Bible Drill, Speakers Tournament benefit youth throughout their lives

David Gill won the Alabama State Bible Drill in 1977, and even now he is constantly seeing that committing verses to memory helps him and others. Yes, it’s definitely become more than just a competition for him.
   
“This is one of the best tools we have,” said Gill, pastor of East Tallassee Baptist Church, Tallassee. “I’ve served four churches in 20 years of ministry, and when I go back for various homecomings, I see the kids who were involved with the Bible Drill are still active in their church.”
   
This past spring break, Gill took some youth from his church to Orange Beach for an evangelistic outreach. There, they used their Bible Drill skills to help them share the gospel.
   
“Because they had memorized verses and doctrinal questions and answers, the youth were able to immediately respond appropriately to others,” he said. 
   
Tournament program, said program coordinator Sonya Tucker, who has worked with the program for more than 15 years.
   
“We like to say the Bible Drill has lifelong benefits,” said Tucker, an associate in the office of discipleship and family ministries of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM). “When you memorize something at a young age, you always remember it.”
   
This year’s tournament was held April 30 at Heritage Baptist Church, Montgomery.
   
Students in seventh through ninth grade compete in the Bible Drill while students in 10th through 12th grade compete in the Speakers Tournament.
   
The competitions start at the church level, then move to the associational level, to district competition and finally to the state level. Children in fourth through sixth grade can also participate in the Bible Drill, but the competition ends at the district level.
   
Tucker said the students learn verses and references, key passages of Scripture, the books of the Bible in the proper order and how to locate them. 
   
“Some adults have difficulty finding the book of Malachi, for instance,” she said. “These kids know it’s right next to Matthew.” 
   
Tucker said the youth also memorize important doctrinal questions and answers.
   
“These students who memorize will always have this information available to them whether they need it for decision making, comfort or guidance,” she said. 
   
Eighth-grader Ellen Lawrence, who won the State Bible Drill, couldn’t agree more.
   
“Learning these verses has been so encouraging and helps remind me who God is,” said Lawrence, who attends Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville. “It also helps me remember He’s always there to take care of me.”
   
Lawrence said she’s been practicing her memorization since the first of the year with the help of her family and a friend from church.  “My three older brothers also did Bible Drill, so they paved the way for me,” she said. 
   
The Speakers Tournament offers students in 10th through 12th grade a platform to express their faith verbally.
   
Ten speech topics are given for students to choose from. Each student must memorize the speech, speak four to six minutes and must provide a manuscript for the judges.
   
Darrell Kent, a senior from First Baptist Church, Demopolis, won this year’s Speakers Tournament with his speech, “The Church is the Foundation of a Strong Faith.”
   
“I’ve been in church all of my life, but I learned how important the church really is,” said Kent, whose father is pastor of First, Demopolis. “Studying and writing this helped me learn what kind of closeness we can gain from each other and God.”
   
Besides the honor of winning the tournament, Kent also received a scholarship to Samford University, which he plans to attend this fall. 
   
Each year the winner of the Speakers Tournament receives a scholarship to Judson College, Samford University or the University of Mobile.
   
The other winners in the Speakers Tournament were Jeanne Cross from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, Moulton, who won second place, and Lauren Little of Huffman Baptist Church, Birmingham, who won third place.
   
Tucker said she was pleased by the participation in the tournament this year.
   
“We had eight for the Speakers Tournament — which meant eight out of 12 districts were represented,” she said. “We had 48 youth for the Bible Drill.”
   
Lawrence and Kent will attend the National Bible Drill and Speakers Tournament at First Baptist Church, Orlando, Fla., June 10–11. 
   
Next year’s national tournament will be held in Birmingham at Samford University  June 9, 2006.
   
Materials for next year’s competition will be available in mid-July. For more information, contact the SBOM’s discipleship office at 1-800-264-1225 or visit www.alsbom.org.