their own coach to review the text with the Pathfinder and encourage study.
Tips for Success cont'd
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Individual coaches should develop a study schedule for their team member by dividing the assigned section into smaller parts (see the chapter breakout below based on number of team members)
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Individual coaches should test each team member weekly on their section in the first part of the team meeting before the whole team comes together for practice testing. Use the LRC Quizlet Class for testing strategies and questions.
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Each team member should also have a binder with their text, study schedule, sample study questions and their corrected/graded individual quizzes for review.
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Plan two or three Sabbath retreats to take an entire day to do nothing but PBE – study, individual tests, team practice, eat, play related games, watch related movies etc., to get the information to stick in an enjoyable way.
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The goal of PBE is to get to know God for real, understand how He impacts your life on a daily basis, develop a meaningful relationship with Him, gain the joy and skill of serious Bible study, and to understand the Gospel. It is not to smash opponents, win, or see how great you are.
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Include a related devotion at the beginning of the team meeting and close each meeting with prayer allowing each team member and coach to offer a prayer and make prayer requests at every meeting – i.e., have a season of prayer.
These strategies have been proven to get teams to the Union and Division level.
This is a tremendous opportunity that requires time, commitment and perseverance, but it is so worth it! Let us not grow weary in doing good and may the word of Christ dwell in us RICHLY.
Register your PBE team(s) here by January 17, 2026.. Pathfinder clubs must be fully registered by conference set deadlines in order to participate in the Area test on February 7, 2026.
Study Aids
The Bible Project gives a good overview of the book:
Isaiah 1 - 39 (Note the video goes to chapter 39 but we only go to chapter 33)
For those who learn best by listening - Here is a chapter by chapter playlist. Select the Book of Isaiah and the chapter you need to listen to.
Audio Bible with text for listening and reading at the same time
Isaiah read and listen. This is a dramatized version. For reading without the drama, see the link in the description for the summer challenge videos.
Here is the complete text for Isaiah chapters 1 - 33 for download and printing for each team member's binder. Using the printout is better for study than reading from the phone or tablet.
Don't forget the Commentary! Here is the link. It is also available for download from the NAD PBE Website.
How To Study Your Bible provides helpful information to help you get into and know the text.
To study effectively, one must employ both recognition AND recall. Recall is very important for the test. Just reading over your notes or the text or listening over and over will not necessarily produce recall. That's why when you can't answer the question but when you hear the answer you say, "I knew it!" You recognized but could not recall. To improve recall, try these 4 steps:
#1 Read it from the paper silently in your head
#2 Close your eyes and say it silently to yourself
#3 Read it from the paper out loud
#4 Close your eyes and say it out loud.
The other thing that helps with memory is Repetition. You are very busy and your brain will not remember everything you store in it unless you tell it that the information is important. So here's a strategy for that.
It's called Spaced Repetition.
This is a modified version:
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Week 1: Read one or 2 of your chapters using the recall technique above. We're not going for perfection/word for word memorization here but remembering the overall details, concept, story, facts like persons, places and things unless there is a special "must know" verse.
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Week 2: Read the first 2 again in using the same recall technique and then start reading the next one or two chapters. Note that some chapters are very short and some are longer. Anything over 14 verses should be considered longer. Determine what you will do based on the length of the chapter.
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Week 3: Read the second chapter/group of chapters and then start on the 3rd group. Always use the recall method.
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Week 4: Re-read the first group and the 3rd group
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Week 5: Re-read the 2nd and 4th group
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Week 6: Test yourself
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Week 7: Divide your chapters into two groups and study 1 group every other week (eg. chapters 1 - 3 one week and chapters 4 - 7 the next week) but this time add testing.
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Feel free to listen to the audio of your chapters anytime inbetween or read and listen at the same time during your study sessions.
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As the test date approaches, increase your reading and testing frequency. However, focus on or start with what you don't know/have a harder time remembering so you don't waste time studying what you already know.
Here are some testing platforms for you to use:
Quizlet PBE 2026 - join the class - flash cards, games, learning tools, tests. Questions are added over time
Ready Answers - memorization tools, questions, visual handles. This is an excellent source.
PBE Academy - practice test questions. Click Menu and select Practice Quiz.
Team Formation
Teams are made up of two to six pathfinders from a single club. Teams with 6 members may add a 7th as an alternate. The alternate may switch with a team member at half time. Teams are self contained. Each team must be prepared to answer all questions from Isaiah chapters 1 - 33. If a club has more than one team, the chapters cannot be broken up among the teams where one team is doing Chapters 1 - 16 and the other team doing chapters 17 - 33 for instance. Clubs may have multiple teams as long as each team has at least four unique Pathfinders on each team. Teams should be as complete as possible. For example a club would not be allowed to have 3 teams of four participants but they could have two teams of six participants. Each advancing team will be made up of the same members who began the testing at the Area level. No team member from any source may be added to or replace anyone on the team roster after the first level of official testing. (PBE Manual page 8)
Please check out the PBE "How To Guide"
It is best to divide team assignments based on number of verses to know rather than an equal number of chapters as some chapters have a little as 6 verses and some have 30+ verses. Also take into consideration the ability and maturity of your team members. You may benefit from assigning a smaller number of verses to some and a larger number to others instead of making it generally equal across the board.
Suggested team verse assignments are as follows:
6 Person Team (approx. 108 verses/person)
Member 1: Isaiah 1 - 5
Member 2: Isaiah 6 - 10
Member 3: Isaiah 11 - 16
Member 4: Isaiah 17 - 23
Member 5: Isaiah 24 - 28
Member 6: Isaiah 29 - 33
5 Person Team (approx.130 verses/person)
Member 1: Isaiah 1 - 6
Member 2: Isaiah 7 - 12
Member 3: Isaiah 13 - 20
Member 4: Isaiah 21 - 27
Member 5: Isaiah 27 - 33
4 person team (approx. 162 verses/person)
Member 1: Isaiah 1 - 7
Member 2: Isaiah 8 - 15
Member 3: Isaiah 16 - 25
Member 4: Isaiah 26 - 33
3 person team (approx: 216 verses per person)
Member 1: Isaiah 1 - 10
Member 2: Isaiah 11 - 23
Member 3: Isaiah 24 - 33
