JENNY DREW of Cairo , right, organized the local effort. She is shown here reading from the Book of Ezra. Local residents joined Christians statewide in reading the entire Bible in 45 minutes on Sunday.
A local crowd of Christians joined a statewide effort Sunday to simultaneously read the entire Bible in 45 minutes. Jenny Drew of Cairo organized the effort locally, which took place at the Grady County Courthouse steps on July 14, beginning at 7:14 a.m., and centered around the theme verse of 2 Chronicles 7:14.
Mrs. Drew says the effort was to ask God to cleanse our lands.
Each county in Georgia was assigned specific chapters in the Bible to read aloud, and Grady County was tasked with reading Ezra chapters 1-8. Readers here included Terry Ferguson, Joy Gainous, Grace Gainous, Wayman Ansley, Ray Rosencrantz, Lori Walker and Jenny Drew.
Mrs. Drew says she wanted to participate on behalf of those who are unable to join. “I read for several groups of people, especially persecuted Christians. There are people in this world who have to meet in the dark, who have to meet in secret and are killed just for having a Bible on their person, much less reading it in public,” Drew says.
With about 35 people in attendance, it took the readers about 40 minutes to complete the endeavor, which was followed by a prayer spoken by Wayman Ansley as participants stood in a circle and held hands.
“When we joined hands in front of that Courthouse, it was a very special feeling for me,” says Drew.
This was the first such event in Georgia and Drew says she hopes even more people will participate in Grady County next year. “I met people that I didn’t know, but because they are Christians and they are concerned about our country and where we are headed and keeping our Christian values, they were there, and it was very good. I’m hoping next year it will be even bigger,” Drew says.
