Leaving a Legacy

Recently, I met Joan Stancil through our website contact form. Joan, a veteran Bible Drill leader, contacted me asking for some Bible Drill information. She shared some of her story, in the hopes that her Bible Drill story will encourage others to renew their participation in this vital ministry to children and youth.
Joan lives in Charlotte county, Florida and has been involved in the ministry of Bible Drill for over 60 years! She has worked with hundreds of children. She is now 92 years of age and unable to continue. However, like a true disciple, Joan is leaving another Bible Drill legacy by sharing her Bible Drill resources with others in Florida so that they can teach Bible Skills to a new generation.
Joan is a retired classroom teacher and elementary school principal. Her husband was a Baptist pastor for over 40 years. Joan led Bible Drill in multiple churches and at the associational level in Florida. She shared with me that she first began with Bible Drill when it was only for youth, back in 1960, in Martin county (FBC Stuart), and has rarely missed a year since. She has four sons. The first two did drills when it was just for youth. By the time her third son came along and was in the 4th grade, children’s drill had begun. Over the years, she has had a number of participants who qualified for state drills and a few who went on to the National Invitational Tournament for Bible Drill and Speakers (Jeffrey/James Gagliardo and Ben Sloan). In later years, she also had some speakers.
In closing, Joan shared: “If we are REALLY ‘People of the Book,’ then we need to start EARLY teaching how this wonderful treasure came to us and how to use it properly.”