First Baptist Church, Moody
St. Clair Baptist Association
Favorite Verse: Romans 12:1–2
Favorite Hymn: “Precious Redeemer”
Hobbies: Cooking and entertaining, gardening, listening to music
Family Status: Wife of 55 years to husband, Jim; sons, David Spiers and Philip Spiers; daughter, Susan Jones; five grandchildren
Though retinitis pigmentosa has progressively damaged Annette Spiers’ vision all her life and made her legally blind, she has not let that keep her from serving Jesus. For 45 years she taught Sunday School. She led discipleship classes and wrote workbooks for studies she conducted on Acts, Colossians and Romans. Spiers, 80, learned the method of inductive Bible study by attending Kay Arthur’s Precepts Training Workshops. Over the years Spiers has been Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) program chairman, a member of search committees and a volunteer in the nursery.
Q: What influences in your life pointed you to Christ at the beginning of your faith journey?
A: I was in church for 15 years and no one asked if I really knew Jesus. One day, a pastor was preaching on Romans 3:23. When he got to the word “all,” he said to substitute our name there. I put “Annette” there and it was like neon. Then later he preached on redemption. He said you can’t be too good or too bad to be saved. It’s all about Jesus, not you. You don’t have to do anything but receive Him. That’s when I was saved.
Q: When and how were you led into your ministry work?
A: I was just asked to work with the children, to teach fifth-grade girls. I went to WMU and was asked to be program chairman.
Q: What does your ministry work demand?
A: A lot of study and preparation, a lot of prayer and getting to know class members and their life stories. It takes a lot of time to be a Sunday School teacher.
Q: What do you get from your ministry work?
A: I learn more than they do. The teacher always learns the most. I really like the study time and prayer time because I feel so close to the Lord then. The Word ministers to me as I study it. Also I get so close to the women in the class.
Q: How do family members support you?
A: My husband used to read the Sunday School material to me. My son, David, who is now in the ministry, used to read to me every Saturday night. We would study and talk about what it meant. That was precious time.
Q: How do you see yourself involved in this in the future?
A: I hope to get back to teaching. People call me quite often to ask me where to find “this” or where to look in the Bible. I still get calls from people I taught years ago who want to know where in the Bible to find help to make a decision. In church, my goal is to be friendly and encourage other people to get to know each other better.
Q: What difference has Jesus Christ made in your life?
A: I’m a new person. He’s everything to me. It was kind of slow coming at first because I knew I was saved but didn’t know how to live a Christian life. But He is my friend; He is my confidant; I want everyone to know Him.
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