“The Lord can’t bring anything back to you that you haven’t learned in the first place,” Charlotte Gray said.
This simple truth proves the importance of a ministry that Gray believes is becoming more relevant with every day that passes. This ministry is Bible Drill.
“Our generations now are not looking at God,” Gray said. “And we’ve got to give our kids something to hang on to. They don’t live on the mountaintop all the time. We’ve got to give them something to hang on to down in the valleys.”
Gray has seen her share of valleys over the decades.
Susan Waggener, Gray’s daughter, noted that she “lost her three sisters, she lost her husband, she lost a son, she lost a grandchild, she lost a great-grandchild. Now, when you just think about that right there and all the loss, do you see how easy it would be to just step aside? But she didn’t. She’s faithful. She’s always been faithful to the church, faithful to her Lord, faithful to her faith.”
Gray has not wavered because sacred words have been written on her heart. The truth of Scripture resides within her, ready to combat the lies of the enemy and face the toils of this world. Over the years, God has used Proverbs 3:5–6 to remind her of His helping hand and perfect plan.
“The Lord really has told me I don’t know how many times, ‘Lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He’ll direct thy path.’ And I keep saying ‘Lord, You just show me that path and help me to follow You in it,’” Gray said.
Ministering to children
While walking in the path set before her, Gray has ministered to generation after generation of children through the Bible Drill program. She first learned of the program when her then fourth-grade daughter (Waggener) came home one night and asked if she could participate.
“I grew up in a country church, and I had really never heard of Bible Drill,” Gray said.
Now over 50 years later, Gray is still involved in Bible Drill at First Baptist Church in West Memphis, Arkansas.
Bible Drill challenges students to memorize all the books of the Bible as well as key Scriptures. This challenge changed both the lives of the children she led in Bible Drill and her own. She watched a young man who complained about being at Bible Drill every week become a deacon in her church as an adult. She persevered as her own loved ones passed away. Her steadfast spirit inspired her family and beyond.
‘Ripple effect’
“The impact she has is beyond me. It went to my friends. It went to my brother. It went to my family, my children,” Waggener said. “The dropping the pebble in the water and the ripple effect; you can’t see it. She will not see it until she reaches eternity and hears the stories of how her staying faithful to this one event … has changed so many lives.”
Gray’s Bible Drill ministry even reached out beyond denominations and ages, with parents of children who went to different churches joining in on Sunday nights to learn Bible verse after Bible verse.
“Every so often, we would sit down in the floor in a circle, and I would ask the kids, ‘Ok, what is your favorite verse and why?’” Gray said. “The reason that they said why and what that verse said to them just totally amazed me. I mean they saw it from a different angle, and I thought the Lord uses all of this to speak to them.”
‘Never wavered in her faith’
From grandmother to granddaughter, Gray’s faithfulness and love for children has been passed down.
“She has a heart for children. She has a heart for the Lord. She has been through so many life circumstances, so many hardships, and she has always been faithful. She has never wavered in her faith. If you know her, you know that she’s going to put you first. She’s just the best,” said Rachel Pool, Gray’s granddaughter and an education professor at Ouachita Baptist University.
Pool has seen her grandmother’s influence on her family as a “strong Christian woman [with] strong work ethics, [who] really loves the Lord.” Gray has inspired Pool as she teaches Ouachita students about the Master Teacher, Jesus.
Just like Waggener and Gray, Pool has been able to recall the verses she learned in Bible Drill during heartbreaking seasons, including the loss of her sister, Rebecca, and her daughter, Riley. For her, comfort was found in another Bible Drill verse — Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.”
“We don’t know the path God has given us, but we know He’s always there with us. It’s going to be difficult, but He’s there holding us. He’s providing us hope,” Pool said.
Volunteering with churches
Over the half-century she has spent working with Bible Drill, Gray has volunteered with several churches and even spent time as the regional coordinator for various Bible Drill competitions.
Leah Jo Wilson, a longtime Bible Drill volunteer, noted, “I am thankful that through the years Mrs. Charlotte has proofed drills, consulted, and been a prayer warrior for Arkansas Bible Drill.
“I have seen countless lives including children, youth, church leaders and parents impacted by her knowledge of the Scripture and her boldness to tell us why we should be memorizing Scripture and key passages,” she noted. “Not only does she encourage us to learn, but [she] leads by example.”
Gray knows God will use what she learns to bring her closer to Him, just like He does with the children she leads in Bible Drill.
Waggener said, “You drive over here right now and go to her kitchen table, and I can tell you what you’re going to see. You’re going to see a Bible open and you’re going to see the Bible Drill verses.”
You can learn more about how to start a Bible Drill program at your church by visiting www.absc.org/bible-drill.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Ethan Dial and originally published by Arkansas Baptist News.
